Women's Collegiate Sports

Since the inauguration of Title IX requirements in college sports programs, the athletic opportunities for women have opened up dramatically.

There have been attempts to weaken Title IX requirements because it is thought to draw too many resources from men's programs. However, support remains strong and the results cannot be argued with.

Women's collegiate athletics can be divided into the following categories:

National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA)

• Division I
• Division II
• Div. III, etc

NCAA teams, especially Division One, can be highly competitive and difficult to enter. As often as not, coaches will be extremely active in scouting high schools and junior colleges for promising players. The more desirable schools will require high SAT/ACT scores and/or exceptional academic achievement in prep school. The more competitive colleges in each sport do offer scholarships.

National Team and Olympic coaches typically look to NCAA teams first, on the assumption that their rigorous searching has turned up the cream of the crop. Coaches will almost always be found at larger tournaments and meets where multiple schools are present.

NCAA Sanctioned Women's Sports

Basketball	1
Bowling	Not in west
Cross Country	3
Fencing	5
Field Hockey	1
Golf	4
Gymnastics	1
Ice Hockey	Not in west
Indoor Track	4
Lacrosse	Mostly in east
Track & Field	1 2
Rifle	5
Rowing	3
Skiing	4
Soccer	1
Softball	1
Swim/Dive	1
Tennis	2
Volleyball	1
Water Polo	2

NAIA serves smaller colleges and private schools. In football, teams are competitive against NCAA Div. 3.

Junior College-

* Conferences differ by state and/or region.

Junior colleges are typically the easiest teams to walk on to. Only in heavily populated areas do coaches actively recruit. Scholarships are typically not offered, however, exceptional performances are noted and the athlete often recruited to a university with a two-year scholarship