FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, March 14, 2008
Contact: Tammi Hoffman (tammi.hoffman@ttu.edu)
(806) 742-2770 – Office
LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech women’s basketball program has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for the 2008-09 academic year.
The NCAA established a funding program “to grow women’s basketball from the inside out and at a grass roots level”. The NCAA also committed annual funding for a three-year program in an effort to specifically enhance Division I women’s basketball attendance.
“We want to grow the game of women’s basketball at the grass roots level,” said NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Vice President Sue Donohoe. “We hope these grants will give schools and conferences the extra resources they need to enhance their women’s basketball program.”
“We are very excited about being one of the 17 programs selected by the NCAA,” said Elvis Moya, Director of Marketing and Promotions for Lady Raider Basketball. “We look forward to launching a marketing campaign that will aim at increasing student body awareness and attendance at Lady Raider basketball games.”
The NCAA named 12 institutions and five conferences to receive funds from the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Marketing Grant Program. Other schools to receive grants were: Arizona State, Arkansas, Columbia, East Tennessee State, Florida State, Louisville, Maryland, Oklahoma, San Diego State, Washington and Western Kentucky, along with the Patriot League, Conference USA, Big Ten, Metro Atlantic Athletic and Northeast Conferences.
The recipients were selected from more than 70 member institutions and conference who submitted proposals for annual grants ranging from $15,000-$100,000. Approximately $750,000 in grant money was given to the schools and conferences by the NCAA. Texas Tech received $20,000 as part of the program.
Over the last two months, the grant proposals were accessed and evaluated by an internal national office staff project team with a wide range of professional expertise, along with an external evaluation team from Hawkeye Sports and Entertainment, the NCAA women’s basketball marketing and consulting firm.
“We were thrilled with the response from the membership but would encourage every conference and institution to submit a proposal for next year,” said Donohoe. “We want to help our members create a buzz about women’s basketball on their campus and in their communities.”
The competition for the grants was very intense as institutions and conferences came up with original ideas for promoting women’s basketball.
“We’re very pleased to be awarding this grant to Texas Tech. We’re excited for the Lady Raiders and can’t wait to see the results,” Donohoe stated.
The program itself will undergo yearly evaluations to determine if the program objectives are being met. The grants are awarded on a one-year basis and are not automatically renewed. Grant recipients are required to submit a monthly progress report and a final summary report.
Texas Tech will unveil its campaign in June, which will target the Texas Tech student body. The slogan for Tech’s campaign is “Building Tomorrow’s Basketball Fans Today”.
