2008 Woodie Awards
Anguished athletes troubled by reduction
By Adam Brewer
Rocket Sports Editor
Issue date: 2/3/06 Section: Sports
Anger, disappointment, sadness and shock describe the emotions of the Slippery Rock University athletes and coaches who received word on Monday that their sports will be cut from the Rock's athletic program starting next year.
Some people in the program saw this move coming, while others said they had no clue that the cuts would be so drastic. Each of the eight teams cut was surprised, but among the most stunned was the wrestling program, and coach Derek DelPorto.
"My initial reaction was, 'Wow, is this really happening?'" DelPorto said. "I thought we were doing all the right things and making great strides to prove that Rock wrestling was ready to make the next step in becoming a successful program."
The wrestling program started at Slippery Rock in 1958, and has earned a storied history, with one undefeated season and eight NCAA All-Americans to its credit.
With the wrestling season coming to an end in mid-March, DelPorto said that the team members took the cut as another challenge in their lives, and that they are going to play out this season to the best of their abilities.
"I asked the guys, 'If a doctor told you that you had three months to live, would you stay in your home and be depressed or would you go out and have the greatest three months of your life?'" DelPorto said. "I think that summed up what I was feeling like and these guys were fueled by my emotions. Of course they are going to wrestle with a chip on their shoulder, but we have our goals in place for this season and we are going to work hard to obtain them."
Field hockey coach Sergio Gonzalez said when he heard the bad news he instantly felt awful for the student athletes.
"It was very devastating news, but our players took it respectfully and they were polite to this sensitive topic," Gonzalez said.
In 1993, field hockey formed a full-pledge varsity sport in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and in 12 seasons, the Rock never posted a record above the .500 mark.
"I think it's going to take a lot of time for all of this to sink in for them that field hockey got cut," Gonzalez said.
The field hockey cut left many juniors, like Tara Bailey, without that final and fulfilling senior season.
"It's upsetting to me that we lost our senior season," Bailey said. "I think nobody gave field hockey a shot at SRU, and it never caught on in the western part of the state."
Golf coach Marty Rinker said that he thought golf wouldn't get cut because the sport didn't cost much to the university.
"We have no official field and our athlete ratio is lower than everybody else," Rinker said. "Now we are left with the question, 'What should we do now?' Probably some freshmen will transfer, while some upperclassmen will probably just stay up here."
Senior golfer Adam Scott said the cut really doesn't affect him, but still thinks it has a negative impact on everyone involved in the situation.
"It's terrible for SRU that they can't sustain sports like other schools around the state," Scott said. "They brought too many sports in over the past couple of years, and I think the actual cutting of the sports teams was not professional."
Matt Meredith coaches both men's and women's tennis, and was saddened when he heard that men's tennis would be cut.
"We all were disappointed, but they handled the situation with class and like gentlemen," Meredith said. "I think most of them will still stay at SRU for education and maybe a chance to play at the club level or at an independent tennis tournament."
Some athletes have to decide if they want to continue their athletic dreams or pursue their academic goals, as in the case of freshman tennis player Nick Bolea.
"I was totally disappointed and shocked when I heard the news that not only tennis was being cut, but seven other sports were cut as well," Bolea said. "Now, I'm not sure what I'm going to do now. One of the reasons I came here is for the exercise science program, and it's a real hard decision for me to stay or leave."
The four other sports that were cut, women's and men's swimming and women's and men's water polo, were all coached by Jim Yeamans.
"I was in shock and I not only felt sad for the athletes, but the alumni that made these sports important to their lives in year's past," Yeamans said. "It was an emotional day when I heard the news, and it was even more emotional when I told the team."
With the swimming programs producing such stars as Jen Zuzack, Megan Jo Ramage and Bradley Bowers over the past years, it becomes a tough challenge for each athlete to take in the fact that there won't be a season next year.
"I didn't think it would happen to us, and I certainly didn't expect them to cut eight teams," Ramage said. "I'm definitely going to transfer, probably to another state school and continue my athletic career."
Men's water polo posted its best season of all time last year, going 24-7 and winning the Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern Division title, the Western Region regular-season championship with a perfect 8-0 record and the CWPA's Division II Eastern Championship
The men's water polo team's first varsity season was in 1991 under legendary coach Richard "Doc" Hunkler. Hunkler also coached the women's water polo team in 1992 in varsity sport competition.
With the women's water polo season starting this weekend, Yeamans said this will be an emotional year.
"It's going to be a tough challenge this season," Yeamans said. "It's all up to them on how they will react to this news, and we are just going to have to stick with it."
SRU announced that all discontinued sports will have the opportunity to become a club sport if the students organizing the club team follow university guidelines. There are no scholarships for club sports athletes and their budget is extremely low, with the first two years being self-financed by the players or advisors. With the chance of some of the sports being cut ending up at the club level, it might make other club sports' budgets tighter.
The last option for the student is to transfer to another college. The university said it will do everything in its power to find a competitive place for an athlete's talents if they wish to transfer. The NCAA allows student-athletes whose sports are discontinued at one school to be eligible at another school.
If any good can come out of this situation, it may prove that the bond between a coach and his or her athletes is unbreakable, and that nobody can truly understand their relationship.
"I don't care when my contract runs out, I will stay here as long as I know that all of my kids know what they want to do and are in good shape," Yeamans said.
However, this week there were a lot of hearts broken and dreams crushed thanks to the sports cuts and the university's strict decision.
Some students are forming a group to spread awareness of how these sports have been affected by the cuts. They want to generate a voice around campus and peacefully tell everybody about their situations. The group said in the near future they will give hand-outs to students for support on the issue.
