2008 Woodie Awards
D-I Redhawks without a nest
In first independent, D-I year, home games will be scarce
Taylor Olson
Issue: 7/14/08 Section: Sports
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Big changes will take shape as the Athletic Department's budget more than doubles to $9 million. No longer a Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference member, the Redhawks will play Division I schools as an independent, conference-less university. Seattle U's bid for West Coast Conference membership was rejected when member schools said last year they weren't interested in expanding the conference yet.
Big names will come in the form of a schedule heavy with Division I opponents, in particular for the women's and men's soccer teams. They were chosen by the administration to be "fast-tracked" to D-I status.
The NCAA gives every school making the transition to Division I the chance to pick two sports to "fast-track," according to Jason Behenna, sports information director at Seattle U.
Both soccer teams will be able to compete in the NCAA postseason in the 2010 season, while all other Redhawk varsity teams won't be eligible until the 2012-2013 season. It helps that the university also has the facilities to host soccer matches; other Redhawk teams like track and baseball will take longer to ready for competition because they don't have a confirmed place to compete.
In fact, home games will be few and far between this year, with men's soccer, for example, playing just five games on Championship Field. Two of those matches will take place before classes start.
The lack of a home audience is one aspect of the move administrators say will be particularly challenging.
"The downside is that there's going to be a lot less home games," Erin Engelhardt, assistant athletic director, told The Spectator in February. "But I think we should just pump up those big ones."
Women's soccer will kick off their season traveling to Utah for matches with Weber State and Utah State in August. The women will also play only five home matches on Championship Field this season.
Men's soccer will face nine D-I teams this year, including Portland and Cal State University, Bakersfield. They finished last season with a 15-3-1 record.
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