(inspirational music) (inspirational music continues) - The growth of women's sports in America is at an all-time high.

From the WNBA and the Olympics to high school and college, opportunities for women and girls continue to expand, and it's no different here in Central Illinois.

In fact, Bradley University is adding five premier club sports.

Bradley President James Shadid and Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics, Chris Reynolds, join me now.

Thanks for coming on, gentlemen.

- Thanks for having us.

- Appreciate it.

Well, this is exciting times not only for the university and students, but for people who like to watch sports.

Before we get in specifically about what those five premier club sports are, Jim, tell us what's the difference between a club sport and a sport that we already know like basketball and things like that.

- Okay, and basketball can be a club sport.

- Sure, sure.

- So I guess the simplest way for me to describe it, Mark, is this.

Club sports are run generally under the student affairs division of universities.

And these are young people that maybe played in high school certain sports and wanna continue playing that sport at a college, in college, but either aren't capable or aren't willing to be part of the NCAA Division I rigor for a Division I sport.

So we create these club sports.

For instance, Bradley has a number of them.

The first one that comes to mind is our men's club hockey.

They have uniforms.

They play at Owens.

They practice.

They have a coach.

And they play other universities around the state or around the Midwest in a game who have club sports as well.

So these are opportunities for young people to continue to have a good college experience and strengthen campus life, build the university's commitment or build upon the university's commitment to providing a good student experience.

With these five, we decided to expand and create a different level for them.

Want me to go on?

- Please do.

- All right.

And so with these five, these emerging five women's sports, these are emerging premier sport or emerging premier sports at the NCAA level.

And we're starting them at the club level at Bradley.

It may be that one, two, or more end up being a Division I sport at Bradley, but we want to start at a club level to get it started, provide opportunities for success and growth, and then make determinations if they'll become Division I sports.

So we've called these premier club sports.

We've taken them, and we're moving them under the athletic umbrella so that there's more of a student athlete component to these.

And again, it will be young people who have maybe wrestled in high school, played soccer in high school, played flag football in high school that wanna do so at the college level but don't wanna do so maybe at the NCAA Division I level.

- Sure.

Chris, tell us a little bit about how this came about and how you went about picking these five sports that you're adding.

I know that you got a very generous gift.

Tell us what that involved.

- Yeah, absolutely, and we tend to speak of things in terms of we.

And so you know, Jim and I, we've had several conversations about this, and Jim is just really, he's brought such a spark of energy, drive, determination, focus, intentionality to the role of president at Bradley University, always thinking outside the box.

Certainly wanna think in terms of how can we grow as a university, and certainly we wanna attract students.

And this is just a vehicle, an avenue to do that.

And I would say more so than that, we say in athletics here at Bradley that we are in the business of developing the leaders of tomorrow and champions in life.

And so we wanna develop leaders.

We wanna grow leaders.

And sport is just a tool to do that.

And so I'm always excited about opportunities to bring additional young people under the athletics umbrella so we can help them grow because, as I always say, it's not about the four or five-year experience they have at Bradley, but it's about the next 40 or 50 years.

And so we wanna be an integral part of helping them to grow as young people.

And so this is an opportunity to check a lot of boxes that we're really excited about.

- This is a million-dollar gift that the university got from the Owens family, but what did they want to happen with this gift, and why did they give it?

I know their kids went to Bradley, but what specifically was their goal in giving this money?

- Well, I think they were motivated by, first of all, they appreciate everything that Dr.

Reynolds does for the university, and they've become good friends of Chris.

And I've known the Owenses for many years as well.

And I think they're motivated by helping us deliver a student experience to young people that prepares them for life, and so I think their motivation is simply that.

And these club sports will do that.

Club sports, well, sports, are vehicles for leadership, for teamwork, for resilience, for community, for collegiality, and the Owens appreciate that and know that it is our goal to prepare these young people for success in their personal and professional lives.

- Universities and colleges, like any other businesses, face a lot of competition.

You know, you have a lot of great schools in the NVC and, you know, all the other schools around the country.

So adding sports like this, how does it help Bradley when you're recruiting a student athlete or just a student who may not care about sports but knows that those options are there?

- Yeah, I think it provides an opportunity to, particularly if it's done well, right?

And so there's a lot of places in town that can give you a burger, right?

You can go in there and buy a burger, but who does it the best, right?

And so there are a lot of schools and universities around the country, but President Shadid talks all the time about creating this premier student experience.

