SCAC Statement on Colorado College dropping football and softball
(Story taken from the Colorado College website)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - In an effort to
reorganize its athletics department and weather the ongoing
economic crisis, Colorado College will discontinue three NCAA
Division III sports - football, softball and water polo -
effective at the end of the current academic year.
The decision, announced by President Richard F. Celeste and
Director of Athletics Ken Ralph on Tuesday, comes in response to a
mandate from CC's Board of Trustees to reduce spending by $8
million to $12 million during the next fiscal year.
"We went through dozens of budget scenarios before coming to the
realization that we could no longer support 20 varsity sports,"
said Ralph, who has served as AD since July 2007. "Nobody at the
school wanted this outcome and many people worked diligently to
find a better alternative. In the end it was clear that this move
was necessary to ensure the future health of the athletic
department."
Based on 2008-09 rosters, the cuts involve 54 male and 22 female
team members, as well as four full-time and a dozen part-time staff
positions.
"My concern is for the students-athletes and their coaches affected
by this change," Celeste said. "We will do all we can to support
them. In the long term, our goal is to ensure that we provide the
resources to sustain and strengthen our remaining sports.
"If we are going to do something, we want to do it right."
All three sports being discontinued compete at the NCAA Division
III level. Team members do not receive athletic scholarships. The
college will continue to offer its 17 other varsity programs,
including Division I women's soccer and men's ice hockey.
The announced move will result in more than a 10-percent cut in
athletic expenditures during the 2009-10 academic year. The savings
from football alone will exceed $450,000.
"I am deeply troubled that these moves became necessary," Ralph
said. "The elimination of programs is always an item of last resort
and, unfortunately, due to the economy, we reached that point."
CC is the only Division III school in the Mountain Time Zone. The
majority of its varsity teams now compete in the Southern
Collegiate Athletic Conference, whose members are spread throughout
the southern United States. The closest opponent is Austin College
in Sherman, Texas, more than 600 miles from Colorado
Springs.
"The expense of flying all of our teams around the country to
compete has left us unable to meet our budget numbers," said Ralph.
"We will put our resources to work to strengthen the remaining 17
programs."
While softball and water polo are relatively new at the college,
the tradition of Tiger Football has spanned parts of three
centuries. Its storied history dates back to 1882, when the first
game was played against a group of local firemen, and includes a
54-year association (1909-1963) with the Rocky Mountain Athletic
Conference, during which the team reigned as league champion or
co-champion seven times.
However, after going 7-1-1 in 1976, and earning an NCAA Division
III playoff bid a year earlier under legendary head coach Jerry
Carle, the program has finished with a winning record only four
times - and only once (1993) in the last 32 seasons. By the
end of 2008, its second campaign as a member of the SCAC, Colorado
College was able to dress fewer than 40 healthy players - a
plight that had become all too typical in recent years.
Softball, initiated as a varsity sport in 1996 and also a member of
the SCAC, has 11 members on its 2009 roster. Water polo, which is
in its sixth season at Colorado College, also has 11 players and
was able to schedule just one home game this spring.
"At Colorado College, we aim for excellence in all we do for
students - in the classroom, in sports, in service and in
study abroad," said Celeste. "When we fall short, we must take
steps to rectify the situation. These three sports have been
under-resourced for years, which means that our student-athletes do
not enjoy the quality of experience we expect to provide. These
turbulent economic times require painful decisions, and we have to
make such decisions in the context of sustaining
excellence."
The Division I women's soccer and hockey programs, which compete in
Conference USA and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association,
respectively, have found ways to reduce spending in 2009-10. Due to
significant sponsorship help, however, both teams will have more
resources at their disposal despite expending fewer overall
dollars.
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