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BERRY COLLEGE TO GO VARSITY AND REMAIN A FIXTURE IN IHSA ZONE 5, REGION 2 Since the late 1990's when the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recognized Equestrian as an emerging sport, over 20 colleges and universities have attempted to form Varsity teams with the intention of competing in competitions that will one day fall under the umbrella of the NCAA. Because NCAA-recognized Varsity programs are not allowed to win a National Championship of any kind other than an NCAA sanctioned event (such as the 65 team NCAA Basketball Tournament known to many simply as 'March Madness'), several schools which had previously ridden in the IHSA left between 2003 and the present to compete solely in 'Varsity' competitions. Though the proposed rules for NCAA Equestrian competitions apply to these meets the NCAA name does not, as a sport must have 40 participating schools for official NCAA recognition and an offical NCAA Tournament to determine a National Champion. Yet because these Varsity programs do have an unofficial championship (in the sense it is a Varsity Championship but not an NCAA Championship), the NCAA frowns on the possibility that the Varsity Champion and the IHSA Champion might be one and the same. As of January 2007 the official NCAA Equestrian web site lists 23 programs, of which only ten were not concurrently entering or planning to enter IHSA competitions at any time during the 2006-07 season. In spite of the fact that only nine programs have completely walked away from the IHSA (one program, Delaware State University, formed a Varsity team without ever having been a member of the IHSA), most which left were from the same geographic areas, specifically in Texas and surrounding states as well as the Southeast. Their exit from the IHSA did create a drop-off in overall numbers in the affected regions not to mention forcing the need to find new locales for IHSA shows themselves. However the term 'Varsity' is not to be confused with 'Nuclear' or other words which strike fear into the hearts of many. All the term really means is that funding comes from the Athletic Department at a school rather than the student activities department. Many IHSA teams held Varsity status on their campuses long before the NCAA stepped up to the plate. One program that will officially move from club status to varsity status in 2007-08 is Berry College. Since 1998 the Berry Vikings have been one of the most successful IHSA club teams, having taken a full Hunter Seat team to Zones five times and a full Western team to Zones seven times. Headed into the final 2006-07 regular season shows this coming weekend at Berry's Gunby Equestrian Center, the Vikings were over 40 points up in both the Hunter Seat and Western Team Standings. "We first heard about it last Spring, in March or April," says Vikings Head Coach Margaret Knight. "Students will now receive scholarships. The school will also take care of certain clothing issues." The official website of Berry College Athletics already includes Equestrian, which is seldom the case on official college athletic websites for a non-varsity team in any sport. Though Berry plans to continue their yearly scrimage with the University of Georgia Varsity team (a group of UGA riders who are separate from the IHSA club team which competes against Berry on a regular basis), the Vikings, who are members of the NAIA and thus not a member of the NCAA for any of their college sports, will continue to be regular participants in all Zone 5, Region 2 shows for the long term. Coach Knight indicated that gender equality did play into the decision to move the Berry Equestrian Team from club to Varsity status, not unlike the decisions of some former IHSA programs to react to Title IX requirements partaining to NCAA and the laws of the United States in general (some believe the NCAA saw Equestrian as an opportunity to add another Woman's sport in order that a school may balance out their Men's and Women's sports programs; The vast majority of IHSA programs continue to be Co-ed). Though some may object to the riding team officially becoming female only (they essentially were already), the reality is the Berry program will gain more funding, and likely more recognition on their Mount Berry, Georgia campus and nationwide in the long run. More importantly Berry joins the likes of Virginia Intermont, Findlay, Mount Holyoke and others as an IHSA-only Varsity program. It would be hoped Berry's move up a notch would be the start of a trend, at least setting an example to others that going Varsity can be done, regardless of which organization or organizations you plan to be a member of and compete against. --Steve Maxwell
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