Non-revenue college sports thread

Doug Beerabelli

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@Dan Murfman - Are you a UConn alum?

From that article...

"During the public-speaking portion of the Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday, Jennifer Sanford, women’s rowing coach, revealed that Benedict informed her on Tuesday afternoon that her program would be one of those ticketed for elimination in the forthcoming proposal.

Sanford said she did not see it coming, that she thought her program would be safe because the scholarships and opportunities it offered female athletes were necessary to offset football and meet Title IX requirements. She also said she hoped her rowers would be able to compete next season.

While some programs - including men’s golf and track and field - were able to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds over the last few weeks, likely helping to save the programs, Sanford said she didn’t “rally the troops” thinking her program was safe. She said she was informed by Benedict at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday her program could be eliminated."

- - -

Oof. I know that the swim team and T&F team and golf team worked really hard to raise money to keep their sports alive. Looks like it didn't help for men's swimming, but may have helped men's golf. To not "rally the troops" and raise money is a gigantic error by the rowing coach.
Rowing is a very strong club sport in college. Perhaps they can pivot to that, raise some funds on their own, and tap into UConn provides activity funds for clubs.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Rowing is a very strong club sport in college. Perhaps they can pivot to that, raise some funds on their own, and tap into UConn provides activity funds for clubs.
That's definitely the way to go. They already own the boats at this point. They could be a strong club sport but it's not the same, and obviously losing those scholarships is going to really hurt a bunch of students.
 

Coachster

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Several more Northeast D-III's with no sports in the fall. Williams joins Bowdoin in the NESCAC, and The College of New Jersey will be completely on-line for the fall. Babson and Wellesley have announced limited on-campus activities; nothing about sports yet, but the writing seems to be on the wall.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Several more Northeast D-III's with no sports in the fall. Williams joins Bowdoin in the NESCAC, and The College of New Jersey will be completely on-line for the fall. Babson and Wellesley have announced limited on-campus activities; nothing about sports yet, but the writing seems to be on the wall.
I'm worried about my kid playing for a school in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. Very concerned that her season will be cut short or shut down. This is her senior year coming up too......
 

Coachster

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I'm worried about my kid playing for a school in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. Very concerned that her season will be cut short or shut down. This is her senior year coming up too......
I'm on all kinds of regional committees, and if I hear anything about schools in the CCC, I'll be happy to let you know. FWIW, her best situation might be her school, or the conference cancelling athletics for the fall. It's a pretty sure bet the NCAA would grant seniors an extra season of eligibility. Yeah, you'll be paying for her to play, but she'd get her senior experience....
 

BaseballJones

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I'm on all kinds of regional committees, and if I hear anything about schools in the CCC, I'll be happy to let you know. FWIW, her best situation might be her school, or the conference cancelling athletics for the fall. It's a pretty sure bet the NCAA would grant seniors an extra season of eligibility. Yeah, you'll be paying for her to play, but she'd get her senior experience....
Thanks, I appreciate that. She's actually thinking about taking a gap year this year, not only for basketball, but because as an elementary education major, she is worried that she won't get the in-class training that she'll need, if schools do mostly remote learning.

She's stressing pretty good about all this, and I know she isn't the only one. Tough spot for these kids to be in.
 

Coachster

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Mt. Holyoke- no fall sports.

Clarmont-Mudd-Scripps in CA cancels fall athletics.

The Ivy League is supposed to give a statement on fall sports July 8.
 

ThePrideofShiner

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The Boise State news is wild in that they cut wrestling out of the blue three years ago, destroying a very popular and very good program. Then they added baseball, which they hadn't had in 40 years. They did a year of club ball, getting ready for this spring. Then they played 14 games and that was it.

Crazy.

The baseball people I know in this area are exceedingly unhappy. Boise State also cut swimming and diving, so not sure if this is a Title IX move.
 

