Next SMU sport?

[PonyKai]

Why even bring back baseball? We were never any good. Sure it's a great sport and great for the spring semester, but to bring back a sport that would need a new facility, and then have to recruit against UT A&M Rice Baylor OU OKstate and TCU? I can see us picking up right where we left off...dead last.

Lacrosse is a new start, can play in Ford, and SMU draws from all over the country- especially the Mid Atlantic and East Coast, lax central. Take a successful club team and translate it into a successful varsity team.

[smupony94]

I have to go with lacrosse too.

[davidsmu94]

Track is a no brainer. We have the facilities. We have a world class coach. We still have a reputation with the international kids, plus it helps the football team recruit the skill positions.

SMU track 2004 4th Place at NCAA championships

[davidsmu94]

I have gotten the "wink wink, nod nod" that Track and Field are on the way back and certainly got the impression it would be before 2010/2011.

[Boston Pony]

can't believe we will add any more men's sports. perhaps lacrosse for women, however i'm not sure there is pressure to add anything in the future. My daughter went to a number of Kelly Amonte's camps (she is now the Northwestern lax coach). Very impressive and probably one of two top coaches (any sport) that I have met over the years. Northwestern hired a top coach (probably for not much money) and within 4 years wins the first national championship of any kind (since the 1940s fencing title). She has since won three straight...

[ponyte]

FWIW, I would love to see SMU enter into cycling. We already have a great cycling uniform available (Thanks to SMU staff). SMU could sell the jersey and shorts and the cycling uniforms would become advertising (as cyclists around the country wear their SMU jersey and shorts when they ride). I have no idea of cost and resources needed to start a cycling program. I would assume it could be done on a reasonable budget and for both men and women. After cycling, I would vote for hockey.

[PonyKai]

FWIW, I would love to see SMU enter into cycling. We already have a great cycling uniform available (Thanks to SMU staff). SMU could sell the jersey and shorts and the cycling uniforms would become advertising (as cyclists around the country wear their SMU jersey and shorts when they ride). I have no idea of cost and resources needed to start a cycling program. I would assume it could be done on a reasonable budget and for both men and women. After cycling, I would vote for hockey.

As a player, I can safely tell you that we are a long ways from having a varsity hockey team. Don't hold your breath for the near term future.

[ponyte]

FWIW, I would love to see SMU enter into cycling. We already have a great cycling uniform available (Thanks to SMU staff). SMU could sell the jersey and shorts and the cycling uniforms would become advertising (as cyclists around the country wear their SMU jersey and shorts when they ride). I have no idea of cost and resources needed to start a cycling program. I would assume it could be done on a reasonable budget and for both men and women. After cycling, I would vote for hockey.

As a player, I can safely tell you that we are a long ways from having a varsity hockey team. Don't hold your breath for the near term future.

It is a wish at best I agree.

[EastStang]

The key factor is money. Lacrosse and field hockey might be a possibility. Many of the best lacrosse players also played field hockey in high school and excelled there as well. (At least here in DC area, the same girls seem to make All-Met lists in both sports). Field hockey is an Olympic sport, I don't believe lacrosse is (it was added as an experimental sport several years ago, but since its pretty much only played in the US and Canada, I think it didn't pass the universal test for permanent addition to the Olympics). Like cross country and track, you can use many of the same athletes and have them count for two sports. That would allow you to add men's sports like track and cross country without guilt. And having track would help football recruiting immensely for players who wanted to play in both sports. I wonder how many wide receivers and linemen have passed on SMU since we gave up track. Cutting men's track was very short-sighted. It also hurt our women's track team which dropped in national rankings after the change.

I noticed one thing today when I was looking at the William and Mary website. They have 21 sports - 11 women's and 10 men's. They are a state school, but a number of their athletes are from out of state and thus get out of state tuition. William and Mary has 5500 undergrads, not much more than SMU. They have a smaller endowment than SMU despite being 400 years old. What gives?