SPRINGDALE — The chance to bring recognition — and maybe new students — to Ecclesia College excites the coach and members of the school’s new softball team.
Ecclesia officials want to increase enrollment, and the recent expansion of the sports program helps, said John Sisemore, head softball coach. The projected increase in enrollment for the fall 2013 semester is 20 percent, or 36 students, he said. Current enrollment is 180.
“Now we’ve opened up a whole different base,” Sisemore said. “We’re growing by leaps and bounds.”
At A Glance
Upcoming Games
-Friday: 4 and 6 p.m., Ecclesia College at Oklahoma Wesleyan University, Bartlesville, Okla.
-Saturday: 2 and 4 p.m., Ecclesia College at Central Christian College, McPherson, Kan.
Source: Ecclesia College
This approach to growing enrollment works well for small colleges because new athletes at the school also means new students, said Jerry Malone, director of member relations for the National Christian College Athletic Association.The association includes athletic teams at 113 Christian colleges across the U.S.
“I think for small Christian colleges, athletics is a way to grow enrollment,” he said.
The sports program will expand next year to include a women’s soccer team and men and women’s cross country teams, said Oren Paris III, president of Ecclesia College, a nondenominational Christian college.
Seventy percent of the school’s enrollment for fall 2013 is projected to be student athletes, Sisemore said. The softball team has 12 students on the roster now, 90 percent of whom are on athletic scholarships. There are 11 new students signed for the softball team next year who will be on scholarship, he said.
Schools associated with athletics get more attention from the public, which in turn helps with recruiting, Sisemore said.
“It gives us a sense of identity and school pride,” he said.
Athletics also creates loyalty and entertainment on campus, said Malone.
“Athletics can be a way to really pull your campus together and have a really exciting experience,” he said.
Ashley Rhodes, a freshman shortstop for the Lady Royals, said expansion of the sports program and the softball team gives the school a new focus.
“We get to start a tradition,” she said. “We get to start the beginning of everything.”
School officials cut the ribbon on the softball field April 9 when the team played and won its first home game against Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College from Moore, Okla., Sisemore said.
The field still needs work, including a scoreboard, Paris said. It also needs lights and a press box for which they are currently raising money, Sisemore said.
They started building the field 10 months ago and recruited for the team about eight months ago, Sisemore said. Ecclesia’s softball field cost $35,000, while an average softball field costs $80,000 to $90,000 to build, he said.
“We did a great job of staying well under budget,” Sisemore said.
The team plays in Division I of the National Christian College Athletic Association and will have played 45 games by the end of the school year.