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SJSU Wrestling Archives The Spartan Daily 4-9-86 |
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Fullerton Suspends Wrestling Program |
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by Craig Quintana |
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| President Gail Fullerton suspended wrestling yesterday as a varsity sport at SJSU. Fullerton cited budget troubles within the men's athletic department as the reason for suspending the sport. She said the action was taken as part of a comprehensive reassessment of the program's financing. "The suspension of the sport, although deeply regretted, is necessary due to the large deficit in this year's men intercollegiate athletics budget," Fullerton said. The men's athletic department faces a budget deficit of at least $250,000 at the end of this fiscal year in June, said Vern Wagner, interim men's athletic director. However, there is a wide discrepancy between Wagner's assessment and the $381,482 figure calculated by former athletic director Lynn Eilefson. Eilefson stepped down as director on April 1. Fullerton's decision to cut wrestling ran contrary to Monday's unanimous recommendation of the Athletic Board of Directors to keep both wrestling and men's gymnastic as varsity sports next year. The board considered suspending both sports at Wagner's request. The athletic board is a university steering committee that makes recommendations to the president. At the meeting, students, sports alumni, and interested boosters made an emotional appeal to the board in favor of the programs. Before making the decision, board members told the crowd that the president almost always follows their recommendations. The president was not part of Monday's deliberation because she was attending the regular meeting of California State University presidents and chancellors. Fullerton said gymnastics was spared because the university is convinced that the program can raise all the money it needs for scholarships and travel expenses. She noted that under coach Rich Chew the gymnastics program is strong and has attracted much community support. Chew said he and wrestling coach Danny Kida had been happy about Monday's victory but had also been leery of what would come next. "After last night we felt good, but we knew it wasn't the final test," Chew said. "But it (Fullerton's decision) still surprises me." Dan Buerger, executive assistant to the president, said there is a difference between suspension and dropping a sport. A suspended sport can make a comeback if the team can generate enough financial support in the interim, he said. In 1984, the university dropped fencing as a varsity sport at SJSU. Buerger said that the sport was demoted to club status because of the tremendous costs involved. Coach Kida expressed skepticism as to whether wrestling will be reinstated anytime in the near future. With the program dissolved, he said any support it may have been able to generate would disappear. All athletic programs receive two types of funding. Part of the funding comes in the form of state money, or hard money, to pay the salaries of coaches and staff. The remainder comes from fund-raising sources other than the state funds and is labeled soft money. Buerger said the soft money is increasingly being used to shore up programs and fund hard money positions, primarily coaches. Wagner said the suspension would help the men's athletic department by saving anywhere from $50,000 to $55,000 in both hard and soft money annually. Kida's salary as a half-time coach, which came out of the hard money fund, will be used elsewhere. Moreover, Wagner said some of the soft money saved would be used for events management--chalking the fields and other things needed to put on home sporting events. In the area of positioning--the number of faculty members allotted by state--he said the move would provide more coaching positions for other sports. "Everything is going to be cut back," Wagner said. "The cuts are just beginning." The men's athletic department faces a budget deficit of at least $250,000 at the end of this fiscal year, Wagner said. However, there is a wide discrepancy between Wagner's assessment and the figures submitted to the IRA committee by Eilefson. In the budget request presented to the Instructionally Related Activities committee, a group that provides some of athletic's funding, Eilefson's calculations forecast a deficit of at least $381, 482 between what the department budgeted and what is anticipated by year's end. Wagner said if the program did not get the $95,000 requested in IRA funding for next year, more drastic cuts--including other sports programs--could result. The IRA committee is scheduled to make its decision Friday, Wagner said. Kida agreed with Wagner's cost assessment of wrestling, but said the budget could be less if the program were to operate on a "bare-bones" budget next season. When he came to SJSU a year ago, Kida said, he knew it would be an upward battle to keep the sport and the decision to suspend was not totally unexpected. Despite the cut, Kida said, "I hope this will help the athletic program at SJSU." While the wrestling program contributed to this year's budget deficit, Kida said the proportion was small in comparison to other programs' losses. "It's disappointing, but we have to accept the president's decision on this question" Earlier in the day, an emotional Kida broke the unofficial news to his team in their practice room. He told the team members that they should stay in training and utilize his coaching abilities for the remainder of the year. Wagner said the move will not effect the eligibility of wrestlers who can transfer to other universities. If the program had not been canceled and a wrestler were to transfer to another school, the wrestler would lose eligibility and have to sit out for a year. Kida said he would help any interested team members transfer to a school that is competitive in the sport. "I will do my best to see that anyone who wants to transfer is comfortable in a four-year university," Kida said. Previously, both Fullerton and Eilefson said that cutting sports would be the last resort. |
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