Just my 2 cents - when I was at Quincy, we tried to get some Region IX teams to come to a really cheap, easy tournament at QU as a means of expanding the circuit. We had some interest from players (Valpo, Illinois College, the now-present DePauw, and of course Eureka) and even some coaches, but then things quickly disappeared. From what I remember, a concern some people expressed was funding. These schools pay to send people to CBI, but nowhere else. I'm guessing a quick survey of people at other regionals would reveal some interest in the circuit, but that attempts to capitalize on it would fizzle unless other questions were somehow addressed and the momentum kept up. Another point - I become increasingly convinced that when dealing with small schools, working with institutional representatives is the best way to start. Student governments there tend not to have as much money, and are reluctant to give it to a group of a few people for frequent travel expenses. Most stable small schools programs thrive in the long-term only under the patronage of institutional representatives such as Eric Hillemann. At QU, when the administrative patron left, the budget was moved to student government control and eliminated. Such individuals also provide continuity that easily gets lost if interest on campus dwindles down to one or two people. (DePauw may have some illuminating comments here.) Brian
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