Title IX Blocks Men’s Soccer at University of Houston

Just a week after the College Sports Council published a study about the disparities in Division I soccer, El Gato, a student publication at the University of Houston, published a story about how Title IX prevents that school from fielding a men’s varsity soccer team:

The University of Houston has 16 sports programs, but one of the sports programs not featured at the university is a NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Team. NCAA rules and regulations mandate how an education institute uses its funding for athletics which leaves any chance of UH obtaining a men’s soccer team at slim to none.

[…] Houston is a diverse city and the community where the university is located in is a perfect breeding ground for fans. The Houston Dynamo of the MLS play their home games at Robertson Stadium and every home game is full of soccer craze fans from all over the city.

Susan Bush the coach of the Women’s UH soccer team said that if the university were to have a men’s soccer team it would increased the exposure of soccer in the local and university community.

As we’ve noted in the past, there are hardly any Division I men’s soccer programs in the entire state of Texas, with SMU and Houston Baptist sponsoring the only teams at the highest level of competition in the NCAA.