NAIA lacrosse

There are numerous men's and women's college lacrosse teams at schools that are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), which is an alternate athletic organization for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The vast majority of these lacrosse programs participate either in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) for men or the Women's Collegiate Lacrosse Associates (WCLA) for women.

Both the MCLA and WCLA were specifically founded to organize lacrosse clubs that lacked varsity teams that officially represent the college or university and that generally receive direct school funding. However, because the NAIA does not currently organize the sport of lacrosse for its member institutions, many of their schools have begun organizing new varsity lacrosse teams through the MCLA or WCLA instead, where the school administers the program through their athletic department. Typically, these varsity programs, like their NCAA counterparts, provide athletic scholarships to some of their players, often after a public ceremony that includes an official "letter of intent" signing by the new recruit and official publicity from the school about the event. Further, the official school athletic department usually hires and fires the coaching staff and provides uniforms, equipment and covers travel expenses, among other things. They also generally pay the MCLA or WCLA dues for the team as an expense of the athletic department.

This has become somewhat controversial within both the MCLA and WCLA, because these varsity teams seem to have unfair advantages over student-run and financed club teams. Generally, it's obvious when an NAIA team is "varsity" or college or university-run, because it appears on the official athletics website for the school alongside other varsity programs for basketball or track & field, for example. Club teams typically are not included at all on official school athletics websites or are clearly labeled as "club" teams, often for liability purposes. See the references below for documentation of this phenomenon.

Lastly, it is hoped in the future that the NAIA will eventually organize lacrosse for its member schools and thus separate varsity teams from club teams that are currently mixed together in the MCLA and WCLA. However, the NAIA process for recognizing new sports is lengthy and complicated, so this make take a number of years to accomplish.^[1] One step in this direction is the establishment in September 2010 of the National Women's Lacrosse League, which is an attempt to organize varsity NAIA competition in lacrosse.

Men's programs

Varsity men's teams at NAIA schools

Institution	Nickname	Location	Enrollment
Aquinas College[2]	Saints	Grand Rapids, Michigan	2,100
Davenport University[3]	Panthers	Grand Rapids, Michigan	12,471
Dordt College[4]	Defenders	Sioux Center, Iowa	1,300
Indiana Institute of Technology[5]	Warriors	Fort Wayne, Indiana	3,500
Judson University[6]	Eagles	Elgin, Illinois	1,132
Missouri Baptist University[7]	Spartans	St. Louis, Missouri	4,614
Reinhardt University[8]	Eagles	Waleska, Georgia	1,057
Roberts Wesleyan College**[9]	Raiders	Rochester, New York	1,928
Savannah College of Art and Design[10]	Bees	Savannah, Georgia	11,897
Shorter University**[11]	Hawks	Rome, Georgia	3,500
Siena Heights University[12]	Saints	Adrian, Michigan	2,307
Southern Virginia University[13]	Knights	Buena Vista, Virginia	752
Tennessee Wesleyan College[14]	Bulldogs	Athens, Tennessee	1,000
Walsh University**[15]	Cavaliers	Canton, Ohio	2,500
Westminster College, Salt Lake City[16]	Griffins	Salt Lake City, Utah	2,900

** NAIA school reclassifying to NCAA Division II.

Club men's teams at NAIA schools

Institution	Nickname	Location	Enrollment
Biola University	Eagles	La Mirada, California	3,924
University of California, Merced	Bobcats	Merced, California	4,381
The College of Idaho	Coyotes	Caldwell, Idaho	1,010
Concordia University Irvine	Eagles	Irvine, California	2,853
Holy Cross College (Indiana)***	Saints	Notre Dame, Indiana	492
Marymount College, Palos Verdes	Mariners	Rancho Palos Verdes, California	800
University of Michigan-Dearborn	Wolves	Dearborn, Michigan	8,634
Northwestern College (Iowa)	Red Raiders	Orange City, Iowa	1,206
Simon Fraser University**	Clan	Burnaby, British Columbia	32,940
Southern Oregon University	Red Raiders	Ashland, Oregon	4,560
Taylor University	Trojans	Upland, Indiana	2,333

** NAIA school reclassifying to NCAA Division II.
*** Member of the Great Lakes Lacrosse League, which is not affiliated with MCLA.

