Official Announcement:
Youngstown State University will add a women’s bowling program as a new intercollegiate athletic program beginning in the fall of 2015, Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Ron Strollo announced on Wednesday.
Women’s Bowling will become the 19th Division I sport and 11th women's sport currently offered by the YSU Athletic Department.
The 2015-16 academic year will serve as “start-up” period to hire a coach, recruit student-athletes, secure a facility and prepare a schedule to begin competition in 2016-17.
Strollo said adding a bowling program helps the University in many ways; it provides an opportunity to add 10-12 students to Youngstown State's enrollment; it helps with the gender equity numbers of the department; andi it also gives the Penguins a chance to compete for another National Championship at the collegiate level.
“We’re excited about this new opportunity to recruit high school students, primarily within Ohio, to pursue their academic and athletic goals at Youngstown State,” Strollo said.
Women’s Bowling is sponsored by the Ohio High School Athletic Association providing the program with a solid base from the outset.
“The Mahoning Valley has a rich tradition of bowling,” Strollo said. “Further, the popularity amongst area and regional high school students coupled with women’s bowling having been a club sport at YSU already made this a natural fit to add to our Division I athletic sport offerings.”
YSU women’s bowling will participate in competition as a Division I independent team and will not be affiliated with any league at this time. Nearly 40 Division I programs sponsor women's bowling as an intercollegiate sport.
The YSU Board of Trustees approved a five-year Gender Equity Plan in 2009 that included adding another women’s sport program as a component of the plan to comply with Title IX.
Individuals who would like to apply for the position of Head Women’s Bowling Coach need to meet the minimum requirements and submit an application at
https://jobs.ysu.edu/postings/1442Questions should be directed to Assistant Director of Athletics Jesse Potter at jwpotter@ysu.edu