National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCAA News Archive - 2007
« back to 2007 | Back to NCAA News Archive Index
Sharing the experience
Program builds on women’s basketball’s familial nature to grow the game
Program builds on women’s basketball’s familial nature to grow the game
|
By Josh Centor
The NCAA News
The NCAA News
Although it’s the middle of the college basketball season, dozens of coaches and athletics administrators recently took time to discuss some of the issues they face in marketing the women’s game.
In conjunction with North Carolina State University; Boston College; and Texas A&M University, College Station; the NCAA and the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators hosted three Share the Experience events last month to facilitate an idea exchange among schools of all shapes and sizes.
“Share the Experience came about when one of our board members traveled to a game last season to watch another program’s operation,” said Trip Durham, associate director of athletics at Elon University and president of the NACMA board of directors. “Why can’t more administrators see games in other venues, get some ideas and take them back to their own campus?”
NACMA pushed its idea to the NCAA, and a partnership was born.
“We’re tickled to death anytime we can partner with the NCAA, so it was a natural for us,” Durham said. “At the end of the day, we try to create as many benefits for our members as possible, and Share the Experience certainly helps us do that.”
The benefits didn’t go unnoticed by representatives from NCAA institutions who took part in the initiative.
“I thought it was great,” said Mark Hodgkin, director of marketing and promotions at Division II Bryant University. “I didn’t know what to expect and it was better than I imagined. It was great to meet people who do the same job at different schools and see how they deal with the challenges.”
Hodgkin attended the session at Boston College and shared the table with athletics administrators from that Division I institution, as well as representatives from Villanova University, Wheelock College, Simmons College, Regis College (Massachusetts), Newbury College and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
“It was definitely good to have some Division I schools there and see how they do it in the big leagues,” Hodgkin said. “I filled out three or four sheets with ideas about how to get the community involved. I definitely left with some tangible ideas for the future.”
The idea behind Share the Experience was two-fold: to help institutions brainstorm ideas about how to increase the visibility of women’s basketball on their campuses and in their communities, and also to create relationships and resources for athletics administrators in similar geographic locations.
“The concept was to find out how campuses are promoting women’s basketball and to discuss the opportunities and challenges,” said Mary Eiland, NCAA associate director of promotions and events. “The second purpose was a professional-development opportunity for those individuals who market the sport. It gave them a chance to share best practices with each other and to get to know one another.”
One of the issues discussed at all three meetings was the challenge marketing administrators face in attracting fans to women’s basketball games.
“We just can’t get many people to the games,” Hodgkin said. “They see it as less exciting and it’s hard to generate interest.”
Bryant plays its men’s and women’s basketball games as doubleheaders and has seen an increase in attendance at women’s contests due to fan support for the men’s program. Other institutions discussed outreach with community groups such as Girl Scouts and youth basketball teams that has helped introduce a younger demographic to the stands.
“If you get a bunch of 10- to 13-year-old girls in the stands and they’re screaming, that adds a lot of excitement,” said Boston College head women’s basketball coach Cathy Inglese. “I think it’s a family atmosphere and I think the younger kids relate to our players.”
Each of the three sites hosted a morning or afternoon meeting, a facilities tour and a networking dinner before sharing the game-day experience with attendees.
Marketing in action
University of North Carolina, Asheville, Athletics Director Janet Cone found the experience rewarding. She especially enjoyed being able to share the game-day experience with her colleagues as North Carolina State hosted Boston College in an Atlantic Coast Conference showdown.
“I think it was beneficial that we spent time together in the morning and got to go behind the scenes for the game afterward,” Cone said. “We got to see the marketing of women’s basketball in action.”
Cone thought the experience was so important that she and a couple of colleagues left Asheville after a home basketball game on Saturday afternoon and made the five-hour drive to Raleigh to arrive by Sunday’s meeting.
“I took our marketing director and director of compliance because they’re younger than I am and I thought it would be a great experience for them to learn from some other folks and see what N.C. State does. We all learned a lot,” Cone said.
A former college basketball coach, Cone started the program at Samford University before making the move to athletics administration.
“I coached for many years and I have a passion and love for this sport. I’m always looking for ways to help UNC Asheville and grow the game of women’s basketball,” Cone said.
That’s exactly the type of enthusiasm and feedback the NCAA’s Eiland and the other event organizers want.
“Administrators on campus have resources available to them from the national office and from peers to help promote women’s basketball. It’s just a matter of keeping open communication about those resources,” Eiland said. “It’s amazing how different the situations are among all three divisions and even within a division. You get to see all the hats people wear. We had one baseball coach who was responsible for marketing women’s basketball and another staff that has three or four individuals working on promoting the game.”
There is a varying degree of necessity for resources, as some programs have thousands of fans showing up for women’s basketball games while other programs struggle to put 100 fans in the seats.
“The product usually stands on its own pretty well,” Hodgkin said. “The problem is getting the people there the first time. Once you do that, you have a good chance of getting them back.”
Cone was able to leave North Carolina State with practical ideas she will try to implement on her own campus. Specifically, she liked how the school has a boisterous student section standing at halfcourt. The students were close to the action and created an atmosphere UNC Ashville games don’t have — yet.
“We have to work really hard to get students to our games. We’re trying to learn what other schools are doing and we’ll see if it works for us,” Cone said.
With a great deal of positive feedback surrounding the Share the Experience initiative, Eiland said it’s likely there will be more campus visits next winter.
“We’re going to make a plan for next year,” she said. “It’s just a matter of finding out logistically how we can reach the most people and what’s the right time of the season to do it.”
