Establishing a Women's Program | Managing a Women's Program | Operating Expenses
Program Attributes

The National Collegiate Athletic Association announced the approval of women’s bowling as an NCAA championship sport beginning with the 2003-04 school year, as the number of women’s collegiate programs exceeded the required 40 for championship sport status.

Women’s bowling was originally given NCAA “emerging sport” status Sept. 1, 1994. This was done to assist institutions in providing greater opportunities for female student-athletes to participate in athletics and to comply with Title IX guidelines and requirements regarding revenue distribution, minimum financial aid awards, minimum sports-sponsorship and player distribution numbers. More information on Title IX.

The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference was the first to secure NCAA sanctioning for women’s bowling by adopting the sport prior to the 1996-97 school year. The MEAC includes such schools as Coppin State University, Howard University, South Carolina State University and the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore. Former Team USA and University of Nebraska standout Jennifer (Daugherty) Murphy became the first collegiate female bowler to receive a full-ride athletic scholarship when the Cornhuskers added women’s bowling to their athletic program prior to the 1997-98 school year.

Bowling joined rowing, ice hockey and water polo as women’s sports that have been elevated to NCAA championship sport status since the adoption of emerging sport legislation for women, while team handball was removed from the list entirely due to lack of sponsorship and was replaced by equestrian.

In the 2006-07 season, 51 schools offered women’s bowling at the varsity level – all vying to advance to the cross-divisional NCAA National Collegiate Women’s Bowling Championship. Vanderbilt, in its third season as a varsity program, took home the first NCAA team national championship in the university’s 134-year history.

NCAA Women’s Bowling National Champions:
2004 – Nebraska
2005 – Nebraska
2006 – Fairleigh Dickinson
2007 – Vanderbilt

Over 90 additional institutions offer competitive bowling programs at the junior college, NAIA and club sport levels for women. These programs have an opportunity to compete in any of more than 60 regional and national tournaments that are held throughout the season. In addition, these teams have the opportunity to qualify for the USBC Intercollegiate Team Championships, the national governing body intercollegiate championship.

USBC Collegiate remains dedicated to assisting the NCAA and their member institutions in implementing varsity bowling opportunities. This process includes continuing the education of university administrators, athletics personnel, prospective student-athletes and the general public of the benefits to having a varsity bowling program on their campus.