And so that's what we are endeavoring to do, really excited about that vision, and we're gonna do it at a high level.

We want all of our students at Bradley to have a tremendous experience, and if they can be involved not just in sports, but other aspects of the university, as part of having that experience, they're gonna leave Bradley better human beings, productive citizens ready to go out and do great things.

But sport and club sports, it's just part of it.

It's just one tool in our belt that we can provide the students to attract them to Bradley and have a great experience.

- Once these sports, and they're kind of gonna be staggered, we'll talk about them in a minute.

Once they are started at Bradley, how is Bradley going to compare with, let's say, other schools in the NVC?

Are we catching up with them?

Are we ahead of them in terms of the amount of sports and club sports that are being offered?

- Well, I think we're clearly equal to them in terms of the number of club sports.

I believe adding these five women's club sports will probably push us ahead of most schools, not just in the Missouri Valley, but I think most schools around the country, actually, and especially the way we're doing it by elevating them into this experience that's under the athletic umbrella, giving them a little more enhancement, giving them, you know, more resources than maybe a club sport as people know it would generally get it.

And I do think it will help us grow enrollment.

Every decision we're making, and we're talking about club sports today, but on a larger scale, every decision we're making, Mark, at Bradley University now comes with answering, "How will this help us attract and retain students?"

And this is a vehicle to do so, I believe.

- Talking about women's sports specifically, as we were talking about before we started recording, a website called ingame.com did a study, and it revealed which states are leading the charge in supporting women's sports through pro teams, fan engagement, collegiate, things like that.

And Illinois came in sixth out of all 50 states, which looks like a pretty good sign in terms of the popularity of women's sports.

And Jim, you played at Bradley.

You've been around for a while.

And I just wanna know from both of you, how have you seen over the years the popularity of women's sports change in terms of the ladies that are playing the sports and then the fans who are following the sports?

- Yeah, I'll say just turn on your television.

I mean, you see women participating in a variety of sports, and they're on television, and they're fast.

They're strong.

They're agile.

They're skilled.

They start at early ages now.

There was a time where there wasn't the structure in place at an early age for little girls to participate in sports, but now there is, AAU all over the country.

And different high schools are doing it in a very organized and systematic way.

And so young people, particularly women and little girls, they have all the options that boys have now.

And so for us, it's just an opportunity to look at that and be leaders in this.

And so when President Shadid and I first talked about putting these elite club sports under the umbrella of athletics, we are actually moving ahead of the curve in terms of the number of elite club programs, and as President Shadid referenced, we're looking at potentially an I one day maybe, moving some of these elite programs on the club level.

They could potentially be varsity sports.

And so I'm really excited about, first and foremost, day one, the opportunity that these young women will have to further their athletic experience.

They left high school.

Now they can do so at Bradley, and for us, that's really exciting.

- Do you remember when you were going to Bradley, you know, a couple years ago, were the women's opportunities as good as they are now?

- Well, I don't think they would have been.

They're clearly better now, and we intend, and I think Chris used the right word, leader, we intended to continue to be leaders in this area for a number of reasons.

The most obvious reason is our university was founded by a female, and in 1897, she was so far ahead of her time, and her words still resonate today.

So we intend to be leaders, whether it's in women's athletics, men's athletics, in academics, whether it's in the residential and dining options we're trying to provide for our students, we intend to be leaders across the board.

This is one of those.

- Let's talk specifically about some of these sports.

Very interesting.

I wanna start with something I'm excited about, women's hockey starting in the fall of this year.

Now, we know the women, the USA team, did great in the Olympics, gold medal.

That certainly sparked a lot of popularity.

So tell us what we can expect from women's hockey.

- Well, I'll start.

Since we announced this, first of all, our timing was pretty good, I think, with the women winning the gold medal.

But since we announced this, our current students, we've had a large number of current students and a large number of prospective students who are putting on their applications their interest in women's hockey.

So we're excited about getting that started.

They will, like the men, utilize Owens Center for ice time, and they'll be outfitted and ready to go, and we'll get a schedule prepared for them.

And I'm looking forward to all of the success.

Women's hockey has gained a lot of national and international momentum over the last few years, and I'm happy for us to be part of that.

- Another sport that we're looking at for the spring of 2027, women's flag football.

Do we currently have a men's flag football team at Bradley?

- We do not.

- All right, so the women are getting the leg up right away on the men.

- And, Mark, this is great for, in my mind, the marketing on this is gonna be incredible because there are people still that played football at Bradley in the 1960s and want football to return to Bradley.

