Steve Dittmore

I am excited to moderate a panel discussion about the current, and future, of NCAA Division III this Thursday afternoon at the College Sport Research Institute (CSRI) annual conference. Now in its 17th year, CSRI was a conference I began eagerly attending at its inception while housed on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill. It has since moved to Columbia, SC and the University of South Carolina.

Last March, Eric Kelderman penned an important article for The Chronicle of Higher Education about Lourdes University in Ohio titled, "We Have More Athletes Than We Have Fans." The story correctly points out the risks to small, private colleges when they invest heavily in athletics as a way to attract students. It is something on which I have regularly offered research here on Glory Days.

Nearly one year ago to the day I wrote that women’s flag football was having a moment at the intercollegiate level. That momentum has not slowed. The Olympics, the NFL, Title IX, and increased campus enrollment are potential reasons for flag football’s ascendency. In February 2025, the NCAA Commission on Women’s Athletics recommended that each Division draft legislation to add flag football as an Emerging Sport for Women (it is not currently listed on the NCAA site).