As part of a gender equity plan established in 1995, TheUniversity of Memphis is looking to begin play in women's softballfor the 2006 season.
Softball would become the eighth women's sport at The U of M,matching the number of men's programs.
Following the inaugural self-study report to the NCAA in1994-95, The University developed the gender equity plan, which,among other things, proposed to add two women's sports by 1999.
Women's soccer began play in 1996, but the development of thesecond sport has been slower.
According to the second-cycle self-study report to the NCAA,which was finalized just this month, The University originallychose to peruse softball, rather than women's swimming, in 1995. Atthat time, the plan was to begin play in softball in 1998-99.
The plan was altered, and a budget was established to begin playin 2002, however, the program was again put on hold.
Memphis reassessed and confirmed the decision in 2003 and nowseems poised to follow through.
The reason for the delays is simple, said Associate AthleticDirector Lynn Parkes.
"It was purely a financial issue," Parkes said. "We don't wantto start a sport unless we can do it and do it right. We don'tthink that is fair to the athletes."
Parkes estimates it would cost about $400,000 a year to run asoftball program, roughly comparable to the cost of fielding thebaseball program. According to the recent self-study report,baseball commanded $531,809 in various expenses during 2003.
Parkes is confident that such financial requirements can now bemet.
"It's going to be a stretch, but it's something we feel like weneed to do, so we're moving forward with it," Parkes said.
However, there is evidence that the financial resources will bemuch tighter now than they were 10 years ago.
The report showed in 1993, U of M Athletics produced a budgetsurplus $272,156. In 2003, the athletics department reported adeficit of roughly $5.26 million.
Also, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, the governingbody of all state-funded higher education institutions, is workingwith an increasingly dwindling budget. One of the THEC's long-termgoals is to make all athletics department at state-fundeduniversities completely self-sufficient, meaning they would be leftto cover their own losses.
Currently, The U of M Athletic Department is budgeted under TheUniversity's General and Education Budget.
Aside from financing, the softball project still has other holesin the infrastructure that must be filled.
"From the sense of starting it from the ground up, doingeverything from ordering shoes to locating the facility -- it's ahuge undertaking," Parkes said.
That undertaking includes everything from finding or creating aplaying venue to producing media guides and providing athleticscholarships.
Parkes said facility designs have been developed and a potentialSouth Campus site has been identified. The sport even has a sportsinformation director in place.
But before any more issues are resolved, one major hole willlikely be filled.
"Beginning to look for a coach and that sort of thing isprobably our next logical step," Parkes said. "Obviously, that's acritical part of it."
The new coach will encounter a vastly different conferencelandscape.
Of the nine established softball programs, four will leaveConference USA following the 2005 season. In 2006, Memphis wouldthen join the remaining five schools and four new programs --Central Florida, Marshall, Texas-El Paso and Tulsa.
Parkes said despite conference realignment next year, Memphis iscommitted to adding the sport.
"I think we're committed to starting the sport," Parkes said."It doesn't matter what other teams are in the conference.
"It's something we're committed to doing, and we're going tohonor that."
Along with Memphis, there are six current C-USA schools -- Army,Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette, TCU and Tulane -- that currentlydon't offer the sport.