Women's programs

National Women's Lacrosse League

Institution	Nickname	Location	Enrollment
Aquinas College	Saints	Grand Rapids, Michigan	2,100
Davenport University	Panthers	Grand Rapids, Michigan	11,733
Indiana Institute of Technology	Warriors	Fort Wayne, Indiana	3,500
Midland University	Warriors	Fremont, Nebraska	2,000
Missouri Baptist University	Spartans	St. Louis, Missouri	4,500
Reinhardt University	Eagles	Waleska, Georgia	1,057
Robert Morris University (Illinois)	Eagles	Chicago, Illinois	7,000
Savannah College of Art and Design	Bees	Savannah, Georgia	8,478
Shorter University	Hawks	Rome, Georgia	3,500
Siena Heights University	Saints	Adrian, Michigan	2,307
Tennessee Wesleyan College	Bulldogs	Athens, Tennessee	1,000

Other women's teams at NAIA schools

Institution	Nickname	Location	Enrollment
Ave Maria University	Gyrenes	Ave Maria, Florida	825
Houghton College	Highlanders	Houghton, New York	1,200
Notre Dame College**	Falcons	South Euclid, Ohio	2,100
Oklahoma Baptist University	Bison	Shawnee, Oklahoma	1,800
Roberts Wesleyan College**[9]	Raiders	Rochester, New York	1,928
SUNY Canton***	Roos	Canton, New York	4,000
Taylor University	Trojans	Upland, Indiana	2,500
Westminster College, Salt Lake City[17]	Griffins	Salt Lake City, Utah	2,900

** NAIA school reclassifying to NCAA Division II.
*** NAIA school reclassifying to NCAA Division III.

References

1. ^ "NAIA Emerging Sports Report". NAIA. http://naia.cstv.com/member-services/championships/EmergingSports/EmergingSportReport.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-16. 
2. ^ "Aquinas College official athletics website". Aquinas College. http://www.aquinas.edu/athletics/mens_lacrosse.html. Retrieved 2010-09-16. 
3. ^ "Davenport University official athletics website". Davenport University. http://www.dupanthers.com/index.aspx?path=mlax. Retrieved 2010-09-16. 
4. ^ "Dordt College official athletics website". Dordt College. http://www.dordt.edu/athletics/lacrosse/. Retrieved 2010-09-16. 
5. ^ "Indiana Institute of Technology official athletics website". Indiana Institute of Technology. http://www.indianatech.edu/Athletics/mlax/Pages/default.aspx. Retrieved 2010-09-16. 
6. ^ "Judson University official athletics website". Judson University. http://www.judsoneagles.com/sport/8/21.php. Retrieved 2010-09-16. 
7. ^ "Missouri Baptist University official athletics website". Missouri Baptist University. http://www.mbuspartans.com/sport/0/22.php. Retrieved 2010-09-16. 
8. ^ "Reinhardt University official athletics website". Reinhardt University. http://www.reinhardteagles.com/sport/8/19.php. Retrieved 2010-09-16. 
9. ^ ^{a b} Bradley, Steve (July 13, 2011). "Roberts Wesleyan moving up to Division II athletics". Democrat and Chronicle. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20110713/SPORTS09/107130333/Roberts-Wesleyan-moving-up-Division-II-athletics. Retrieved July 13, 2011. 
10. ^ "Savannah College of Art and Design official athletics website". Savannah College of Art and Design. http://www.scadathletics.com/index.aspx?path=mlax. Retrieved 2010-09-16. 
11. ^ "Shorter University official athletics website". Shorter University. http://goshorterhawks.com/sports/m-lacros/index. Retrieved 2011-01-17. 
12. ^ "Siena Heights University official athletics website". Siena Heights University. http://www.shusaints.com/sports/ath_specific.aspx?SportsCategoryID=45. Retrieved 2010-09-16. 
13. ^ "Southern Virginia University official athletics website". Southern Virginia University. http://athletics.svu.edu/sports/mlax/index. Retrieved 2010-09-16. 
14. ^ "Tennessee Wesleyan College official athletics website". Tennessee Wesleyan College. http://www.twcbulldogs.com/sport/8/5.php. Retrieved 2010-09-16. 
15. ^ "Walsh University official athletics website". Walsh University. http://www.walsh.edu/lacrosse. Retrieved 2010-09-16. 
16. ^ "Westminster College official athletics website". Westminster College. http://www.westminstergriffins.com/index.aspx?path=mlax. Retrieved 2010-09-16. 
17. ^ "Westminster College official athletics website". Westminster College. http://www.westminstergriffins.com/index.aspx?path=mlax. Retrieved 2010-09-16.