News

Highlights from NIRSA Services Corporation Board meetings

The NSC Board of Directors met three times in Louisville during NIRSA’s 2006 Annual Conference to discuss a variety of topics. Highlights included:

New members of the NSC Board for 2006-2007 are:
 

Member Stan Shingles, CRSS Central Michigan University	Immediate Past NIRSA President Greg Jordan, CRSS Oakland University

The NSC 2005 operating budget showed a surplus of $44,803 as a result of revenues from the Sports Illustrated On Campus magazine distribution program, one-time payment from the InFocus (TUN) sponsored and endorsed program, increases in Volleyball revenues from additional teams, and additional income generated from the USTA partnership and Tennis Championships managed by the NNC. The income generated by the NSC is an important contribution to NIRSA. (Learn more about the NIRSA/NSC relationship.)

The NSC will proceed with hosting a National Intramural Flag Football Championship at a date and location to be named later. The NSC will request a loan from NIRSA, to be paid back on future income, to allow the NSC to move forward with a 2007 National Flag Football tournament. Some money already exists to subsidize the NIRSA regional winners, and the NSC will require that if funding continues, it will apply to a NIRSA National Flag Football event. The tournament should include regional winners and a number of “open” teams.

Meeting with The University Network (TUN, an InFocus Digital Media Company)

Denise Stephenson, Senior Vice President, University Services, presented a report on the activities of TUN and what the future holds. Denise indicated that TUN is aggressively seeking new installations and that 2006 will be a banner year. The NSC and TUN will continue to work together to streamline the TUN installation approval process on campuses.

Meeting with Chairs of Extramural and Sport Club Committees

There was discussion about criteria for selection of new sports into the NIRSA National Campus Championship Series and the appeals process for various rule infractions. The committee is being asked to identify 2-3 potential sites and dates for the National Flag Football Championship and help with the development of a budget for the event. 

Meeting with IMG and College Connect Representatives

Steve Kerepesi, Senior Vice President, Director of U.S. Business Development, and Dan Redgate, Director, both of IMG, along with Steve Bodine of College Connect, Inc., provided an update on IMG’s progress with potential sponsorship opportunities for NIRSA’s IM and Sport Club Championships. They reported that their approach with the corporate world is to:

• Educate the marketplace on who NIRSA is
• Drill down into their corporate contacts
• Inform them on the assets NIRSA has to offer (NCCS)
• Provide specific data to justify promotion

Discussion also centered on a number of specific corporate contacts and what their responses have been. Their presentation was followed by a private social for IMG, College Connect, and about 50 directors and representatives from NIRSA Member Institutions.

In other NSC news

The Protocol of Mutual Interest [PDF], signed by over 125 NIRSA Member Institutions since August of 2004, has been instrumental in securing programs like the Sports Illustrated on Campus (SIOC) magazine distribution program and landing IMG as our marketing partner. The Protocol has demonstrated to the corporate world that NIRSA Members are unified, supportive of NIRSA and NSC marketing efforts, and that NIRSA Members can step up and enthusiastically deliver on a national level. 

The NSC will again be asking directors at NIRSA Member Institutions to join a growing list of supportive NIRSA colleagues and sign the Protocol of Mutual Interest. There is strength in numbers, and additional signatories enhance our continuing effort to secure corporate support for our many sport club championships and extramural tournaments sooner and more effectively. If you haven’t signed the Protocol, look for it soon. When you receive the information via email, please print it out, sign it, and fax the last page to the NIRSA National Center (NNC), Attn: Barry Brown, Marketing Director (fax 541-766-8284), or contact Barry if you would like additional information on the Protocol of Mutual Interest.           

NIRSA and the NSC continue to actively promote our IM and Sport Club Championships under the umbrella of the “National Campus Championship Series” (NCCS). The NCCS brand lends greater national and corporate appeal to potential sponsors, enhances possible revenue streams, and gives greater campus credibility and individual student appeal to our events. The effort is paying off as the NCCS is fast becoming the “Official” Championships of Collegiate Recreational Sports on NIRSA member campuses and is raising the awareness of, and visibility for, true student athletes.

The April 20-22, 2006 USA Team Tennis National Campus Championship at the University of Texas at Austin marked the most successful National Championship yet, with 64 teams taking part, representing 56 schools from throughout the country. The USA Team Tennis National Campus Championship was first held in 2000, with a total of 10 schools taking part, and has grown annually, with participation records being set at each ensuing championship.

The April 13-15, 2006 NIRSA Collegiate Volleyball Sport Club Championships, held in Salt Lake City, Utah, once again proved to be a very popular and successful event. With 222 collegiate club teams, representing 2350 athletes from 35 different states and 151 different colleges/universities, volleyball continues to be an important NIRSA event. Tournament play took place on 31 courts and accommodated 825 matches played over the 3-day period. The finals took place before a standing room only crowd of over 2,700.

Building upon their success in 2005, Georgia Tech again hosted the 2006 NIRSA Endorsed National Intramural Basketball Championships (NIBC). By all accounts, the 2006 event was even better than ’05. Beginning with 52 teams from 8 Regional sites, 42 volunteer staff, 30 officials, and 23 student workers, the NIBC finished a wonderful weekend of basketball, and another quality event. The 2007 NIBC site will be at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.