Old Fart Tree

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Concerned UCLA will catch up? Or at they gonna get rid of some, too, and are too far back?
I mean, no more ‘concerned’ about the national title count than I was yesterday, which is to say not much. More just disappointed at the revelation of what we already knew; that the endowment *isn’t* really there as a rainy day fund, or to advance the school’s mission, but rather that it’s become an end unto itself, in a quixotic attempt to keep up with the Harvard Joneses. We can’t spend any of it because then it would be smaller!!!
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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That's frigging crazy. It's one thing for UConn to cut varsity sports - there's no endowment, though the state could always raise taxes. But Stanford's got a $27.7 BILLION endowment (as others here have pointed out).

From their press release: "Due to the escalating costs of operating such a large athletics department, a structural deficit emerged several years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. That deficit was projected to exceed $12 million in FY21 and to grow steadily in the years ahead. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated recession have only exacerbated the gap; before these sport reductions, our revised forecasts indicated a best-case scenario of a $25 million deficit in FY21, factoring in the effects of COVID-19, and a cumulative shortfall of nearly $70 million over the next three years. These projected deficits could become much greater if the 2020-21 sports seasons are suspended or altered due to COVID-19."

So over 3 years they're looking at a deficit of $70 million. Project that out to ten times that - that's a $700 million deficit over THIRTY years.

So take the .7 from the 27.7 BILLION dollar endowment, and that covers Stanford's athletic deficits for THIRTY YEARS. And it only leaves Stanford's endowment with a mere $27 billion to work with and grow.

It's absolutely horrible.
 

RedOctober3829

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That's frigging crazy. It's one thing for UConn to cut varsity sports - there's no endowment, though the state could always raise taxes. But Stanford's got a $27.7 BILLION endowment (as others here have pointed out).

From their press release: "Due to the escalating costs of operating such a large athletics department, a structural deficit emerged several years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. That deficit was projected to exceed $12 million in FY21 and to grow steadily in the years ahead. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated recession have only exacerbated the gap; before these sport reductions, our revised forecasts indicated a best-case scenario of a $25 million deficit in FY21, factoring in the effects of COVID-19, and a cumulative shortfall of nearly $70 million over the next three years. These projected deficits could become much greater if the 2020-21 sports seasons are suspended or altered due to COVID-19."

So over 3 years they're looking at a deficit of $70 million. Project that out to ten times that - that's a $700 million deficit over THIRTY years.

So take the .7 from the 27.7 BILLION dollar endowment, and that covers Stanford's athletic deficits for THIRTY YEARS. And it only leaves Stanford's endowment with a mere $27 billion to work with and grow.

It's absolutely horrible.
The reality is that Stanford has way too many sports and needed to cut down because of the deficit they were taking on. No one wants to lose money like that. Maybe they can now pour some of the savings into basketball and make them good again.
 

Kliq

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The colleges should just say that they won't have college football anymore if Trump doesn't allow them to have international students via online classes. That would end that real quick.
 

BaseballJones

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The reality is that Stanford has way too many sports and needed to cut down because of the deficit they were taking on. No one wants to lose money like that. Maybe they can now pour some of the savings into basketball and make them good again.
I get it. But when you have more money than God, it's a little hard to feel bad for them losing some money. In particular, I'm sad to see men's volleyball (my sport) go.
 

Ale Xander

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No sports for the Ivy League until at least January. I assume this sort of kills the ECAC this winter.
 

VORP Speed

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Curious to find out what that means for training. There’s no intercollegiate competition, but can teams still practice? Can athletes use team facilities? Use the gym?
 

BaseballJones

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Ivy League cancelling all sports for remainder of calendar year.

View: https://twitter.com/DanWetzel/status/1280958049738534913
I wonder how this will affect basketball. It's a "winter" sport, but it really goes from October through March. If they aren't having any sports through the calendar year, that means their basketball teams can't start playing til January, but what about practice? If they can't even practice til January, it'll take them several weeks to get ready for games. So maybe no games til the third week of January? The regular season only goes til the beginning of March.

