In a move that has students, athletes, coaches and administration alike buzzing, Cal State Monterey Bay has officially moved to NCAA Division II. After three years of provisional status, CSUMB athletic teams are now eligible to advance to championships on both a regional and national level. Superior individual athletic achievements will also be honored and rewarded due to the recognition of team and individual statistics. Now that CSUMB is considered to have an “active” status within the NCAA, they can also qualify for grants that the NCAA distributes throughout the CCAA conference.
CSUMB Athletics first became a member of the CCAA conference, on a provisional status, just three years ago. Coincidently, those freshman who came in for that inaugural year, are now finishing their senior seasons with the possibility to attend post-season play-offs. “All of the teams have worked hard to make the CSUMB name respected within this [CCAA] conference. I'm excited that we have new goals and possibilities this year - we've earned them,” stated volleyball senior, Brittany Etchings. She was the first CSUMB athlete to receive a conference honor when she was selected CCAA Athlete of the Week last fall.
With this move, many other Monterey Bay athletes will receive similar honors. More importantly than being individually recognized, athletes are excited to represent their University on a national level. It's every athletes dream to compete in a championship, and now that dream is very much a reality for Otter Athletes.
Being eligible for post-season play changes the mentality of athletes, coaches and the University. Cal State Monterey is now part of a larger community of incredibly competitive athletic programs like Chico State and Cal State L.A. The chance to be recognized on a national level puts CSUMB on the map, which will benefit the school academically as well.
Recognition of CSUMB and the athletic programs will spark interests of possible recruits and change recruiting from here on out. The potential to attend play-offs makes the University more appealing to athletes which could benefit the different sports programs in a huge way, and bring in athletes of the next level.
Fund-raising will also need to increase as there are many additional needs and expenses with the athletic budget. As part of the NCAA Division II requirements, CSUMB must award a minimum of $250,000 in scholarships to their athletes annually. That figure is just the minimum and doesn't even come close to the other teams in the CCAA. The average allocation of scholarship money for the other teams is approximately $490,000. “There is a huge need to help supplement the existing athletic budget and this will be the challenge to raise additional money from within the Monterey Peninsula,” said Larry Cline, Assistant Athletic Director for Development. “Our hope is to get out into the community to develop relationships and ask for the support. We're planning a comprehensive approach to help. Our bread and butter will be the annual Membership Campaign where we will be looking for annual gifts in the Otter Backer booster club. We will be organizing various special events and also contacting business in regard to corporate sponsorships and marketing opportunities.” said Cline.
Elated with the granting of permanent status, CSUMB Athletic Director Howard Gauthier stated, “We're ready to be a Division II member. We've met the criteria. We've added new facilities and we're upgrading old ones. We've added staff. We're ready – we have the infrastructure in place.”
As part of that new infrastructure, new floors and other renovations will be made to the basketball/volleyball courts in the coming months, and new baseball and softball fields will be debuted with the coming spring season. CSUMB has also made a commitment to Nike for new, and synchronized sports equipment from everything to jersey's to travel bags to individual sports needs. With this move, the face of Cal State Monterey Bay athletics will have a promising and undeniable change. Cal State Monterey Bay President Dianne Harrison is optimistic about these changes, stating: “We are delighted that CSUMB has been granted active status. Division II is a great fit for the university and for our community; it truly emphasizes a balance between athletics and academics.”
