FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[tigerFanAlso2]

I'd rather go to a 9 game schedule than bring SVA into the conference.
If VAW does start football, they will dominate the ODAC within 3 years, just like basketball.
So much f'ball talent in the area and they can get the locals, they can live at home, get a good education for not so much $$$$ and -play college f'ball. I hope they do it !!!!

[jknezek]

I'd rather go to a 9 game schedule than bring SVA into the conference.
If VAW does start football, they will dominate the ODAC within 3 years, just like basketball.
So much f'ball talent in the area and they can get the locals, they can live at home, get a good education for not so much $$$$ and -play college f'ball. I hope they do it !!!!

You might, but the kids putting in the effort on the field probably don't want to be shortchanged 10% of their college career for no good reason. Va Wes would be in a rich recruiting area, but so is CNU only 30 miles away. CNU is solid, but not exactly national championship material so there is more too it than simply location.

In basketball 2 studs make a national title contender. Football is a different animal.

[HSCTiger fan]

Personally I hope a current ODAC member steps up. I see that as likely as adding another football only team.

[tigerFanAlso2]

Jk

I mentioned they would dominate the ODAC, far cry from competing for nationship championship. Admissions standards at CNU have nothing in common with VAW. If they want to play football and want to be good, they would be really good by ODAC standards, which we all know are not very high on a national level.

[jknezek]

Jk

I mentioned they would dominate the ODAC, far cry from competing for nationship championship. Admissions standards at CNU have nothing in common with VAW. If they want to play football and want to be good, they would be really good by ODAC standards, which we all know are not very high on a national level.

My problem with this is I've heard it bandied about before. The truth is Va Wes is generally a mediocre ODAC athletic department. They finish around the middle every year in the Commissioner's Cup and I don't think they have ever finished higher than 3rd in the overall. They did finish first in men's last year, for the first time ever, but even so they didn't win a single men's sport. They finished second in 4, making up a lot of ground, but generally speaking they aren't the ODAC athletic powerhouse people think they should be.

[HSCTiger fan]

If a team is going to be successful in football they will have recruit AND retain. You cannot win with a bunch of underclass men.  Especially is those underclass men are dumbasses.  Regardless of their admission standards if SVU or VaWes brings a football team into the ODAC they'll have to recruit talent that sticks around to be dominate.

[hasanova]

Roanoke and Lynchburg, are you listening?  Talk about middle of the geographic footprint!

[Scots13]

Roanoke and Lynchburg, are you listening?  Talk about middle of the geographic footprint!

Hasa,

Lynchburg has been thinking of changing its name from "Lynchburg College" to "Lynchburg University" or "University of Lynchburg". Send them an email and tell them other ODAC'ers will only permit it if they add football.

[hasanova]

Roanoke and Lynchburg, are you listening?  Talk about middle of the geographic footprint!

Hasa,

Lynchburg has been thinking of changing its name from "Lynchburg College" to "Lynchburg University" or "University of Lynchburg". Send them an email and tell them other ODAC'ers will only permit it if they add football.

I'm sure a letter from me would carry the weight of a feather.  lol

LC actually fielded a college football team from 1917-32, but stopped during the Great Depression years.  There have been a few attempts to revive it, most recently in 2008, but say the cost is too high ... some sources cite $10 million.  Roanoke has discussed it also over the years.

[jknezek]

There have been a few attempts to revive it, most recently in 2008, but say the cost is too high ... some sources cite $10 million.  Roanoke has discussed it also over the years.

That number seems right to me depending on what you have to build. I know Lynchburg has a beautiful stadium but they use it for soccer in the fall and lacrosse in the spring. You'd have to build additional facilities to accommodate soccer and to create practice surfaces. Cheaper to build a new soccer stadium than football! Then you probably need extra locker and training facilities. No other teams have the participation of football, so if you haven't built in the past for that upper bound, likely you don't have infrastructure in place to handle it. Finally it's the largest staff of any sport, so you are talking hiring 2 years before the start of the team hits campus.

It's a huge investment. I think it pays off, especially given the falling percentage of male attendance, but you really need some donors to get it going.

[HSCTiger fan]

Here's the Indy Star's list of the costs to outfit a single player:

-Helmet: $285
- Face mask: $20
- Mouth guard: $5
- Chin strap: $10
- Shoulder pads: $350
- Game jersey: $95
- Practice jersey: $40
- T-Shirts: $24 (2 shirts @ $12/ea.)
- Gloves: $200 (8 pairs @ $25/pair)
- Game pants: $85- Practice pants: $40
- Knee brace: $1,200 (2 @ $600/ea.)
- Pant pads: $20- Hex pad girdle: $32
- Shoes: $275 (5 pairs -- 3 for practice, 2 styles for games -- @ $55/ea.)
- Socks: $50 (10 pairs @ $5/ea.)

