Spring Break
Budget cuts hurt club sports
Women's rugby searching for new ways to fund team
Russell Blair
Issue date: 11/19/08 Section: Sports
Shards of glass, sharp rocks and odd smells - what sound like the makings for a horrific science experiment are the conditions the UConn women's rugby team faces each time they take the field at Depot Campus after university-wide budget cuts.
UConn's Club Sports Council, following the trend of many other organizations on campus, has had its budget substantially cut, passing the effects on to the many teams it oversees. In response, individual teams have turned to their own fundraising efforts to recoup losses.
The UConn women's rugby team came up with the idea of a flag football tournament, charging $5 for each participant.
"This is the first time we've had to do anything like this," said Kristen Koltan, fundraising chair for the team. "We are usually told upfront how much money we're going to get and plan our season accordingly. It's hard to fundraise when you're practicing four days a week and playing games."
The team currently plays and practices on the same field at UConn's Depot Campus with conditions they described as deplorable. The university had planned to renovate the field this fall, but due to budget cuts rebuked its offer.
"It really sucks," said player Gillian Holland. "We planned our schedule around them fixing the field so we had all away games but one this semester. We had to use extra money to pay for buses to go to those games that were all over an hour-and-half away. If we had known ahead of time we could have saved a lot of money and played in front of our friends and families here."
"When we did play our one home game we had to do a field check before and go around picking up pieces of glass," said captain Melissa Clark.
At this point, it is increasingly hard for the team to get schools to play at their home site, which they now refer to as nothing more than a "dirt pit."
In addition to having their field go another year without renovation, the team no longer receives enough money to travel to all of the tournaments they have been attending yearly since the club's formation.
UConn's Club Sports Council, following the trend of many other organizations on campus, has had its budget substantially cut, passing the effects on to the many teams it oversees. In response, individual teams have turned to their own fundraising efforts to recoup losses.
The UConn women's rugby team came up with the idea of a flag football tournament, charging $5 for each participant.
"This is the first time we've had to do anything like this," said Kristen Koltan, fundraising chair for the team. "We are usually told upfront how much money we're going to get and plan our season accordingly. It's hard to fundraise when you're practicing four days a week and playing games."
The team currently plays and practices on the same field at UConn's Depot Campus with conditions they described as deplorable. The university had planned to renovate the field this fall, but due to budget cuts rebuked its offer.
"It really sucks," said player Gillian Holland. "We planned our schedule around them fixing the field so we had all away games but one this semester. We had to use extra money to pay for buses to go to those games that were all over an hour-and-half away. If we had known ahead of time we could have saved a lot of money and played in front of our friends and families here."
"When we did play our one home game we had to do a field check before and go around picking up pieces of glass," said captain Melissa Clark.
At this point, it is increasingly hard for the team to get schools to play at their home site, which they now refer to as nothing more than a "dirt pit."
In addition to having their field go another year without renovation, the team no longer receives enough money to travel to all of the tournaments they have been attending yearly since the club's formation.
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KR
posted 11/19/08 @ 11:51 PM EST
I too have been heavily affected by the cut in club sports budget. However, I do not appreciate an article in the paper bitching about how you should be able to stay in hotels and not have to stay at team members homes, jerseys etc. (Continued…)
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