The University of Akron today announced its intention to add women’s lacrosse through a community-backed fundraising effort, which would fund any athletic scholarship offered to prospective student-athletes.

The effort also aims to bring back men’s baseball, which is Akron’s longest-established sport, beginning in 1873 and disbanding from 1933-1946 and 2016-2019 due to financial and economic reasons.

Akron president Matthew J. Wilson and athletic director Larry Williams will present this plan to the university’s board of trustees for consideration Oct. 11.

If approved, both teams will begin competition in the 2019-20 academic year. Each program will implement an Ohio-focused student-athlete recruiting strategy, use existing facilities and maintain cost controls.

"We have heard loud and clear the community's desire to bring baseball back to UA and we have been examining ways to do that in a financially responsible manner,” Wilson said. “Prospective students have voiced the same desire. We also want to offer an additional avenue for female student-athletes to simultaneously benefit from a quality education at The University of Akron and on-the-field Division I competition.  

“After much discussion and planning, we believe that we have identified some creative ways to achieve our objectives while focusing on student-athletes from Ohio,” Wilson continued. “Now, we hope that the community will come forward and assist the University in restoring baseball and adding women's lacrosse."

Williams identified this approach as a “revenue positive after an initial start-up period.” Akron will be seeking external donors to help launch both sports, though a financial analysis indicates revenues from incoming student-athletes combined with a controlled cost model will offset the university’s costs to run the two programs.

This “novel” strategy, featuring community fundraising efforts and a local-first recruiting approach, as described in the athletic department's press release, follows a recent wave of successes for the sport in Ohio within the past year.

The Ohio Machine won its first MLL title in August after completing construction of its new stadium, Obetz Fortress Field, the first-ever professional lacrosse-focused facility.

Cleveland State men’s lacrosse began its first Division I season in February and the Ohio State men advanced to its first NCAA championship on Memorial Day.

Also, on Sept. 15, US Lacrosse unveiled Cleveland as the second pilot site for the Lacrosse Communities Project, a new nationwide program that creates a vertically-integrated series of playing opportunities for children in grade school through adulthood.

Twenty-four colleges and universities in Ohio across all divisions have varsity women’s lacrosse teams. Kent State and Ashland have also announced plans to add.