Most people who see the need for change in something just sit back and dream about it.One MSU student, however, has taken the initiative in seeing one of his dreams become a reality for the Bulldog athletic program.
Eliot Sanford, 19, a freshman history major, has become disgruntled at the lack of a men’s soccer program at Mississippi State.
Sanford, a Starkville native, transferred to MSU this semester after spending one semester at Methodist University in Fayetteville, N.C.
Sanford went to MU to play soccer for the Monarchs before realizing his heart was truly in Starkville.
“I didn’t leave Methodist because of Methodist,” Sanford said. “I left because of Mississippi State. I felt like I was called to come back and make a difference.”
Sanford has begun the process of adding a men’s soccer program to the MSU roster of athletics – a process that has taken up much of his life and energy since he began the project during Thanksgiving break of 2006.
“I really can’t count the hours I’ve spent working on this,” he said.
Sanford says he has played soccer with very talented men and hates seeing them unable to play at a major level in Mississippi.
“What first inspired me to do something was seeing several of my good friends who are great players not be able to play here so close, but have to go so far away like Clemson or South Carolina to play Division-I ball,” Sanford said. “Mississippi is losing a lot of talent.”
MSU currently fields a men’s soccer club team, which posted a 10-2-1 record last season and went to the national tournament held in Tempe, Ariz.
Amid the wins was an undefeated record against all other Mississippi teams, including Delta State, an official NCAA Division-II soccer squad.
Facebook has been a large tool, if not the largest, in gaining interest in Sanford’s campaign from those across the southeast who share the same views.
Sanford created a global Facebook group called “Mississippi State Should Have A Men’s Soccer Program,” on Nov. 25, 2006.
By Dec. 12, the group already had 1,000 members.
As of Tuesday, the group had 1,639 members.
Sanford uses the group to update its members on news and information regarding what steps need to be taken to bring men’s soccer not only to MSU, but to the Southeastern Conference.
Sanford has been in contact with several officials regarding his vision, including MSU athletic director Larry Templeton, President Robert “Doc” Foglesong, associate athletic director David C. Boles, as well as NCAA Division-I men’s soccer coaches across the nation.
What Sanford has been told is that in order for MSU to take on a men’s soccer program, the department is also obligated by Title IX to either take on an additional women’s sports program or cut one of the current men’s programs.
Title IX’s main focus is to mandate equal treatment for men and women, mainly in the workplace and in society.
The NCAA took a stance on Title IX and adopted a policy to ensure women have the same opportunities as men when it comes to collegiate athletics.
Sanford said he is not at all opposed to Title IX and completely agrees with its principles.
He also claims that he is against the idea of cutting one sports program in order to add another.
For this reason, he is urging the university to take on another women’s sport so that men’s Bulldog soccer can be born.
Sanford has discussed several different women’s athletic opportunities with Templeton, and has come up with benefits and downsides to each.
The first and most reasonable candidate to be added to MSU’s women’s competitive slate, according to Sanford, is equestrian.
Sanford says that because MSU is so rich in animal sciences and veterinary medicine, equestrian would be the easiest women’s sport to add to the MSU athletic department.
He adds that three SEC schools currently compete in equestrian: Georgia, Auburn, and South Carolina.
MSU would be the fourth SEC school to begin competition, and only six schools are needed to complete an official NCAA conference.
Another possibility of a women’s sport to add is swimming and diving.
Swimming and diving would offer an easier opportunity for students to attend meets than equestrian.
However, the Sanderson Center swimming pool was built intended for public use only, Sanford says, and is not Olympic-sized, which is what a swimming team would need.
Currently, 10 SEC schools compete in swimming and diving.
The only two conference schools without teams are MSU and Ole Miss.
A third option for new women’s competition is rifling.
Though rare around the SEC, rifling could be a cheap option for a new women’s sport.
Currently, Ole Miss and Memphis compete in NCAA rifling, and compete in tournaments in Oxford, Tennessee, Nebraska, Kentucky, Texas and West Virginia.
The SEC also competes in women’s gymnastics, another sport MSU doesn’t have.
Seven schools currently compete in conference gymnastics.
MSU would need sufficient funding for the building of new facilities and equipment, however, so adding gymnastics would be highly unlikely.
In addition to his Facebook group, Sanford has created an online blog displaying his feelings toward bringing men’s soccer to the SEC.
Sanford’s blog, secmenssoccer.blogspot.com, was created on Monday and will soon be linked to an online petition that can be signed by anyone who wants to make Sanford’s vision a reality.
The blog is very similar to that of Rick Winblad, a lawyer from Oklahoma who began a blog at big12menssoccer.blogspot.com, in a campaign to bring men’s soccer to universities of the Big XII conference.
Sanford has been in contact with Winblad, and the two have developed a relationship in hopes of achieving a common dream.
“I would just like to urge this university to think about men’s soccer and its potential, as well as an additional women’s sport like equestrian or swimming,” Sanford said.
He is certain that if the subject is reviewed thoroughly by the administration, research will show high local interest in several of these sporting options.
“It’s apparent by the attendance at state rodeos, state swim meets in high schools and club soccer events in Mississippi that there is interest in these sports,” Sanford said. “It’s just a shame they can’t come to MSU to play those sports.
“If we can get financial support, alumni support and student support, then those three things will be enough to get this thing rolling.