Last year, Brown University (for example) had 13 games before Jan 1. Their last regular season game was March 7. This would cost them half their season.
 

mauf

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I wonder how this will affect basketball. It's a "winter" sport, but it really goes from October through March. If they aren't having any sports through the calendar year, that means their basketball teams can't start playing til January, but what about practice? If they can't even practice til January, it'll take them several weeks to get ready for games. So maybe no games til the third week of January? The regular season only goes til the beginning of March.

Last year, Brown University (for example) had 13 games before Jan 1. Their last regular season game was March 7. This would cost them half their season.
A lot of colleges have already announced plans to go remote from Thanksgiving to mid-March. Athletes could obviously be excepted, but I’ll be surprised if any non-D-I colleges play hoops this winter.

Edit: And, as you say, the Ivy League’s decision not to play sports before January 1 is implicitly a decision not to play winter sports, though I would think an abbreviated 14-game season (no non-conference games) could be thrown together quickly if the COVID situation improves.
 
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RedOctober3829

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I wonder how this will affect basketball. It's a "winter" sport, but it really goes from October through March. If they aren't having any sports through the calendar year, that means their basketball teams can't start playing til January, but what about practice? If they can't even practice til January, it'll take them several weeks to get ready for games. So maybe no games til the third week of January? The regular season only goes til the beginning of March.

Last year, Brown University (for example) had 13 games before Jan 1. Their last regular season game was March 7. This would cost them half their season.
Basketball really lasts all year to be honest at the D1 level in a normal setting. They are on campus all summer working out and getting individual work then in July/August the coaches get a few hours a week for full team practice. Once school starts, it’s individuals and workouts until late September when “official” practice starts. After the season, they get a couple weeks off then it’s back to working out with strength staff and the cycle starts.

In this instance, Ivy schools will still work out and get drills in by following the pandemic guidelines. It will be different but they will not be doing nothing.
 

BaseballJones

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A lot of colleges have already announced plans to go remote from Thanksgiving to mid-March. Athletes could obviously be excepted, but I’ll be surprised if any non-D-I colleges play hoops this winter.

Edit: And, as you say, the Ivy League’s decision not to play sports before January 1 is implicitly a decision not to play winter sports, though I would think an abbreviated 14-game season (no non-conference games) could be thrown together quickly if the COVID situation improves.
This is painful for me to read, as my daughter is a senior basketball player at a D-3 school and she's completely stressed that her season will be kaput. And she's just returning from a torn ACL that cost her all of last year. It totally sucks all the way around.
 

loshjott

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This is painful for me to read, as my daughter is a senior basketball player at a D-3 school and she's completely stressed that her season will be kaput. And she's just returning from a torn ACL that cost her all of last year. It totally sucks all the way around.
That really sucks, sorry for your daughter and you.

My son is a HS rising senior. He loves playing baseball more than anything. He missed his jr season (MD) and in the back of our minds we're worrying next spring is in jeopardy also. Our county to its credit is being very careful and conservative about reopening and I could see HS athletics as far away as next spring being shut down.
 

BaseballJones

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That really sucks, sorry for your daughter and you.

My son is a HS rising senior. He loves playing baseball more than anything. He missed his jr season (MD) and in the back of our minds we're worrying next spring is in jeopardy also. Our county to its credit is being very careful and conservative about reopening and I could see HS athletics as far away as next spring being shut down.
Ugh. So sorry. This thing is impacting so many people in horrible ways. Obviously losing a sports season isn't anything like suffering from the virus or having a loved one die from it. But these are real losses, and years these kids can never get back. You only have one senior year of high school. (well, most of us!)

My daughter tore her other ACL her senior year of HS (bad injury luck) and so it's possible her two senior years could be wiped out. Just incredible, and not in a good way.
 

snowmanny

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Ugh. So sorry. This thing is impacting so many people in horrible ways. Obviously losing a sports season isn't anything like suffering from the virus or having a loved one die from it. But these are real losses, and years these kids can never get back. You only have one senior year of high school. (well, most of us!)

My daughter tore her other ACL her senior year of HS (bad injury luck) and so it's possible her two senior years could be wiped out. Just incredible, and not in a good way.
Is there an option to take the year off and do senior year 2021-22?
 

