CIAA institutes Women's Bowling for Fall 2001

The CIAA embarks on a new territory, where others have proven to have great success in a short period of time, Women's Collegiate Bowling. 

This fall all twelve CIAA institutions will conduct Women's Collegiate Varsity Bowling with championships to be held this fall.

Schools in the two divisions will have three regular season dates and roll among themselves. Scores from those regular season competitions will determine the seeding for cross-divisional play in the conference championships. 

The plunge forward comes with the strong supporting hand of Collegiate Bowling USA, the current national body governing collegiate bowling. CBUSA conducted the legwork for the conference in an effort to get them in operation this fall. 

The enthusiasm arises from the possibility of the NCAA hosting a Bowling National Championship earlier than 2003-2004. The minimum number of institutions required for the NCAA to hold championships is 40, which with the 12 CIAA institutions, takes the number over the mark. Therefore, all interested parties are eager for the CIAA bowling operations to be successful. As the present format stands, in the case of a NCAA championship, the CIAA would receive an automatic bid, with the conference champ advancing.

The excitement is more for the fact that a greater number of women will have an opportunity to become collegiate athletes. The CIAA Board of Directors' strategic plan targets gender equity objectives and women's bowling fits that bill.