Good morning and Happy Labor Day!
We are now fully underway with all Fall sports in competition. Welcome to the start of your seasons women’s volleyball, men’s water polo and cross country! Good luck to each program as we build on the successes from last year.
Today I start with the quote, as sometimes the best way to kick off a season, or The Bold Type, is with motivation, so I’ll start with this.
“I’ve never lost a game. I just ran out of time.” — Credited to Michael Jordan
Song of the day is “Brave” from Sara Bareilles. It is an inspirational song, and a great way to start the day. Be brave and be bold today.
Let’s get to The Bold Type.
THE WEEK AHEAD
I will be out of the office this week for PTO/vacation. As we all know in college athletics, there is NEVER a good time to take PTO, but my wife Alaine and I scheduled this break in early January, not long after my mom passed on January 1, as a time for our family to be together, to have time to enjoy the love of Disney vacations my parents instilled in us and to also celebrate our anniversary. We delayed this trip until September believing the significant shifts in college athletics, NCAA representation/legislation and various NCAA and CCA chair/committee responsibilities would be completed, but alas, none of that came to fruition.
Therefore, today’s final edit of The Bold Type was completed by Big West CCO Jessica Lantz, as to not disturb this much-deserved vacation break for our fearless leader!
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL PREVIEW SHOW
If you missed the live broadcast on Thursday, don’t forget to watch the Big West Women’s Volleyball Preview presented by The Hawaiian Islands on ESPN+, which will be on demand for one month. Watch here >>>
CONGRATULATIONS
- To Hawai’i athletics, who announced their iconic sports venue has been renamed Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center as part of Bank of Hawai'i's 10 year, $5 million partnership with UH Athletics, which began in 2020. Read more >>>
- To UC Irvine men’s soccer for receiving votes in latest United Soccer Coaches national poll! Complete rankings >>>
- To Hawaii women’s volleyball for receiving votes in latest AVCA national poll! Complete rankings >>>
- To the FIVE men’s water polo teams ranked in CWPA poll! Complete rankings >>>
- No. 6 Long Beach State
- No. 15 UC Santa Barbara
- No. 14 UC Davis
- No. 12 UC San Diego
- No. 7 UC Irvine
- To UC Davis for their Big Win on Sunday, taking down No. t-7 Pepperdine!
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Men's Soccer - Isaac Powell, UC Irvine (offensive); Dorian Drucks, CSUN (defensive); Asger Hemmer, Cal State Fullerton (freshman)
Women's Soccer - Isabella Cruz, Cal State Fullerton (offensive); Trinity Hale, UC Riverside (defensive); Ava Tibor, UC San Diego (freshman)
2025-26 FEATURE SERIES - THE BIG WEST SCHOOL SPOTLIGHTS
Each month during the 2025-26 academic year, The Big West will embark on producing school spotlights to highlight each member-institution to showcase and celebrate their campus and athletics programs.
School spotlights will run the gamut of coverage with variety from month-to-month, from written features to video spotlights on current and former student-athletes and administrators with facts and figures about the university and its successes in The Big West and beyond. Bold Moments in Big West history will be intermingled with the Bold Alumni who have learned and competed on each campus as we continue to tell the stories that define The Big West.
The first spotlight on original PCAA member-institution UC Santa Barbara is slated to open up the series in early September as all campuses are reporting back for the academic year and student-athletes are embarking on their seasons. Read more >>>
ON THE FUTURE OF BROADCASTING
I thought the following chart showing ESPN linear distribution may be of interest. This graphic highlights just how quickly the media landscape is shifting — linear is shrinking, digital is booming. Thanks to those of you who currently watch and subscribe to our games on ESPN+!
BOOSTING COLLEGE TENNIS
Last week, I was honored to represent collegiate tennis during a meeting with the new leadership of the United States Tennis Association in New York City. I was asked to partake by The Knight Commission and The Pictor Group, both of which The Big West is actively involved. The presentation focused on the USTA launching a grant program to assist conferences and institutions in boosting collegiate tennis and stopping the program cuts nationally.
THE SCORE ACT AND SENATOR CANTWELL LETTER
During the USTA presentation, Amy Perko from The Knight Commission also shared an overview of the collegiate landscape. Her focus was on the SCORE Act likely stalling in the Senate and the letter Senator Maria Cantrell (D-WA) sent to Division I university presidents sharing her strong opposition to the SCORE Act with concerns that its passage, as currently written, will lead to weakening women’s and Olympic sports. See the news release from her office here.
MEDIA REPORTS ON NCAA AND LEGAL MATTERS
- Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) has penned a letter to the presidents, chancellors and regents at 350 Division I institutions, voicing strong opposition to the SCORE ACT, according to Sportico’s Daniel Libit. In her correspondence, Cantwell “criticized the Republican-backed bill, which aims to codify the House v. NCAA settlement into federal law while granting antitrust immunity to governing bodies and conferences in college sports,” arguing that the bill would “exacerbate existing inequalities among NCAA member institutions by consolidating power within the SEC and Big Ten.” Lots more. (link)
- The NCAA & Venmo are collaborating in an effort to strengthen protections to curb student-athlete harassment linked to sports betting. To accomplish that, Venmo will offer a dedicated hotline for student-athletes and the NCAA to report potential cases of abuse for investigation and identify typologies of athlete harassment on Venmo, provide a best practices guide for student-athletes to stay safe on Venmo with details on the reporting hotline, monitor student-athletes' accounts on an ongoing basis to help mitigate an influx of requests based on game performance and work directly with them to implement additional security measures as needed and educate users on the possible outcomes of harassing athletes through unwanted requests to athletes, including potential account closure. (link)
- ASUN Commissioner Jeff Bacon sits down with Assistant Commissioner for Strategic Communications William Hall to discuss a number of topics including the upcoming strategic alliance between the league and the WAC. Bacon: “You know, we’ve got two conferences right now that stand on their own independent islands and are spending a lot of money in the same ways. … That’s insanity, and that’s what we’ve been doing for a long time. Well, we're not going to do that anymore. We’re going to take two conferences, put them together under the structural umbrella that’s going to say on behalf of both conferences, we’re now going to spend less money. We’re going to consolidate staff. We’re going to consolidate infrastructure. More from Bacon. (link)
FROM THE NCAA
The updated Guide for the College Bound Student-Athlete is now available. This digital resource outlines NCAA eligibility requirements, recruiting information and key timelines for prospective student-athletes and their families. Administrators can share this guide to better prepare high school students for the transition to college sports. Download the Guide
Also, the NCAA is encouraging schools from across all divisions this fall to join in the NCAA Community Engagement Impact Challenge — an initiative celebrating the incredible impact of student-athletes in their communities. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 15, athletics departments will track their service efforts to showcase how they’re making a difference beyond the game.
We hope to see many Big West participants active in their communities this falL
That is it for The Bold Type.
As a note of encouragement in The Big West - “We keep moving forward – opening new doors and doing new things.” – Walt Disney
Have a great week. Be Bold! Be Brave!
Dan