PHOTO BY LISA WORTHY
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The 2027 NCAA National Championship will likely be the last to crown a Division II women’s champion.
At the recent 2024 NCAA Convention, the Division II delegate body approved a proposal to change the minimum sport sponsorship number and, crucially, to remove the current exception for Olympic sports, which applies to rowing. This means that any sport with fewer than 35 sponsoring institutions will no longer have an NCAA national championship after a three year grace period. Though not listed in the media alert, women’s rowing, with only 15 institutions sponsoring a team, is the only sport affected by the new rule change.
The options going forward are limited. The most direct way to regain a national championship would be to meet the minimum required number of sponsoring institutions. However, the sudden addition of 20 new DII rowing programs is nearly impossible, especially given that the number of DII teams has remained relatively constant over the past years.
In a “Question and Answer Guide” published by the NCAA in December 2023, it is clearly stated that no sports will be “grandfathered” in, so there is no chance of the current exception being extended.
The guide does, however, state that there is a waiver opportunity for sports that fall below the 35 team minimum. This is perhaps rowing’s best chance, though the likelihood of this being successful is unknown.
Beyond that, DII schools are left without a championship, without a structure or focus for their seasons, and therefore little motivation for schools to continue to sponsor rowing teams. According to Kim Chavers, head coach of women’s rowing at Nova Southeastern, a few schools may try to move up to DI if a waiver is not approved. However, the more likely outcome for the majority of DII institutions, says Chavers, will be to downgrade their women’s rowing team to club status or cut them outright.
“The real issue here is that the NCAA is eliminating 400 opportunities for women with no plan to replace them elsewhere,” Chavers emphasizes.
