Applications for the 2010-11 NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Grant Program are available online. Conferences and institutions are asked to submit their online applications no later than February 15, 2010.

All grant specifications and requirements, as well as the grant application template, are available online. Conferences and institutions can access the system by using the specific username and password they were provided in early November.

The grant program was established in 2007 to encourage institutions and conferences to submit marketing proposals designed to grow women’s basketball “from the inside out and at a grass-roots level.”  Over its first two years, the grant program has awarded about $1.5 million in grants to 26 Division I institutions and nine conferences, with about $750,000 issued each year.

Last year, 75 member institutions and conferences submitted proposals. Grants awarded to:

• Auburn University
• Big South Conference
• Cornell University
• East Tennessee State University
• Eastern Michigan University
• Iowa State University
• Patriot League
• San Diego State University
• University of California, Los Angeles
• University of California, Riverside
• University of California, Santa Barbara
• University of Hartford
• University of Kansas
• University of Miami (Florida)
• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• University of South Carolina, Columbia
• West Coast Conference
• Western Athletic Conference

“We have seen the grant program achieve outstanding results,” said NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Vice President Sue Donohoe. “The program has proven that when resources are allocated and efforts are focused to promote women’s basketball, it can provide a meaningful return on the investment.”

The marketing initiative concept was generated from the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Discussion Group, chaired by the late NCAA President Myles Brand. The group consisted of head coaches, media representatives, former student-athletes, and conference, institutional and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association administrators.  This initiative has been strongly supported by the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee and the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Issues Committee. For further information about the program, contact Deneé Barracato at dbarracato@ncaa.org or 317/917-6643.