Over the past 12 months, support for the sport of equestrian has surged with renewed enthusiasm from both NCAA membership as well as stakeholders in the equine industry. The National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) in collaboration with the NCAA oversees the sport of equestrian while under the Emerging Sports umbrella. With renewed focus on expansion of the sport, the NCEA has provided the foundation for a stronger support base for the sport to remain viable within the collegiate setting.
Dr. Leah Fiorentino, executive director of the NCEA responded to the CWA message. “Our initial efforts to reorganize our resources and implement a sound strategic plan for growth and expansion have been recognized by the NCAA,” said Fiorentino. “We are encouraged by the support we’ve received from the NCAA leadership as well as our colleagues involved with the other Olympic Sports. With the continued support of the NCAA we look forward to ensuring that equestrian will be part of the effort to maintain meaningful educational opportunities for women through athletics.”
In the fall of 2014, the CWA recommended that equestrian be dropped from the Emerging Sports list due to the limited growth in the number of teams sponsoring equestrian. Representatives from Division I and Division II rejected the CWA recommendation in support of maintaining participation opportunities for women. Multiple updates on the progress of the sport from the NCEA leadership offered a new perspective on equestrian and convinced the CWA to reconsider its earlier action.
“Receiving the support of the CWA based on this latest action is crucial to the continued growth and development of the sport on the collegiate level,” said Nancy Post, senior woman administrator at Baylor University. “Our work to expand the sport has been hampered by the uncertainty of future support from the NCAA. This public statement from the NCAA clears the way for several schools to move forward with the addition of equestrian as a varsity sport on their campus.”
Part of the NCEA’s new structure includes a National Advisory Board (NAB) comprised of corporate leaders, philanthropists and equine industry experts. The goal of the NAB is to develop financial support to make equestrian the first financially-independent non-revenue generating collegiate sport. The board’s efforts have shown early success in the form of grants to help sustain current NCEA teams, as well as providing financial strategies for the development of new equestrian teams across the nation.
“Working with the NAB has sharpened our focus and allowed us to adopt a more progressive and strategic approach to expanding the sport across the country,” said Kevin Hurley, associate athletic director at Texas A&M University.
“The NAB is directly involved in the campus meetings that we arrange with new schools that have shown interest in sponsoring equestrian.” commented Hurley.
Gathering support from stakeholders from the NCAA and the USOC has positioned equestrian for a successful future in the world of collegiate sports.
For more information about the NCEA, please visit http://www.collegiateequestrian.com.
About the National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA)
The National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA), a non-profit corporation, was created as a governing body to advance the sport of Equestrian for women at the collegiate level. In 1998, Equestrian was identified and adopted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Committee of Women’s Athletics (CWA) as an emerging sport for women at the Division I and II levels. The NCEA, in concert with the mission and vision of the NCAA, is committed to providing collegiate opportunities for female equestrian student-athletes to compete at the highest level, while embracing equity, diversity and promoting academic and competitive excellence.