Future of Division III

[Captain_Joe08]

So that makes both of the all-female colleges in the MKE area making conference/association changes within the last few years (Mt. Mary went NAIA).

[Gregory Sager]

They have struggled in most if not all sports in the NACC for a while now forever. That and constant turnover in the coaching staffs hasn't helped.

FTFY

Alverno has finished either in last place or next-to-last in the NACC all-sports standings (women's division) every year since the league began back in 2006-07, with the exceptions of 2012-13, when they finished 11th of 13, and 2016-17, when they finished 10th of 12. Since that magical 10th-place finish nine years ago, Alverno has finished last every school year. This year will be no exception.

This inability to -- well, quite frankly, be competitive -- also held true for the Inferno before the NACC formed. Alverno first started sponsoring sports in 2000 as a D3 provisional member, and it joined the old Lake Michigan Conference in 2003-04, moving with it when that league merged with the NIIC to become the NACC, and the Inferno weren't any more successful back in those pre-NACC days than they were afterwards.

This is not an indictment of Alverno as an institution by any means, mind you. Athletics is not a priority for them. There are lots of D3 institutions that can be described in that manner. It's a choice of mission, emphasis, and resource allotment, and it's just as legitimate an institutional policy as the choice to push athletics and strive for as much success on the field and on the court as the school's resources can bear.