UC Riverside Seeks Request For Public Comment On Proposal To Discontinue Intercollegiate Athletics Program In Men's Tennis And Initiate Women's Sand Volleyball
Riverside—Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Brian Wickstrom seeks comment from the UC Riverside and broader community on a proposal to discontinue men’s tennis and start women’s sand volleyball. The proposal is driven by relative interest in the two sports, as well as enabling a re-direction of existing scarce resources to support increased student participation in intercollegiate athletics.
This proposed realignment of intercollegiate athletics programs would provide the opportunity for the department of intercollegiate athletics to properly fund sand volleyball, and re-direct other funding to more fully support other sports.
UC Riverside is an NCAA Division I institution and member of the Big West Conference, that currently sponsors 17 sports: baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s softball, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s track & field (indoor and outdoor), and women’s volleyball.
On January 15, 2010, the NCAA approved the addition of sand volleyball to its list of emerging sports for women. The inaugural season tipped off on March 3, 2012 as Florida State squared off against Alabama Birmingham. There were 16 NCAA Division I institutions that competed in sand volleyball in 2012 with Pepperdine capturing the national championship.
Interested parties may submit written comments to
AthleticsRFPC@ucr.edu. The 10-day comment period will end at 5 pm on Monday, May 28, 2012. A decision will be announced by the end of the first week in June.
Supplementary Information
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The UC Riverside Department of Intercollegiate Athletics does not have, nor will it have in the foreseeable future, the resources to fund Men’s Tennis at an appropriate level to be competitive in the Big West Conference.
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The demand for the use of UC Riverside’s on-campus tennis courts is low.
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These tennis courts will be unavailable for competition or practice for two years due to expansion of the Student Recreation Center.
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The student interest in the Men’s Tennis program is low.
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The community interest in the Men’s Tennis program is low.
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There has been an expressed interest in Sand Volleyball on campus by our students as evidenced by the recent addition of Sand Volleyball as a club sport.
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There can be up to an annual savings of nearly $150,000 by offering Sand Volleyball over Men’s Tennis.
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From the cost savings, the athletics department has the opportunity to fund additional coaching positions in Softball and Women’s Golf.
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The cost savings would also create the opportunity to augment the funding for an additional assistant position in another sport.
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Funding these additional coaching positions will enhance and broaden the coaching efforts in those programs and help make them more competitive in the Big West Conference.
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The addition of Sand Volleyball allows for increased participation in sports like Men’s Soccer and Baseball.
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Per a recent article in the Press-Enterprise, we have "a local heritage of college sand volleyball." For example, in April of 2009, the City of Riverside embraced the AVP Crocs Tour Riverside Open held for four days in a temporary sand pit behind the Convention Center along with a national college tournament and discussions are occuring relative to hosting another national event in 2013.
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Local interest in Sand Volleyball will help foster additional community engagement with UC Riverside’s campus.
|
2011-12 Men's Tennis Budget |
|
x |
x |
Salary & Benefits |
$67,107 |
|
|
|
Operations |
$39,432 |
|
|
|
Grant-In-Aid |
$67,880 |
|
|
|
Total |
$174,419 |
|
x |
|
|
|
|
Sand Volleyball Expenses |
|
|
Construction Of Three (3) Courts |
|
|
|
Landscaping/Ground Work |
$15,555 |
|
|
|
Sand |
$18,000 |
|
|
|
Equipment/Area/Bounderies * |
$35,000 |
|
|
|
Concrete |
$1,500 |
|
|
|
2' x 12' Treated Wood |
$2,400 |
|
|
|
Edge Guard |
$2,000 |
|
|
|
Total |
$74,455 |
|
|
|
* Customized. Less $13,000 for non-customized |
|
|
x |
|
|
|
|
|
Annual Operations |
|
|
|
Balls (24 x $40) |
$960 |
|
|
|
Sand/Maintenance |
$7,000 |
|
|
|
Event Management |
$1,417 |
|
|
|
Officials (8 x $300) |
$2,400 |
|
|
|
Uniforms |
$5,000 |
|
|
|
Scorekeepers |
$1,500 |
|
|
|
Travel (no hotels or gas. food and van only) |
$4,000 |
|
|
|
Total |
$22,277 |
|
x |
|
|
|
|
Total Savings |
|
|
|
Excluding Men’s Tennis scholarship costs with the construction of three (3) Sand Volleyball courts |
$77,687 |
|
|
|
Annual Savings after courts are built |
$152,142 |
|
x |
|
|
|
|
Additional Support For Current Programs (Salary & Benefits) |
|
|
|
Assistant Women's Golf Coach |
$39,000 |
|
|
|
Elevate Part-Time Assistant Coach For Softball To Full-Time |
$39,000 |
|
|
|
Increase In Salary For Additional Assistant Coach |
$16,000 |
|
|
|
Total |
$94,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