Well, we're returning football to Bradley University, maybe not in the form some of them want.

We'll return it in this form.

Flag football is surging across this country at the high school level.

I think we'll clearly be in the forefront of this with our club sport, and it'll actually have a... Flag football is making an Olympic debut in 2028.

- Another sport, women's soccer, that seems like a no-brainer.

I mean, women's soccer, they've got professional teams now.

They're doing very well across the country.

You, of course, have a men's soccer team already, but let's talk about the women's soccer.

And what kind of response have you gotten on that in terms of potential students?

- Again, we've gotten a good response from both current students and prospective students.

Women's soccer I think is something that Bradley clearly should have.

Women's soccer is one of the most popular sports for young women across the country but specifically here in Illinois and right in Central Illinois.

We have excellent women's hockey, or women's soccer, at the high school level.

The women's soccer at the high school level in Central Illinois competes in every state tournament into the finals.

I think, again, it's something that's gonna be of interest to young people that will help us attract them to Bradley.

And then getting the combination of these student athlete experiences and in a Bradley education, we're positioned to deliver to young people, help them with success in their personal and professional lives.

- Another sport that's been really exploding in high schools, women's wrestling.

You're gonna have that too.

- We're gonna have that too.

We've talked to some of the high school coaches around town.

They're very excited about it.

I think they're gonna be willing partners and very helpful to us, and we'll get out and visit with the rest of them, and another program that is drawing a lot of interest currently, and we're going to be in front of it.

- And finally, something I had to look up on the internet because I didn't know what it was- - Right.

- STUNT.

- Right.

- S-T-U-N-T.

How would you describe that to people who haven't seen it and don't know what it is?

- I would describe it as competitive cheerleading, showcasing athleticism and teamwork and in head-to-head competitions.

- Okay, we're gonna show some video of that for everybody.

Yeah, it seems kind of like extreme cheerleading a little bit, you know?

Lots of athletics and skill that has to go into that.

So in terms of, you know, these sports now, what are we doing in terms of where we're going to see them, Chris?

Do we already have facilities for each of these sports picked out?

Jim mentioned the Owens Center for hockey.

- Yeah, there's certainly places to allow these young women to be able to compete, to have fun, to practice, to train.

We'll talk more about where those locations are.

We're looking at a couple of options, obviously, and it's really, it's gonna grow.

So it won't necessarily maybe be a finished product in terms of what the venue may look like, but you gotta start somewhere.

And so we're not gonna let perfect get in the way of good, but we wanna make sure that these young ladies come to Bradley, have a tremendous experience, something they can be proud of, and we're gonna do it like we do everything in the athletics department.

We're gonna do it at a high level.

- And of course, you got the Renaissance Coliseum, which is a great venue that I bet a lot of people watching this have never been in, so it would be a good opportunity too for them to see that facility and what could go on there.

- It'd be a good opportunity.

You know, and I anticipate, like STUNT, the competition there would likely utilize the Renaissance.

I anticipate the women's wrestling from time to time not only to utilize the Renaissance, but we have a good facility in Markin Recreation Center that is a top-notch facility, and women's wrestling could be located there.

And the flag football and soccer, there's an underutilized field on our campus right inside of our St.

James apartments, right across university that we're going to fix up and enhance for soccer and flag football.

- We talked earlier about, you know, the differences between club sports and the sports people may be more familiar with at Bradley.

Now, how does this work in terms of finding coaches and staffs and things like that?

- You gotta go find them, right?

And so, as President Shadid mentioned, we've announced it, but we've already received interest for prospective students who wanna come and potentially participate in these sports, but also prospective coaches.

And so believe me, who wouldn't want to go coach, right?

A lot of people wanna go coach.

Whenever we post something, even as varsity sports, we get resumes from shoe salesmen.

You know, anybody and everybody applies, but we're finding the same thing to be true for these elite club sports as well.

I think being able to house them under the umbrella of athletics brings some excitement that they're gonna get some attention, that they're gonna get some eyeballs on them, that we care about it.

As President Shadid mentioned, Markin is a first-rate facility.

Renaissance Coliseum is a first-rate facility.

Being able to now utilize Meinen Field, and you can see students running around out there, is gonna be an amazing opportunity because of the location right off campus.

And so we just provide so much for young people, and to be able to actually utilize these facilities to their maximum potential is really exciting.

- [Mark] And in terms of the student athletes who are interested in these, is it any different than, you know, let's say, basketball, where you have to try out to make the team?

