University of Bridgeport adding athletic programs
As the University of Bridgeport was sputtering in recent years, the future of athletics seemed tenuous.
There was talk of dropping from Division II to Division III, of eliminating programs or even ending the entire athletic department. When the school was purchased by Goodwin University, athletics remained vulnerable.
Yet after evaluating the school and hiring former athletic director Jay Moran as a vice president, Goodwin’s hierarchy decided to invest in sports. That investment was was unveiled Monday, when Bridgeport announced it will add sports programs — NCAA men’s lacrosse, women’s and men’s indoor and outdoor track and field, and a club eSports program for the fall of 2022. More club sports will roll out over the next few years: men’s and women’s rugby and women’s bowling.
And the school anticipates a Sprint Football program in 2023. Sprint football, which has a 178-pound weight limit, could provide Bridgeport with a gateway to a full football program.
The school has not fielded a football team since 1974.
At a time when colleges are dropping sports, Bridgeport’s expansion is startling. Moran credits the school’s new administration.
“Goodwin got involved, bought UB, and realized after last year that coaches are a big recruiter and athletics plays a key role in undergraduate enrollment and growth,” Moran said. “It also plays a key roll in pride on the campus, that Purple Knight athletic pride . ... This new administration believes athletics can be a driving force in helping them increase enrollment.”
Moran, who returned to Bridgeport after serving as AD at Southern Connecticut State, will begin hiring coaches for the new sports. There will be more hires for support staff and the school will increase fundraising as the athletic department expands at multiple levels.
And as coaches are hired, athletes will be recruited. Scholarships for the fall of 2022 can be offered to men’s and women’s track and field and men’s lacrosse athletes.
“It’s exciting,” said Moran,
Bridgeport’s AD from 2004 to 2014. “When so many schools are looking to drop programs, it’s nice to have an administration that sees the value of athletics to help with enrollment and help with the brand. It says that we’re back. We’re back with our teams and we’re looking to grow.”
Bridgeport currently has 11 athletic programs: baseball, softball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s gymnastics, lacrosse and volleyball.
The school has recent success in gymnastics and women’s soccer (national title in 2018), along with men’s basketball.
Moran talked about engaging with alumni who may have lost interest in the programs.
“We want to bring back that Purple Knight pride,” he said.
Goodwin, a private school in East Hartford, is seeking to restore the Bridgeport brand. Hiring Moran signaled a commitment to sports.
Now Moran is tasked with increasing staff and perhaps improving facilities.
“This is a big step, a huge step,” Moran said. “There’s a vision, a strong vision, and a bright future here . ... I think the administration sees that athletics provides some student life and pride. Athletics can really sell the brand.”
Moran said eSports is growing and there could be an academic side to the program. Sprint Football will compete in the Collegiate Sprint Football League (CSFL) against such school as Army, Navy, Cornell and Penn.
But Moran also talked about Bridgeport’s history of success in football before the program was eliminated. Reviving the program could be part of the expansion.
“That would be exciting to our alums to bring football back,” Moran said. “So we’ll see. We have a lot of work to do, but this is exciting.”