General Facts about the Sports Cuts:
Some people in the program saw this move coming, while others said they had no clue that the cuts would be so drastic. Each of the eight teams cut was surprised, but among the most stunned was the wrestling program, and coach Derek DelPorto.
"My initial reaction was, 'Wow, is this really happening?'" DelPorto said. "I thought we were doing all the right things and making great strides to prove that Rock wrestling was ready to make the next step in becoming a successful program."
The wrestling program started at Slippery Rock in 1958, and has earned a storied history, with one undefeated season and eight NCAA All-Americans to its credit.
With the wrestling season coming to an end in mid-March, DelPorto said that the team members took the cut as another challenge in their lives, and that they are going to play out this season to the best of their abilities.
"I asked the guys, 'If a doctor told you that you had three months to live, would you stay in your home and be depressed or would you go out and have the greatest three months of your life?'" DelPorto said. "I think that summed up what I was feeling like and these guys were fueled by my emotions. Of course they are going to wrestle with a chip on their shoulder, but we have our goals in place for this season and we are going to work hard to obtain them."
Field hockey coach Sergio Gonzalez said when he heard the bad news he instantly felt awful for the student athletes.
"It was very devastating news, but our players took it respectfully and they were polite to this sensitive topic," Gonzalez said.
In 1993, field hockey formed a full-pledge varsity sport in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and in 12 seasons, the Rock never posted a record above the .500 mark.
"I think it's going to take a lot of time for all of this to sink in for them that field hockey got cut," Gonzalez said.
The field hockey cut left many juniors, like Tara Bailey, without that final and fulfilling senior season.
"It's upsetting to me that we lost our senior season," Bailey said. "I think nobody gave field hockey a shot at SRU, and it never caught on in the western part of the state."
Golf coach Marty Rinker said that he thought golf wouldn't get cut because the sport didn't cost much to the university.
"We have no official field and our athlete ratio is lower than everybody else," Rinker said. "Now we are left with the question, 'What should we do now?' Probably some freshmen will transfer, while some upperclassmen will probably just stay up here."
Senior golfer Adam Scott said the cut really doesn't affect him, but still thinks it has a negative impact on everyone involved in the situation.
"It's terrible for SRU that they can't sustain sports like other schools around the state," Scott said. "They brought too many sports in over the past couple of years, and I think the actual cutting of the sports teams was not professional."
Matt Meredith coaches both men's and women's tennis, and was saddened when he heard that men's tennis would be cut.
"We all were disappointed, but they handled the situation with class and like gentlemen," Meredith said. "I think most of them will still stay at SRU for education and maybe a chance to play at the club level or at an independent tennis tournament."
Some athletes have to decide if they want to continue their athletic dreams or pursue their academic goals, as in the case of freshman tennis player Nick Bolea.
"I was totally disappointed and shocked when I heard the news that not only tennis was being cut, but seven other sports were cut as well," Bolea said. "Now, I'm not sure what I'm going to do now. One of the reasons I came here is for the exercise science program, and it's a real hard decision for me to stay or leave."
The four other sports that were cut, women's and men's swimming and women's and men's water polo, were all coached by Jim Yeamans.
"I was in shock and I not only felt sad for the athletes, but the alumni that made these sports important to their lives in year's past," Yeamans said. "It was an emotional day when I heard the news, and it was even more emotional when I told the team."
With the swimming programs producing such stars as Jen Zuzack, Megan Jo Ramage and Bradley Bowers over the past years, it becomes a tough challenge for each athlete to take in the fact that there won't be a season next year.
"I didn't think it would happen to us, and I certainly didn't expect them to cut eight teams," Ramage said. "I'm definitely going to transfer, probably to another state school and continue my athletic career."
Men's water polo posted its best season of all time last year, going 24-7 and winning the Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern Division title, the Western Region regular-season championship with a perfect 8-0 record and the CWPA's Division II Eastern Championship
The men's water polo team's first varsity season was in 1991 under legendary coach Richard "Doc" Hunkler. Hunkler also coached the women's water polo team in 1992 in varsity sport competition.
With the women's water polo season starting this weekend, Yeamans said this will be an emotional year.
"It's going to be a tough challenge this season," Yeamans said. "It's all up to them on how they will react to this news, and we are just going to have to stick with it."
SRU announced that all discontinued sports will have the opportunity to become a club sport if the students organizing the club team follow university guidelines. There are no scholarships for club sports athletes and their budget is extremely low, with the first two years being self-financed by the players or advisors. With the chance of some of the sports being cut ending up at the club level, it might make other club sports' budgets tighter.
The last option for the student is to transfer to another college. The university said it will do everything in its power to find a competitive place for an athlete's talents if they wish to transfer. The NCAA allows student-athletes whose sports are discontinued at one school to be eligible at another school.
If any good can come out of this situation, it may prove that the bond between a coach and his or her athletes is unbreakable, and that nobody can truly understand their relationship.
"I don't care when my contract runs out, I will stay here as long as I know that all of my kids know what they want to do and are in good shape," Yeamans said.
However, this week there were a lot of hearts broken and dreams crushed thanks to the sports cuts and the university's strict decision.
Some students are forming a group to spread awareness of how these sports have been affected by the cuts. They want to generate a voice around campus and peacefully tell everybody about their situations. The group said in the near future they will give hand-outs to students for support on the issue.
General Facts about the Sports Cuts:
- A total number of 122 student-athletes were affected by the cuts.
- A June 2005 survey done by the NCAA shows that the typical NCAA Division II athletic program
is made up of 14 teams. With the cut, the Rock now how's 15 teams.
- The University has declared a five-year moratorium on any further reduction of sports and promised that there will be no significant reduction
in the other funding sources for athletes. This allows coaches to recruit athletes, alumni to contribute and students to participate
without fear of another cut in their sport.
