Idaho State could add women’s sport; Boise State sees golf coach go, hoops recruit commit
Idaho State University is planning to add a women’s sport in the next three to five years, Athletic Director Pauline Thiros told the State Board of Education on Wednesday.
Athletic directors from Idaho’s publicly funded universities updated the board on their gender equity plans Wednesday. Thiros said adding more quality opportunities for women is the best way for Idaho State to ensure equal opportunity for all athletes under Title IX.
Title IX is federal legislation that bans gender discrimination by schools in academics and athletics.
“We’ve made all the progress we can with roster limits,” Thiros said. “The only way to truly move the needle in terms of gender equity is to add a women’s sport.”
Idaho State last added a sport in 2007, with the introduction of softball. Spiros didn’t give a specific timetable for adding a team but did mention possibilities for the sport, including beach volleyball and swimming.
Beach volleyball is one of the cheaper sports to add, Thiros said, and training facilities can be shared with the traditional volleyball team. The downside to beach volleyball is its small roster size. Most teams have only about 13 players, and the NCAA caps the rosters at 15.
Swimming is a different story. Those rosters are traditionally much larger, and Thiros said the sport has a strong footprint in the Northwest and on the West Coast, so scheduling and travel would be manageable.
Boise State cut its swimming and diving programs last July — along with the recently revived baseball program — in a move expected to save the department about $2.2 million, something the school said was necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Under Title IX, schools are required to provide male and female athletes with opportunities proportionate to their enrollments, which is proving tricky for Boise State, Idaho State and the University of Idaho because female enrollment has been growing at a faster rate.
At Boise State, women made up 56.1% of the undergraduate population in the first half of fiscal year 2021 — which is an all-time high, according to its gender equity report. That’s up from 54.9% in 2019 and 55.3% in 2020.
Boise State’s athletic participation rate in 2020 was disproportionate to its undergraduate enrollment, with 50.5% coming from women and 49.5% from men. The university also spent $4,554,854 in financial aid given to 220 male athletes compared to $3,920,875 to 236 female athletes.
The percentage of female undergraduate students at Idaho State has risen from 55% to 59% in the past year. Its athletic participation rate split pretty evenly in 2020, with women making up 50.5% of the athletes, and it spent $2,517,715 in financial aid on 202 male athletes and $2,312,529 on 205 female athletes..
The University of Idaho’s percentage of female undergraduate students has gone from 48.9% to 52%, but unlike Idaho State, the Vandals’ athletic participation rate is at 53.9% in favor of the men. In 2020, Idaho spent $3,590,022 in financial aid on 212 male athletes and $2,740,261 on 181 females.
Boise State was in compliance with Title IX’s proportionality requirements as it pertains to financial aid in 2020. According to its gender equity report, men accounted for 51.7% of athletes — when excluding those who appear on multiple rosters — and received 52.2% of the financial aid, which falls within the allowed 1% variance.
BSU has been in compliance with the proportion prong of Title IX legislation in nine of the past 10 years, according to its gender equity report.
Athletic Director Jeramiah Dickey, who was hired in January, said Wednesday that the university is not in a position to add any sports, but it plans to hire an outside consultant to review its Title IX compliance procedures.
Addressing the proportionality gap is a challenge for colleges because there isn’t a women’s sport with a comparable number of scholarships to football. One way universities attempt to bridge that gap is by imposing roster limits on men’s sports that go beyond the NCAA’s regulations.
Last year, Idaho State imposed roster limits on its men’s basketball (17) and football (100) teams. This year, it will limit the men’s indoor and outdoor track teams to a combined 79 athletes, eliminating five spots. Next year, the men’s tennis roster will be capped at eight, which eliminates two spots. The department is also trying to add roster spots on women’s teams wherever feasible.
University of Idaho Athletic Director Terry Gawlik said Wednesday that her department also had plans to adjust roster sizes last year, but those were pushed back a year because of COVID-19.
As an ongoing practice at Boise State, coaches are given guidelines for roster size maximums and minimums. Roster sizes are determined based on input from the coach, but consideration is given to the department’s overall athletic participation rates, according to the university’s gender equity plan.
BSU women’s golf coach steps down
Boise State women’s golf coach Nicole Bird is stepping down from her position effective May 17, the university announced Friday.
Bird was hired in 2007 and is the longest-tenured women’s golf coach in Boise State history.
“I really want to thank the athletic department for my time here, and all the student-athletes, past and present, that I have had the privilege to coach,” Bird said Friday in a press release. “With the entire team returning next season, I feel like this program is in a great position moving forward, and this decision is what is best for it to continue growing.”
Bird led the Broncos to six Mountain West tournament championships and eight individual titles. In 2015, she helped then-sophomore Genevieve Ling become the second player in school history to earn an invitation to the NCAA Women’s Golf Regional Championships.
A national search for the Broncos’ next women’s golf coach will begin immediately, according to Friday’s press release.
Broncos sign multisport athlete
The Boise State women’s basketball team has signed guard Allie Hueckman, the university announced Friday.
Hueckman was a three-sport athlete at Burns High in Oregon. She was a two-time state champion in the high jump, earned all-state honors in volleyball and basketball, and helped the volleyball team win a state title last winter.
The 5-foot-10 shooting guard was named Burns High Female Athlete of the Year twice during her career and earned Eastern Oregon League Player of the Year honors in volleyball and basketball.
“We are excited about Allie joining our program,” Boise State women’s basketball coach Gordy Presnell said in the release. “She is athletic and can really shoot the ball. She will make a great Bronco.”
Hueckman’s final season of high school basketball was delayed because of COVID-19, but a truncated season will begin in May. She’s averaging 15.2 points and 6.5 rebounds a game for her career.
This story was originally published April 24, 2021 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Idaho State could add women’s sport; Boise State sees golf coach go, hoops recruit commit."