HSC does not provide shoes, socks, knee braces, or gloves. That is still leaves $1006.00 per player. Figure 125 players and you've got to spend 125k just to suit your team.

Having said that - if your college wants a team it could cut some costs. Greensboro plays at a High School. Lack of a quality facility did not stop Averett from fielding a team.  W&L as I understand uses the same weight room as the rest of the students. I know McDaniel and Kenyon did when my son visited on a recruiting trip in 2010. There's only one training room at HSC that I know of. As far as paying coaches, someone hungry to be a head coach would take the job for a cut rate salary. I'm not saying it's ideal. I'm saying 10 million seems to be the all in approach vs piecing it together.

Further if any of these Virginia based ODAC schools create a football program they are assured 5 games a year which get alumni back on campus. Also with 3 or 4 of those being ODAC home games they are assured some excellent gates. 9000 people at 5 games with concessions is $100k. That nearly pays you back on suiting each player. It could also be now or never. If ODAC adds SVU there may not be room to add another team down the road.  Then you're face with being independent and/or playing in a far away conference.  I was just reading that 65-70 players net about 2 million in tuition for a school. D3 football is profitable.

[hscathletics]

Virginia Wesleyan's new president is the man Wesley named its stadium after a few years back. Probably would consider him a football supporter.

I know Lynchburg has looked into it several times. New AD is from CNU as well so I wouldn't be surprised if he pushes for it at some point.

[hscathletics]

There have been a few attempts to revive it, most recently in 2008, but say the cost is too high ... some sources cite $10 million.  Roanoke has discussed it also over the years.

That number seems right to me depending on what you have to build. I know Lynchburg has a beautiful stadium but they use it for soccer in the fall and lacrosse in the spring. You'd have to build additional facilities to accommodate soccer and to create practice surfaces. Cheaper to build a new soccer stadium than football! Then you probably need extra locker and training facilities. No other teams have the participation of football, so if you haven't built in the past for that upper bound, likely you don't have infrastructure in place to handle it. Finally it's the largest staff of any sport, so you are talking hiring 2 years before the start of the team hits campus.

It's a huge investment. I think it pays off, especially given the falling percentage of male attendance, but you really need some donors to get it going.

Their current facilities in virtually every aspect aren't big enough to support a football team. Stadium too small, no locker room space for another team (teams already share locker rooms as it is), additional referees locker room space would be needed, weight room is already too small for what they currently have, athletic training space would need to be increased, additional offices would need to be added.

[hscathletics]

Here's the Indy Star's list of the costs to outfit a single player:

-Helmet: $285
- Face mask: $20
- Mouth guard: $5
- Chin strap: $10
- Shoulder pads: $350
- Game jersey: $95
- Practice jersey: $40
- T-Shirts: $24 (2 shirts @ $12/ea.)
- Gloves: $200 (8 pairs @ $25/pair)
- Game pants: $85- Practice pants: $40
- Knee brace: $1,200 (2 @ $600/ea.)
- Pant pads: $20- Hex pad girdle: $32
- Shoes: $275 (5 pairs -- 3 for practice, 2 styles for games -- @ $55/ea.)
- Socks: $50 (10 pairs @ $5/ea.)

Some of those prices are pretty high. Some of the Riddell helmets and shoulder pads don't even retail at $285 and $350! And those are some rather expensive knee braces.
http://www.riddell.com/shop/on-field-equipment/helmets.html
http://www.riddell.com/shop/on-field-equipment/shoulder-pads.html

[hscathletics]

Having said that - if your college wants a team it could cut some costs. Greensboro plays at a High School. Lack of a quality facility did not stop Averett from fielding a team.  W&L as I understand uses the same weight room as the rest of the students. I know McDaniel and Kenyon did when my son visited on a recruiting trip in 2010. There's only one training room at HSC that I know of. As far as paying coaches, someone hungry to be a head coach would take the job for a cut rate salary. I'm not saying it's ideal. I'm saying 10 million seems to be the all in approach vs piecing it together.

Further if any of these Virginia based ODAC schools create a football program they are assured 5 games a year which get alumni back on campus. Also with 3 or 4 of those being ODAC home games they are assured some excellent gates. 9000 people at 5 games with concessions is $100k. That nearly pays you back on suiting each player. It could also be now or never. If ODAC adds SVU there may not be room to add another team down the road.  Then you're face with being independent and/or playing in a far away conference.  I was just reading that 65-70 players net about 2 million in tuition for a school. D3 football is profitable.

And yes there is only one training room at H-SC, but we also have half the sports compared to schools like Roanoke, Lynchburg, and Virginia Wesleyan. Technically two, but the training room in Kirby is only open for basketball games and practices, it doesn't have "office" hours.

And 9,000 at 5 games? If you mean 9,000 average, that's way too high. Generally there is only one game a year amongst all the ODAC schools that reaches 9,000, and that's HSC vs. RMC. If you mean 9,000 total for 5 games, that's way too low.