National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

August 3, 1998

Fencing, wrestling among sports to benefit from USOC grants

The United States Olympic Committee has announced the second round of conference grants designed to promote and preserve Olympic sports within the NCAA.

The USOC's Executive Committee announced six first-time or supplemental grants to aid NCAA conferences with funding for Olympic sports. The grants are part of the USOC's $8 million, four-year pilot program that was initiated last year. The total amount of the current grants, which will aid five conferences, is more than $1.15 million.

Conferences receiving the most recent grants are:

  • The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC)/U.S. Fencing Association, $250,000 to revitalize fencing, gain greater media exposure for the ECAC fencing champions and to provide security for existing programs. Also, $216,000 to enhance the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association championships, strengthen existing programs, ensure survival of programs and improve programs to a national level competitively. Also, $30,000 to enhance existing synchronized swimming programs and, with additional funding, to bring other institutions into the ECAC championships.

  • The Eastern Wrestling League (EWL), $63,000 to add two programs to the existing program.

  • The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), $45,000 to add the Bethel College women's ice hockey program to the conference.

  • The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), $400,000 to provide incentives in men's gymnastics, to elevate the sport, increase the number of athletes, encourage collegiate sponsorship of the sport and help national governing bodies achieve their goals.

  • The Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference (NPFHC), $150,000 to establish a conference championship that will enhance existing programs and help develop new ones.

    The funds are intended to enhance endangered Olympic sports at the college level and to increase the number of participating athletes, varsity intercollegiate programs and conference championships in those sports while also permitting NCAA institutions to meet their gender-equity objectives.

    The ECAC, EWL and MIAC were among the first round of grant recipients that were announced last June when 13 grants involving 11 Olympic sports were awarded. The conferences had requested additional funding from the supplemental pool.

    The first-round grants totaled more than $5 million.