And we mentioned there's no scholarships for these- - Right.

- Club sports, but is there any other big differences?

- No, I would say not.

I would say, and depending on the number of people that go out or try out, there'll be tryouts, it's gonna be competitive, but it's gonna be inspirational.

I mean, we're providing meaningful opportunities for young people while fostering a vibrant campus community and giving them opportunities outside of the classroom.

- I know this announcement's just a few weeks old, but have either of you heard from alumni that said, "Man, I wish they had that sport when I was there"?

- I've heard from alumni around the country.

I've heard from so many people around this community.

I've received so many texts that, you know, of appreciation or congratulations or "Good move."

So I'm really excited about this.

I'm excited about all of the things we're doing right now at Bradley University to try to grow the campus, try to make the campus more vibrant, try to create and elevate the experiences that we can provide our students.

And this is a real good vehicle for us to do so.

- Chris, let's talk about other sports in general.

Can you give us an update on the state of Bradley Athletics, what's new and exciting in the athletic department?

- Yeah, just really excited about our young people.

You know, from golf to soccer to basketball, baseball, tennis, we have 15 sport programs.

We have a cumulative GPA of 3.43, which I'm really excited about, but really good citizens.

They compete really hard.

Just really excited just overall as it relates to how competitive we are.

I could go through all 15 sports, but I won't bore you with that.

But for me, it's important that we add value to the university, first and foremost, that we present an athletic department that our alums and supporters can be very proud of, our community can be proud of.

And then the last piece I would say is that we are preparing these young people not just to have a great experience at Bradley, first and foremost, not just in their sport, but have a great campus experience, but then they're prepared to move on to do tremendous things.

As President Shadid referenced, all the alums he hears about, I hear from our own former student athletes that are lawyers, doctors, engineers, teachers, and that's why you do what you do.

Sport is just a tool.

As President Shadid referenced, you learn resiliency, hard work.

You fail, you get back up.

You learn how to compete.

And certainly that's a skill that you can utilize in anything and everything you do beyond Bradley.

And I believe that if you provide students with a tremendous experience while they're on campus, they will come back.

They will contribute, they'll support, and they'll be able to help the next generation of students.

- That's great.

Well, Jim, before we leave, it's been almost a year since you took position as president.

How's it been going?

What's the learning curve been like?

- I think it's going very well, and I'm really appreciative and grateful for all the people on campus and off campus who have helped me grow in my first year as president.

I think the opportunities ahead for us are right there for the taking.

We've got great things going on on both the academic side, on both the property side, on both the campus side, and both in the athletic side.

And we're bringing them all together to provide an experience for young people that will be impactful in their lives.

And I'm asked often what I like about being president of Bradley University, and it's easy to sum up.

For so many years as a judge, I saw young people on a daily basis making bad decisions or bad choices for themselves, and it's so rewarding, so impactful, so refreshing to walk a campus and see young people making good decisions for themselves.

- And we hope we can get those young people to stay around Peoria and Central Illinois and start their careers and raise families and everything else.

Well, again, these five new premier club sports coming to Bradley, women's hockey, women's flag football, STUNT, women's soccer, and women's wrestling.

Do you have a favorite out of those five that you're looking most forward to?

- I love 'em all.

Love 'em all.

Looking forward to it.

- Jim, what about you?

- I'm gonna try to figure out how we get a marching band with flag football.

- Absolutely.

(James laughs) - There you go.

- And to piggyback on both of those statements, it's amazing how you don't realize how popular something is until you say, "Okay, we're gonna do it."

Like, just like you go buy a car, and you think you're the only person who has a great car, and everybody has one, right?

And so I was driving by Richwoods High School right after President Shadid's announcement, and at Richwoods High School, I see young girls playing flag football for the first time.

Now, I've driven by that a zillion times and probably saw it but didn't notice it.

- Sure.

- But it just hit me that there are young girls wanting an opportunity, and it warmed my heart that just right down the street, Bradley University is going to provide them that opportunity.

- Well, it's gonna be fun to watch.

We appreciate you both coming in, President James Shadid, Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics, Dr.

Chris Reynolds.

Good luck with these events, and we will keep an eye on them and see what's going on.

- Thank you so much.

- Thank you for having us.

- Appreciate it.

- All right, thank you all, appreciate it.

And if you wanna watch this segment again or share it with a friend, a family member, just go to wtvp.org, and you can always find us on social media on Facebook and Instagram.

Thanks for joining us.

Have a good night.

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