BaseballJones

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Is there an option to take the year off and do senior year 2021-22?
Yes, that's very much on the table right now. The downside is that all her best friends will have graduated in 2021, so that would make her 2021-22 year, from a relational standpoint, a real letdown.

There's just no great solution here, I'm afraid.
 

BaseballJones

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The ACC is the first Power 5 conference to announce a delay in competitions. Olympic sports only applies to this particular delay not football.

View: https://twitter.com/ByPatForde/status/1281251584513638400
In other words, let's find a way to phrase it so we can keep football going, despite that sport needing a hundred guys all breathing on each other. "Olympic sports". LOL. I guess the virus spreads more in cross country than it does in football, right?
 

snowmanny

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Yes it is really too bad. My son just missed the last two months of senior year college and even that was disappointing enough. Good luck to her.
 

VORP Speed

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Ugh. So sorry. This thing is impacting so many people in horrible ways. Obviously losing a sports season isn't anything like suffering from the virus or having a loved one die from it. But these are real losses, and years these kids can never get back. You only have one senior year of high school. (well, most of us!)

My daughter tore her other ACL her senior year of HS (bad injury luck) and so it's possible her two senior years could be wiped out. Just incredible, and not in a good way.
It's not dying from coronavirus, but it's absolutely a real impact that is tough to watch when it's your kid. I think it's especially difficult given how dedicated kids have to be to their sport these days to play at a high level. When I was in high school, you just played a sport in season and that was pretty much it. Now it's year-round training, specializing early, crazy levels of dedication, etc. My son made the U19 US National Rowing team and was supposed to go race at Junior Worlds in Slovenia this summer...and poof, all gone. He's spending the summer working out with me in the garage instead. Talk about a letdown.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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It's not dying from coronavirus, but it's absolutely a real impact that is tough to watch when it's your kid. I think it's especially difficult given how dedicated kids have to be to their sport these days to play at a high level. When I was in high school, you just played a sport in season and that was pretty much it. Now it's year-round training, specializing early, crazy levels of dedication, etc. My son made the U19 US National Rowing team and was supposed to go race at Junior Worlds in Slovenia this summer...and poof, all gone. He's spending the summer working out with me in the garage instead. Talk about a letdown.
Oh man VORP, that sucks. What an incredible accomplishment to make that team and then have it disappear like that....so disappointing. I mean, who wouldn't want to work out in your garage, but still....

With conferences cancelling fall sports, all these athletes who are seniors just saw their careers end, just like that. Boom. Over. You've played field hockey since you were 13 and you're an all-conference caliber player and suddenly, before your senior year starts, it's all over.

These kids at least had some warning. The seniors who played spring sports last year and had their seasons cancelled....just brutal. This coach is a friend of mine...read this story and imagine how stunned these guys were last spring - especially the seniors with no shot at moving into pro ball....

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/sudden-season-shutdown-stuns-ivy-league-players-coaches/
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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NESCAC just canceled fall sports.

The D3 dominoes are gonna fall, and D1 schools probably will too. NESCAC typically does what the Ivy League does (they liken themselves to kind of being mini-Ivys).
 

jezza1918

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NESCAC just canceled fall sports.

The D3 dominoes are gonna fall, and D1 schools probably will too. NESCAC typically does what the Ivy League does (they liken themselves to kind of being mini-Ivys).
Based on coaching for 6 plus years in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) I 100% agree. NESCAC seems to create the bar, NEWMAC follows suit, etc...and I believe a couple of those schools already have? As someone who knows a few seniors still on the fall team I coached (tennis), I'm hoping they figure out a way to play all these sports in the fall on a reduced schedule.

edit/update: based on the statement I'm reading it specifically says "NESCAC conference competition..." So I'm wondering if that leaves room for fall teams to schedule competition outside of conference? Or even within the conference but just not sponsored by NESCAC?
https://www.nescac.com/news/2019-20/NESCAC_Presidents_Statement
 
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