| Part I: Allow Athletic Aid
Wait a minute, you say. Telling the league to get scholarships is not realistic. Fundamentally, the PFL is a nonscholarhip league. Its schools can't afford football scholarships--and even if they could, they would then leave the PFL to join regional (scholarship) conferences. In fact, football scholarships--if only a few of them-- are affordable for these schools. Think about it. Is the PFL a nonscholarship league because Morehead State can't afford ANY scholarship equivalencies? No, it's nonscholarship because no member can afford the limit of 63 scholarships--and because keeping everyone at the same scholarship level (zero) is thought to maintain a "level playing field." But is the field really level? Are potential recruits equally attracted to San Diego, with its nearby beaches and perpetual 60-85 degree weather...and Valparaiso, a school in an area best known for cornfields, industrial pollution, and snow? Remove the restrictions on athletic aid and San Diego (annual tuition: $35,000) might respond with a yawn. After all, the Toreros have recruited effectively without football scholarships. Valparaiso, on the other hand, would likely invest in extra financial aid...aid for people like Houston Erbstoesser, the junior college transfer who apparently won the Crusaders starting quarterback job last spring, but reportedly left Valparaiso in August due to financial stress. Merit and need-based aid is another area where the PFL's schools are not on an equal footing. The league's coaches often look to for recruits who qualify for "Presidential Scholarships" or other tuition discounts that are based on test scores and high school grade point average. Some schools have more merit aid available than others. The same imbalance exists with financial aid that is based on need. Davidson now claims that it has enhanced its need-based aid to the point that no one takes out a student loan. How many schools can say that? Ok--but would schools be able to come up with enough additional money to make a difference in the quality of football recruits? It wouldn't take much. Sometimes just one player can transform an average team into a league champion. Transfers such as Arnold Mickens and David Macchi have made an immediate impact. Even modest athletic aid would attract more recruits like them. Furthermore, the entire cost of PFL football scholarships wouldn't have to be paid from the usual sources. Consider that Butler alumni have already started a football scholarship foundation, just in case their team is allowed to offer scholarships in the future. And they claim that pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly has promised to make matching donations. The key point is that PFL schools have an untapped donor base of people whose primary interest is football. Drake convinced itself otherwise, eliminating fundraising for separate sports years ago. As a result, many Drake football alumni now make minimal (if any) donations to the athletic department. If you are frustrated that part of your athletic donation is potentially going to the Equestrian Frisbee Golf Team, then stop writing the checks. This suggestion won't be popular with athletic directors, but they need to know that you won't tolerate the status quo. Finally, how would football scholarships affect the league's stated goal of adding additional members? Some Division I schools started football teams for the opportunity to play this sport cheaply. But without significant further investment, those programs withered and died. No one wants to be the next LaSalle or Fairfield, and that is why there's only lukewarm interest in the PFL from schools that could potentially add football. This league is seen as a place to get started, but not a place to thrive. What about schools that already have teams, but are unable to keep up with the pace of increasing scholarship levels in their current football leagues? They may be facing a potential disaster, yet may be more likely to drop football than eliminate scholarships and join the PFL. Remember St. Mary's College? Carrying about 15 scholarship equivalencies, the California school dropped football when it realized that the other charter members of the Great West Football Conference, several of which were reclassifying from Division II, were dramatically increasing their football scholarships. The PFL should give itself a chance to attract the next St. Mary's. That will require meeting them halfway on the scholarship issue. Click Here to Continue to Part II... |