SALT LAKE CITY -- Brigham Young plans to upgrade its club soccer program without the costs and obligations of going to the NCAA varsity level.

And the private school is comfortable that having students playing in a for-profit league outside NCAA jurisdiction does not violate players' amateur status.

"I don't see how this has any effect on them at all,'' said soccer coach Chris Watkins, who runs the program. "My players still don't have scholarships. The NCAA could still care less about them. We're not on TV. We don't have a billion-dollar contract for them. I don't see why they would care.''

For $40,000, the private school in Provo last week purchased a spot in the Premiere Development League, which the university compares to Class A minor league baseball.

BYU has dominated the college club circuit, winning six national titles in the last 10 years. Without much competition, the Cougars wanted to upgrade and felt the PDL was the best option.

Universities often field teams in sports that don't have varsity status, and those teams don't fall under NCAA control. NCAA spokesman Gail Dent said Friday that joining the PDL did not appear to put the school's larger athletic program in any trouble.

"We are not looking in to it,'' Dent said.

BYU felt it was a clean move all along, university vice president Fred Skousen said.

"We didn't even think then and we think still it's not an NCAA issue because we had a men's soccer program participating at a club level,'' Skousen said Friday. "We have the very same soccer program participating now in a league that is not NCAA-sanctioned.''

The $40,000 sponsorship fee is a fraction of what it would cost to field an NCAA varsity team, not to mention complying with Title IX, the federal law mandating equal opportunity for men's and women's athletics.

The athletic department funds 10 men's and 11 women's varsity teams. Women's soccer and softball have been the only two additions in the last decade. Converting men's soccer to a varsity sport would knock the scholarship ratio off balance.

BYU feels the PDL participation will offer stronger competition and allow the club to fund itself. The team is already largely self-funded, though BYU clubs do receive between $25,000 and $40,000 in university assistance. The school also sponsors men's lacrosse and rugby and men's and women's racquetball clubs.

"We'll see how it works out for us and maybe others will take a look at it,'' Skousen said.

Though BYU players won't get paid, joining the PDL will allow them to travel more extensively than the NCAA allows. The PDL season falls during spring and summer instead of fall, when the Utah sports scene is largely dominated by BYU football.

Sidestepping the NCAA was not an intention, Watkins said.

"We're making news. Now that we've made something for ourselves, now they have an interest,'' Watkins said. "It makes me wonder what their motives are.''

Since the announcement, Watkins said he has been flooded with calls from potential recruits who are interested in joining the Cougars.

Skousen said the timing of the announcement has caused some to immediately assume joining the PDL would violate Title IX, which has been in the news lately because of proposed changes.

Unprofitable men's sports have struggled since Title IX's introduction. Men's sports, other than football and basketball, have been cut at schools as they moved to increase women's scholarships.

BYU is also defending itself against questions over whether the PDL participation violates Title IX. But because they get so little university funding, the clubs fall outside Title IX guidelines.

"The novelty of a college team going into this area and the timing of this (Title IX discussions) have caused people to try to link them or something,'' Skousen said.

Since the soccer announcement last week, Skousen said the school has been flooded with calls from potential recruits as well as news media asking about the implications of the decision.

"Obviously this is more of a story than we thought,'' he said.