Due to budget issues, we've seen schools like UMass, Nevada, Wyoming, Boise State, Colorado State and Utah State all drop skiing as varsity sports. Now New Mexico's program is in trouble.
UNM made an announcement that it would drop its ski teams in April: http://fasterskier.com/fsarticle/university-new-mexico-cuts-ski-program/
Since then, donors stepped up and have saved it for at least a year:
Less than one month after the University of New Mexico announced it would be discontinuing its 25 member ski team as a cost-cutting measure, an outpouring of community support, and more importantly financial contributions, led acting president Chaouki Abdallah to announce Thursday the team is back.
Well, at least for one more year while the team, university and the state’s interested ski community works on a long-term private funding model that would allow the program to stick in an athletic department facing financial hardships.
University of Colorado ski coach Richard Rokos, whose team competes in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association with the Lobos, praised the decision and suggested it is a wake-up call for the sport.
“Losing New Mexico could have a snowball effect to take us all out,” Rokos said in a statement CU’s ski team released. “I think this one sent a pretty clear message that if we stay together, we will fight it together and support each other and that’s what helped us here.”
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Very troubling. This is a pretty expensive sport with lots of travel, costly venues, and almost nothing in terms of revenue generation. The only university ADs that can really support it would be the big schools, but it's not like Washington and others are looking to make a commitment. Instead, it seems to be smaller schools that have skiing as part of the culture like DU and Vermont that are committed to funding the sport. How long can this last as an NCAA varsity sport?
UNM made an announcement that it would drop its ski teams in April: http://fasterskier.com/fsarticle/university-new-mexico-cuts-ski-program/
Since then, donors stepped up and have saved it for at least a year:
Less than one month after the University of New Mexico announced it would be discontinuing its 25 member ski team as a cost-cutting measure, an outpouring of community support, and more importantly financial contributions, led acting president Chaouki Abdallah to announce Thursday the team is back.
Well, at least for one more year while the team, university and the state’s interested ski community works on a long-term private funding model that would allow the program to stick in an athletic department facing financial hardships.
University of Colorado ski coach Richard Rokos, whose team competes in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association with the Lobos, praised the decision and suggested it is a wake-up call for the sport.
“Losing New Mexico could have a snowball effect to take us all out,” Rokos said in a statement CU’s ski team released. “I think this one sent a pretty clear message that if we stay together, we will fight it together and support each other and that’s what helped us here.”
****************************
Very troubling. This is a pretty expensive sport with lots of travel, costly venues, and almost nothing in terms of revenue generation. The only university ADs that can really support it would be the big schools, but it's not like Washington and others are looking to make a commitment. Instead, it seems to be smaller schools that have skiing as part of the culture like DU and Vermont that are committed to funding the sport. How long can this last as an NCAA varsity sport?
