Do you know how many undergraduate collegiate varsity cricket teams exist in the United States?
ONE.
You read that right. Haverford College in Pennsylvania is the only American institution that has an official varsity cricket team (more on them later).
As we learned from Avinash’s journey earlier, America has numerous cricket clubs across the country. In addition, there is the National College Cricket Association and the American College Cricket League. However, neither are officially affiliated with USA’s official body to regulate university sport, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
If cricket has any chance of survival and wants to be considered a professional sport in the USA, it has to make an effort to become a part of the NCAA sporting fraternity.
What is the NCAA?
The NCAA is a member-led non-profit organization that regulates university sports in the United States.
According to the NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Research, the 2022-2023 academic year boasted a record 523,662 collegiate athletes across 19,923 teams, 1100 schools, and 24 sports resulting in 90 national championships. 65% of USA’s 2024 Paris Olympics contingent were college athletes who previously competed in the NCAA.
Here is the complete list of USA’s 2024 Olympians and which university/division they represented at the university level.
A Brief History Lesson
In the 1904 American college football season, 18 college athletes died and another 159 were injured.
Something had to be done.
So, President Theodore Roosevelt called upon the major universities to regulate football. Several athletic leaders met, 62 colleges signed the inaugural charter, and the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS) was born, which would later be renamed as the NCAA in 1910.
In 1973, NCAA’s current structure of Division I-III sports was established.
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Why Do We Care?
Funding and Facilities.
College sports is the heart of American sports. It has crazy fan following and can generate tremendous financial growth.
The 2006 Rose Bowl between Texas and USC, for example, generated 35.6 million viewers. Michael Jordan was a UNC star before he went off to the Chicago Bulls. Most recently, Caitlin Clark from the University of Iowa helped change the landscape of women’s basketball through her performances at the NCAA championships.
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The Funding
In 2022, Division I NCAA institutions reported a revenue of $17.5 billion, $11.2 billion of which was generated by the athletic departments themselves and $6.3 billion came from government and student fees.
In the same year, Division I institutions also reported spending $17.1 billion. $3 billion of which were spent on student financial aid and $3.3 billion was spent on coach compensation.
Apart from student financial aid and coach compensation, NCAA helps fund sports camps, facilities, medical, recruiting, game travel, etc.
Note: This is only Division I data. More money is spend overall in NCAA sports if we also consider Division II & III.
How NCAA Include a New Sport?
I wanted to learn how a new sport can become a part of the NCAA program.
The Emerging Sports Program for Women is one such program that aims to provide more athletic opportunities for women and can help a new sport achieve NCAA championship status.
The Emerging Sports Program for Women
To learn how cricket can be part of the NCAA, I reached out to the NCAA themselves and asked the following questions:
- What is the process for a sport to become NCAA recognized?
- What is the timeline like, and is there data available for how long it took each sport to complete the NCAA eligibility (both men’s and women’s)?
- Has any organization applied for cricket to become a NCAA sport?
According to the Associate Director of Communications of the NCAA,
“Any sport can be considered” to be a part of the NCAA. However, she had not yet “heard of [cricket’s] application for the emerging sports program.”
After a sporting organization submits the initial application,
“The Committee on Women’s Athletics will review the proposal to determine if it is granted entrance to the Emerging Sports for Women program.”
How Can An Emerging Sport Reach NCAA Championship Status?
She guided me to this document, which outlines how an emerging sport can reach championship status. Here is the breakdown:
- At least 20 NCAA active members must sponsor the sport at varsity or club level
- These members need to demonstrate at least 5 intercollegiate contests during an academic year
- At least 10 letters of commitment are needed from members to sponsor the sport at the varsity level in the year under review
- The institution’s chancellor/president, the director of athletics, and senior women administrator must sign the commitment
- Supporting materials for the application include:
- Budget, Roster size, full-time/part-time coaches, description of facilities, competition opportunities, ‘relationship with sport governing body/organization’
- Suggested NCAA regulations (Playing Rules, Financial Aid limits, etc.)
- Data (Injury Rates, Health/Safety, Ethnicity/Race, High school participation rates, etc.)
- The organization can also submit additional documents from the U.S. Olympic/Paralympic committees, professional sport organizations, etc.
A sport has 10 years from the time it becomes an emerging women’s sport to get to 40 active members, after which it can apply for the NCAA championship status.
What is the Application Process?
A representative of the national governing body must submit an interest form and an official application. Applications open between May 1-August 1 each year, and a sport can apply every two years if is not accepted.
Her final question to me was,
“Have you worked with the governing body for Cricket in the U.S.?
I have not yet worked with the governing body for Cricket in the U.S., but if we are serious about making a collective push for cricket to be included in the NCAA, one of us has to reach out to USA cricket and officially apply for the Emerging Sports program.
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List of Sports in the NCAA (2024)
Beach volleyball (2015), bowling (2003), water polo (2000), ice hockey (1996), and rowing (1996) have all achieved NCAA championship status recently. Women’s wrestling is on track to become the next one.
Currently, acrobatics & tumbling, equestrian, rugby, stunt, and triathlon are other sports to have become part of the emerging program.
Here is the complete of sports in the NCAA:
- American football, basketball, baseball, soccer, cross country, gymnastics, swimming, ice hockey, lacrosse, tennis, track, wrestling, water polo, rifle, skiing, fencing, crew, squash, sailing, and bowling.
Did You Know that America Has Only one NCAA Institution with Cricket?
When I looked at the data of NCAA’s composition of sports in 2023-2024 and the NCAA directory, I was pleasantly surprised to find one university come up in Men’s cricket—Haverford College.
According to an ESPN article, Haverford’s “cricket team also has a unique quirk: It’s the only collegiate varsity team in the country.”
Cricket has a rich history at Haverford College dating back to the 1850s. Kamran Khan, a former Pakistan and USA player, has helped coach the team and increase its popularity in recent decades.
As we can see from their recruiting video here, the university funds the facilities and equipment, a major benefit of being an NCAA sport.
Final Thoughts: Are Things Moving in the Right Direction for USA Cricket?
Apart from USA cricket’s administrative issues, cricket seems to be moving in the right direction in America.
Major League Cricket (MLC) has had a couple of successful season, US co-hosted the 2024 T20 World Cup World Cup, and cricket is now a part of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Support from the Indian diaspora, IPL teams, and Australian partnerships have all proved to be fruitful, and the MLC has largely avoided going the way of previous failed attempts to bring cricket to the US.
The initial impetus has been provided, but it has still not become a part of the general American sporting experience.
Is NCAA the only way cricket can grow in America?
No, pickleball became the ‘fastest growing’ game in America without going through the NCAA route, but I do not see cricket following that route anytime soon.
Lots of promising players are coming up in the American circuit. However, if financial aid, proper facilities, and incentive to continue playing cricket are not provided, talent may switch to other sports.
Therefore, if cricket has to succeed or even stay remotely relevant in the American market, it has to break through the American college market first.
****
That was my tidbits, what do you think should be done to grow cricket in America? Comment below and share ahead. Thanks for reading!
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Image Credit: Image generated with assistance from AI (Grok 2.0) and Canva
© Copyright @Nitesh Mathur and Broken Cricket Dreams, LLC 2023. Originally published on 08/17/2024. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Broken Cricket Dreams with appropriate and specific direction to the original content (i.e. linked to the exact post/article).
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