Application for change
Oklahoma Christian University’s Athletic Department is applying for NCAA Division II membership as a spark for changes to come.
“I think the whole university is at a place where we’re getting ready to see big things,” Director of Athletics Curtis Janz said. “I think this is a catalyst for big things in the athletic department.”
Neil Arter, vice president for Student Life and dean of students, said he sees entrance into the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division II as a step in the right direction.
“It’s important that we keep progressing,” Arter said. “We keep moving up and bettering ourselves. The NCAA offers a lot more stability, but I think more than anything it offers increased competition. … We want to do more and be better.”
Janz explained the reasons for applying to the NCAA.
“It’s a more prestigious organization, a more recognizable brand,” Janz said. “I think that it would be exciting to know that we’re going into the NCAA organization for more opportunities for playoffs, more opportunities for national television.”
According to Janz, Oklahoma Christian is ready to take its sport teams to the next level.
“There is a trend across the country,” Janz said. “In the last couple of years, the NAIA [National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics] has lost really good schools. If we really look at [the switch] objectively, we’re more like the schools leaving the NAIA than the ones that are staying.”
Janz outlined the application process.
“The application process has grown over the last few years,” Janz said. “It’s about a 50-page application. There’s a strategic plan and a feasibility state that have to be included. Then there are handbooks that have to be developed: student athlete handbook, compliance handbook and an operations manual.”
The application and additional materials will go to the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis, Ind.
“Those are the things we’ll be sending to the NCAA June 1,” Janz said. “Then the Division II Membership Committee gets together, and they’ll look at all the applicants and pick a certain number. … It’s not all based on your application. They’re trying to make the NCAA Division II better as a whole, and sometimes that means they need schools in certain regions of the country to make them better.”
Arter acknowledged the university’s loyalty and support for the NAIA, but also said times are changing.
“I know 10 years ago I would have told you that if the NAIA was on a plane that was crashing we would have gone down with it,” Arter said.
Arter explained why the change is necessary.
“It’s not that we’re too good for the NAIA,” Arter said. “I don’t think anyone at our university has that kind of attitude or heart, but instead it’s more like we’re trying to make ourselves better. There are some things about the NAIA that really do fit us well, but it’s time for us to grow. We didn’t see ourselves being able to do that in the NAIA.”
Arter described the change and the way Oklahoma Christian fits in both associations.
“There’s a certain part of the NCAA Division II that’s more like the NAIA was when we first got in the NAIA years ago,” Arter said. “Over the last several years, the NAIA has started to become full of more schools that were much smaller than us. We see a lot more schools that look like us in Division II than we see schools that look like us in NAIA.”
The switch will also change the conferences. Currently, Oklahoma Christian is a member of the Sooner Athletic Conference. Upon acceptance into the NCAA Division II, Oklahoma Christian would join the Heartland Conference.
“As our conference changes, we’ll be able to play a wider area in bigger cities: San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Fort Smith and Wichita,” Janz said. “That gives us other opportunities for more regional exposure.”
Janz said change would be healthy for the school.
“I love the conference that we’re in currently—the Sooner Athletic Conference is great—but change is good,” Janz said. “It may be good to develop new rivalries and still play some of our old rivals in non-conference games. But to develop rivalries with Dallas Baptist, Ft. Smith, Arkansas, Newman [and] Kansas will be all great chances.”
Janz said the decision to apply for the NCAA took years of deliberation.
“We’ve had a good, long tedious process looking at it,” Janz said. “We actually started the process in 2007. We really cranked the study up about two years ago and really got it under a microscope. That’s what led to where we are today. It hasn’t been a snap decision by any means.”
Senior soccer player Hanna Jackson said she looks forward to the prospective switch.
“This switch will be a very good thing for OC athletics,” Jackson said. “It may be difficult on the athletes next year only, because it’s almost like a test drive for us. We won’t know what to expect out of this new conference. I think this will be a great growing opportunity.”
Senior basketball player Devan White said the switch would increase competition.
“We’re already a competitive sports program from soccer to softball, to golf to tennis,” White said. “I feel like it will just put the competition level up. It’ll be a good thing for the future of OC.”
Photo by: Jeremy Gan
