Sports programs face one-year hiatus

Men's soccer, women's swimming and diving teams fail to meet january fundraising deadline; both teams will have the opportunity to return in 2005

By Nathan Hathaway

After receiving multiple reprieves in recent weeks to meet financial goals, the men’s soccer and women’s swimming and diving teams settled for a compromise Wednesday.

After coming up $400,000—or $800,000, depending on who you ask—short of the $2.05 million goal to guarantee the programs’ operating budgets for the next four years, boosters agreed the sports will take a one-year hiatus while they raise the remaining funds.

The programs will suspend competition for the 2004-’05 season in the hopes they will be reinstated the following season and will be able to continue competing.

“ I feel this moratorium leaves the door open to reinstate the programs in the future,” athletic director Scott Johnson said in a statement released by the university Wednesday.

Johnson said that there is still no guarantee the programs will be reinstated for the 2004-’05 season.

“ I don’t think you can tell either way,” Johnson said. “But we’re all committed to try even harder.”

The two programs, along with men’s cross country and men’s indoor track and field, were originally cut in April 2003, but soccer and swimming and diving raised enough money to save themselves for one more year—the 2003-’04 season. When the teams came up with that money, the athletic department required that they come up with $2.7 million by Jan. 15, 2004 to save their programs for at least four more years. Two weeks ago that number was reduced to $2.05 million. When the Jan. 15 deadline came and the teams didn’t quite have all the money, the athletic department allowed them a few more days to make a last-minute effort to raise the remaining money, about $800,000, according to sports information director Steve Weakland.

Randall Smith of the Valley Soccer Foundation and Diane Anderson, swimming fundraising coordinator, reported to the Athletic Corporation on Wednesday that the goal for the guaranteed funds could not be met.

“ We are disappointed that we could not overcome this challenge at this time,” Smith said in the university’s statement. “However our job is not complete. We will continue to work for the revival of these important programs.

“ The support we encountered showed that it can be done.”

While the boosters had raised enough money to operate for at least the next two years, Johnson said the university needed a four-year commitment for recruiting, coaching and competition purposes.

Johnson said it wouldn’t be fair to bring an incoming freshman onto the team if the program couldn’t guarantee the program would be operational for that athlete’s four years of competition.

“ You don’t want to recruit a freshman and not know how long the program is going to be around,” Johnson said. “You need some stability.”

And the situation is the same with coaches, Johnson said.

“ I wouldn’t want to hire a coach if I could tell him, ‘I want to hire you, but I can only guarantee your contract for a year.’”

University oficials and boosters announced Wednesday they had raised $1.6 million, about $400,000 short of the goal. Only $1.2 million of that money, however, was in signed donation or pledge guarantees.

“We did not want to cut our sports programs,” Johnson said in the university’s statement. “But after extensive review and implementing other cost-saving measures the past two years, we have exhausted our options.

“ We could not continue to sacrifice the quality of our programs by further watering them down.”

Anderson said the extra time will allow the programs to redouble their efforts and raise the remaining fund.

“ The swimming community is committed to continuing fundraising efforts and is pleased to have the additional time to raise these funds,” she said in the statement.

Paul Oliaro, vice president for student affairs and dean of students who serves as chairman of the Athletic Corporation board, said the university and Athletic Corporation are committed to the cause, as well.

“ We want very much for the programs to continue at Fresno State, but, as stewards of a public institution, we must ensure that they are properly funded,” Oliaro said in the university’s statement. “This $800,000 gap will be a tough hurdle to overcome, but we will have to overcome it if we want the programs to continue with adequate funding. We are willing to keep working with them on this.”