Friday, June 16, 2017
SALT LAKE CITY—The University of Utah will begin sponsoring men's lacrosse as an NCAA sport starting in 2018-19, Utah director of athletics Chris Hill announced today. The University of Utah Board of Trustees approved the decision. The men's lacrosse team will continue to compete as a club sport in 2017-18.
Men's lacrosse is the U.'s first completely new NCAA sport since women's soccer was added back in 1995. The Utes began fielding a beach volleyball team this past spring, drawing its members and coaches from the existing volleyball program.
With the addition of men's lacrosse, Utah will support 20 total NCAA sports—eight men's and 12 women's. "A lot of research and effort went into our decision to add men's lacrosse," said Hill. "With several great club sports expressing an interest in achieving NCAA status, a working committee was formed to determine the parameters for adding a new sport. Among the factors considered were the potential impact on our other teams, financial self sustainability, compliance with Title IX and popularity in our community. Men's lacrosse met those criteria.
It is the first endowed program for University of Utah athletics. Nowadays, adding sports at the college level almost always requires an endowment, which resonated with the University-appointed committee."
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