National Collegiate Athletics Association Division I powerhouses such as the University of Alabama and Ohio State University are widely known nationwide. However, few know of California Lutheran University and much less associate it with NCAA national champions. I think Division III athletes should receive more recognition in the national media because they put in the same amount of work that Division III athletes do. 

“Division III is a very high level of competition and some of our athletes can compete at that level. We have had about 24 baseball players get drafted into Major League Baseball,” Cal Lutheran Director of Athletics’s Athletic Director, Howard Davis said. 

Davis also added that last year, Brendan Durfee, a former Cal Lutheran baseball player, transferred to the University of California, Santa Barbara, a Division I school, where he was their star player and got drafted later that season. 

There are many positive and some negative aspects that separate a Division III athlete from a Division I athlete. The biggest aspect on the court or field is the size of the players, but Division III athletes are just as skilled.

“The biggest thing that separates a Division III athlete from a Division I athlete is their love for the sport and their love of competition. Division III athletes tend to be more intrinsically driven and they compete for the love of comradery and the love of a team sport,” Davis said. 

Davis also said that Division I athletes are typically driven by scholarships, popularity, and money. Division III athletes are also more academically focused.

This is not true for all athletes, but Davis said, on the whole, it is true. Division III athletes only play for the love of the game and not for millions of dollars like Division I athletes.

“Division I athletes get paid and get a certain amount of money in their accounts each month for food and things like that. They definitely make more money and they get more recognized because they are on national TV and Division III is not,” Kelli DiMuro, Cal Lutheran’s head women’s basketball coach said. 

DiMuro said her team will be traveling to play against the UCSB Gauchos, for an exhibition game on Nov. 21. This will be the only regular-season game in which Cal Lutheran will get streamed on ESPN+ this year, even though the Regals had a better record than the Gauchos last season.

Division III athletes also face more challenges than Division I athletes do, such as fewer resources for physical treatment, academics, and finances.

“Division I schools provide their athletes with an abundance of academic support, whereas our student-athletes get the same academic support as all regular students. Division I athletes typically do not have many financial concerns because they are taken care of in that aspect and Division III’s are just not situated to do that,” Davis said.  

Similarly, in an article titled “Should NCAA Division III Athletes Receive Athletic Scholarships?”,  Anna Meyer talks about the sacrifice that Division III athletes make and the little to no publicity that comes with that. 

“Considering the sacrifice these players make to be a part of a team at their school, although the competition may be lower, they spend just as much time trying to achieve their athletic goals and are not ‘paid’ in return,” Meyer wrote. 

DiMuro said not only do Division III athletes sacrifice time and money but they are commonly misinterpreted. 

“People say Division III athletes don’t work hard enough, they are not good enough, they play just for fun, and the level of competition is so low. People think just because you don’t get a scholarship that means you don’t have to work hard and you just get to be on the team. That is not true,” DiMuro said. 

At Division I schools, your teammates will most likely either play their sport professionally or they will work in sports, but DiMuro said Division III student-athletes are more unique.

“I always tell my recruits that at a Division III school, you will be playing next to a lawyer, a physician, a doctor, and other professions. There is more networking, you get to know more people in different professions and students get to help professors do research. It is different from Division I where it is sports all the time,” DiMuro said.

In 2024 alone, Cal Lutheran won the same amount of national championships as Ohio State, and even more championships than Alabama. 

It’s time for Division III schools, like Cal Lutheran, to receive the recognition they deserve.