Participants at the North Carolina State version of Share the Experience posed for a photo after the Wolfpack hosted Boston College January 28. The initiative gave administrators a chance to share ideas about marketing the game to local and regional audiences and building a fan base that will support the program.
In conjunction with North Carolina State University; Boston College; and Texas A&M University, College Station; the NCAA and the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators hosted three Share the Experience events last month to facilitate an idea exchange among schools of all shapes and sizes.
“Share the Experience came about when one of our board members traveled to a game last season to watch another program’s operation,” said Trip Durham, associate director of athletics at Elon University and president of the NACMA board of directors. “Why can’t more administrators see games in other venues, get some ideas and take them back to their own campus?”
NACMA pushed its idea to the NCAA, and a partnership was born.
“We’re tickled to death anytime we can partner with the NCAA, so it was a natural for us,” Durham said. “At the end of the day, we try to create as many benefits for our members as possible, and Share the Experience certainly helps us do that.”
The benefits didn’t go unnoticed by representatives from NCAA institutions who took part in the initiative.
“I thought it was great,” said Mark Hodgkin, director of marketing and promotions at Division II Bryant University. “I didn’t know what to expect and it was better than I imagined. It was great to meet people who do the same job at different schools and see how they deal with the challenges.”
Hodgkin attended the session at Boston College and shared the table with athletics administrators from that Division I institution, as well as representatives from Villanova University, Wheelock College, Simmons College, Regis College (Massachusetts), Newbury College and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
“It was definitely good to have some Division I schools there and see how they do it in the big leagues,” Hodgkin said. “I filled out three or four sheets with ideas about how to get the community involved. I definitely left with some tangible ideas for the future.”
The idea behind Share the Experience was two-fold: to help institutions brainstorm ideas about how to increase the visibility of women’s basketball on their campuses and in their communities, and also to create relationships and resources for athletics administrators in similar geographic locations.
“The concept was to find out how campuses are promoting women’s basketball and to discuss the opportunities and challenges,” said Mary Eiland, NCAA associate director of promotions and events. “The second purpose was a professional-development opportunity for those individuals who market the sport. It gave them a chance to share best practices with each other and to get to know one another.”
One of the issues discussed at all three meetings was the challenge marketing administrators face in attracting fans to women’s basketball games.
“We just can’t get many people to the games,” Hodgkin said. “They see it as less exciting and it’s hard to generate interest.”
Bryant plays its men’s and women’s basketball games as doubleheaders and has seen an increase in attendance at women’s contests due to fan support for the men’s program. Other institutions discussed outreach with community groups such as Girl Scouts and youth basketball teams that has helped introduce a younger demographic to the stands.
“If you get a bunch of 10- to 13-year-old girls in the stands and they’re screaming, that adds a lot of excitement,” said Boston College head women’s basketball coach Cathy Inglese. “I think it’s a family atmosphere and I think the younger kids relate to our players.”
Each of the three sites hosted a morning or afternoon meeting, a facilities tour and a networking dinner before sharing the game-day experience with attendees.
Marketing in action
University of North Carolina, Asheville, Athletics Director Janet Cone found the experience rewarding. She especially enjoyed being able to share the game-day experience with her colleagues as North Carolina State hosted Boston College in an Atlantic Coast Conference showdown.
“I think it was beneficial that we spent time together in the morning and got to go behind the scenes for the game afterward,” Cone said. “We got to see the marketing of women’s basketball in action.”
Cone thought the experience was so important that she and a couple of colleagues left Asheville after a home basketball game on Saturday afternoon and made the five-hour drive to Raleigh to arrive by Sunday’s meeting.
“I took our marketing director and director of compliance because they’re younger than I am and I thought it would be a great experience for them to learn from some other folks and see what N.C. State does. We all learned a lot,” Cone said.
A former college basketball coach, Cone started the program at Samford University before making the move to athletics administration.
“I coached for many years and I have a passion and love for this sport. I’m always looking for ways to help UNC Asheville and grow the game of women’s basketball,” Cone said.
That’s exactly the type of enthusiasm and feedback the NCAA’s Eiland and the other event organizers want.
“Administrators on campus have resources available to them from the national office and from peers to help promote women’s basketball. It’s just a matter of keeping open communication about those resources,” Eiland said. “It’s amazing how different the situations are among all three divisions and even within a division. You get to see all the hats people wear. We had one baseball coach who was responsible for marketing women’s basketball and another staff that has three or four individuals working on promoting the game.”
There is a varying degree of necessity for resources, as some programs have thousands of fans showing up for women’s basketball games while other programs struggle to put 100 fans in the seats.
“The product usually stands on its own pretty well,” Hodgkin said. “The problem is getting the people there the first time. Once you do that, you have a good chance of getting them back.”
Cone was able to leave North Carolina State with practical ideas she will try to implement on her own campus. Specifically, she liked how the school has a boisterous student section standing at halfcourt. The students were close to the action and created an atmosphere UNC Ashville games don’t have — yet.
“We have to work really hard to get students to our games. We’re trying to learn what other schools are doing and we’ll see if it works for us,” Cone said.
With a great deal of positive feedback surrounding the Share the Experience initiative, Eiland said it’s likely there will be more campus visits next winter.
“We’re going to make a plan for next year,” she said. “It’s just a matter of finding out logistically how we can reach the most people and what’s the right time of the season to do it.”
Participants at the North Carolina State version of Share the Experience posed for a photo after the Wolfpack hosted Boston College January 28. The initiative gave administrators a chance to share ideas about marketing the game to local and regional audiences and building a fan base that will support the program.
© 2010 The National Collegiate Athletic Association
Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy