Rep. Skyler Wheeler said he’s heard from alumni hoping to see baseball brought back to ISU and UNI. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
A bill that would require two of Iowa’s state universities to bring back men’s baseball teams moved out of an Iowa House subcommittee Tuesday afternoon, with lawmakers considering a possible amendment adding women’s wrestling.
House File 153 would require Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa to reestablish men’s baseball teams, with the University of Iowa being the only state university to currently host a team.
Rep. Skyler Wheeler, R-Hull, chaired the subcommittee alongside Rep. Jeff Shipley, R-Birmingham and Rep. David Jacoby, D-Coralville. Wheeler said the passion from alumni who have reached out to him is driving this legislation.
“I have heard this over years, as somebody who’s been involved in that community, from folks that played there,” Wheeler said. “There are a lot of alumni … that unfortunately don’t get to watch their teams play anymore.”
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Carolann Jensen, representing the Iowa Board of Regents, said the board understands its alumni’s wishes when it comes to the sports they love, but college athletics can be very expensive and the world of college sports is ever-changing, with her citing “name, image, likeness” rules for student athletes.
Wheeler said he is also thinking of young Iowans who want to play baseball at the collegiate levels, but with the UI being the only public, four-year university in the state with a team, they might have to leave the state to achieve their dreams, opening up the possibility of them not coming back.
To Jensen’s point of expenses for student athletics, Wheeler said colleges and universities have made the argument in the past that athletic programs drive students to campus, where they will pay tuition, room and board and more.
Jacoby proposed amending the bill to require UNI and ISU to form women’s wrestling teams, as the UI’s women’s wrestling program, and women’s wrestling in general, has seen success and growing popularity. While baseball may be America’s pastime, Jacoby said, wrestling is the future.
“If we’re going to expand sports, if we’re going to have all the regents (universities) on equal footing, and I know sometimes women wrestlers might scare you … but I think if we’re going to talk sports for the regents (universities), I think it’s a wise idea to add women’s wrestling,” Jacoby said.
Shipley called the amendment a “nice wild card,” and while he’s not so enthusiastic about the baseball portion of the bill, he said with a laugh that he does like the “micromanaging of the university system.”
The bill will move ahead for discussion in the House Higher Education Committee.
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