Indianapolis, IN - The University of Hartford was one of 14 institutions and four conferences selected to receive funding through the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Grant Program, which is in its second year.
The grant program, which will provide Hartford with $50,000 in marketing money, is designed to increase awareness, exposure and attendance of women's basketball. Hartford's proposal to the NCAA was built around increasing its women's basketball season ticket holders by 300 percent over three years.
"Being part of a national effort to facilitate the growth of women's basketball throughout the country is great for the University of Hartford and for me personally," said Director of Athletics Patricia H. Meiser. "This grant will allow us continue to help our women's basketball program be one among the top programs in the Northeast, both on the court and off."
The 2008-09 grant recipient success stories included Texas Tech University which doubled its student attendance for women's basketball home games; Florida State University increased season ticket sales by 63 percent, with a 55 percent increase in overall attendance for women's basketball; East Tennessee State University increased its average attendance by 231 percent and several grant recipients set single game attendance marks.
“The first year of the grant program went very well and we are anticipating more success in year two,” said NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Vice President Sue Donohoe. “The membership has had a tremendous interest in securing grant resources to advance women's basketball. It is important that we continue to work to grow women's basketball from the inside out and at the grass roots level.”
2009-10 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Grant Program Recipients
Auburn University
Big South Conference
Cornell University
East Tennessee State University
Eastern Michigan University
Iowa State University
Patriot League
San Diego State University
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Riverside
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of Hartford
University of Kansas
University of Miami (FL)
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of South Carolina, Columbia
West Coast Conference
Western Athletic Conference
