The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- December 20, 1999

Women's soccer helps fuel increase of nearly 5,000 participants in 1997-98

The number of student-athletes participating in NCAA-sponsored sports in 1997-98 increased by nearly 5,000 from 1996-97.

The annual NCAA Participation Statistics Report indicates 338,796 student-athletes participated in intercollegiate athletics in 1997-98, compared to 333,889 in 1996-97. Significant gains were seen primarily in women's sports, but participation figures for men show increases from the 1996-97 academic year as well.

Women's sports participation showed a continued increase, rising 3.3 percent with 135,110 participants in 1997-98. There were a total of 203,696 men participating in sports in 1997-98, up .24 percent.

Overall, the sport with the largest increase in sponsorship was women's soccer with 724 teams, an increase of 30 squads. The second largest women's sport by team participation was golf, which reported an increase of 26 teams. In men's sports, cross country and soccer showed the largest increase in sponsorship, each increasing by four teams.

The 1997-98 participation rates data were compiled using an improved methodology from previous years. The data from the 1995-96 and 1996-97 academic years were recalculated using this new method, which more accurately represents the actual participation rates of NCAA member institutions. Therefore, the data for 1995-96 and 1996-97 will not necessarily match the data for corresponding years in previous publications of this report.

Top increase in soccer

Women's soccer attracted the most participant growth as 871 more student-athletes participated in 1997-98 than in 1996-97. Other sports that showed significant growth included women's rowing (566), women's indoor track (472), women's outdoor track (421), women's cross country (373), women's lacrosse (336) and men's cross country (331).

In 1997-98, there were more participants in football than in any other sport. There were approximately 54,793 student-athletes playing football in all divisions. This total is slightly less than the 54,954 participants reported in 1996-97. The second largest sport by participation was baseball, which reported 24,806 participants. Men's outdoor track (19,349), men's soccer (17,204) and women's soccer (15,987) were the third, fourth and fifth largest sports by participation, respectively.

The most-sponsored sport in all divisions was women's basketball, with teams at 956 institutions, followed by men's basketball, sponsored at 938 institutions, and women's volleyball with 915 teams.

In Division I, the sport with the largest increase in teams was women's soccer with 217 institutions sponsoring the sport, up from 233. Of the 21 women's NCAA-sponsored sports, 17 sports in Division I showed increases and four sports were unchanged between 1996-97 and 1997-98.

Overall, Division I reported the most participants with 141,062, followed by Division III with 126,624 participants.

The largest team declines in Division I were in men's rifle and men's lacrosse, decreasing by four and three teams, respectively.

Overall, tennis had the largest decline in teams and in participants. Men's tennis reported 757 teams in 1997-98, a decrease of 10 teams, and women's tennis reported 855 teams, a decrease of three teams. The total number of student-athletes participating in men's and women's tennis decreased from 16,230 to 15,741. Also showing declines were men's rifle (10 teams), men's basketball (three teams), men's volleyball (three teams) and baseball (three teams).

Divisions II and III

There were 71,110 participants in Division II in 1997-98, an increase of 3,332 student-athletes. The most-sponsored sports in Division II were men's basketball with 276 teams and women's basketball with 271 teams. The Division II sport with the largest gain in teams was women's golf, which increased from 47 teams to 58. Other sports that showed large team sponsorship growth in Division II included women's soccer (eight), women's swimming and diving (four), women's tennis (four), women's track and field (four) and men's cross country (three).

The largest increase in participants in Division II was found in women's soccer. A total of 3,251 women participated in 1997-98, an increase of 232 student-athletes.

Division III sponsored the most women's squash teams with 19.

Overall, there were 126,624 student-athletes participating in Division III, an increase of 1,355 participants.

Among emerging sports, women's ice hockey had the most growth with an eight-team increase. A total of 635 women participated in ice hockey in 1997-98, an increase of 37 percent.

The statistics provided by the NCAA are derived from self-reported data supplied by the member institutions.

No specific checks have been made to verify the information provided by the institutions. While this information provides a good indication of general trends, it may not be precise.