SETON HALL - "THE HALL" cuts MEN'S and WOMEN'S INDOOR AND OUTDOOR TRACK

This should be another warning to all D-1 Track & Field programs. You have to generate support from the alumni and the local running community to bring in $. If you don't think marketing to those groups is important, you will be out of a job. If you think the booster club will take care of that, think again. Like all endowments, it will take time to build the fund, but start now. Very few programs have alumni that can write big checks every year.

bf wrote:

It's the economy.

"The economy" is a convenient excuse for people these days. How, exactly, is "the economy" responsible for this? Tuition rates are up, costs for goods are services are down...

"The economy" is not an excuse for bad decisions, even if times really are tough.

Will they release distance runners to run immediately at another school?

no sprinter love looks like a lot of their All Ams were fast twitchers

Thomas wrote:

No this is not sad. These runners go to Seton Hall for an education. That is the point of going to school. Is it a bummer that they will no longer compete, yes. If they want to compete go to another school.

Very narrowminded view. One less school for kids to get scholarships too. Which, i'm sure, Seton Hall has a high grad rate for. Scholarships can change lives my friend. It can allow a financial burden to be lifted so an education can be reaped. I'm sorry if this was/is not the case for you.......work harder and don't be jealous.

Per Spec Tiv wrote:

Sad is children dying. Not this.

No, children dying is tragic, this is sad and affects alot of people.

PS........anyone know what beverage I could buy to help my immune system and strengthen my muscles???

I imagine this adds a bitter new flavor to this weekend's Seton Hall Last Chance meet.

Chaka wrote:

The way this was handled was horribly incompetent. So incompetent that pink slips should be issued.

And I can't help but notice that the department kept the predominately white cross country program and shed the rest. They just dramatically reduced opportunities for minority athletes and added golf?

Pathetic.

There cross country program was not predominately white..

And also, don't even bring up racism when it comes to this track team, the less you know.. the better.

Dr. Pepper is correct. In this economy, universities will be forced to rely on private donations to keep extracurricular activities alive.

Academic programs are also taking huge cuts across the nation.

My husband and I just sent a check to the university that gave us our track scholarships 20+ years ago and directed the money to T/F. Now is the time to give back if you can.

True words.

Oh yeah? wrote:

bf wrote:

It's the economy.

"The economy" is a convenient excuse for people these days. How, exactly, is "the economy" responsible for this? Tuition rates are up, costs for goods are services are down...

"The economy" is not an excuse for bad decisions, even if times really are tough.

This is what I was thinking. Did Seton Hall have problems getting incoming freshman students? Is that why they are hurting financially? If they still have a full freshman class then how is the economy impacting them?

Sorta like my company that just had a big layoff and blamed it on the economy. This was 2 months after they announced that 2009 was their best financial year ever. Makes you think.

Looking at Seton Halls schedule they are out of town a lot during the indoor season. They also have an indoor facility. I was looking through some high school calenders and found a few meets at the SH facility.

They should have been hosting meets 5 nights a week trying to bring in some revenue.

If they do host a lot of meets correct me.

Chaka wrote:

The way this was handled was horribly incompetent. So incompetent that pink slips should be issued.

And I can't help but notice that the department kept the predominately white cross country program and shed the rest. They just dramatically reduced opportunities for minority athletes and added golf?

Pathetic.

There were already rumors reported in the Star-Ledger that the AD is on the way out. They were forced to add another sport in order to remain Div 1, they already have men's golf, the head coach of which is also the varsity team equipment manager, so adding women's golf is probably minimal additional expenditure.

I'm shocked that nobody mentioned the REAL reason "The Hall" cut track, that being that it is a Title IX issue. Did any of you see the blurb at the end of the sentence that said they also added womens' golf? If you cut the largest male sport(as far as team members) and then replace it with womens' golf, you get a net win for your Gender Equity Percentage.

I was on the last mens San Diego State track team. We secured a huge donation for the program 1 year prior to them cutting the program with the caveat that the mens team would not be cut. They cut the program anyway one year later. Of course the admin team publicly stated budget issues, but we were a team that fundraised most of our travel budget, had 1.5 scholarships and no real clothing freebies. We were also a team that had 40+ male athletes on the team. It was never a money issue, it was a numbers issue.

By the way, I am a head track coach in high school and I manage to spend $20,000 per year on my program's expenses. That doesn't include coaching stipends for 5 assistants or myself. When you consider one road trip for a travel team at Seton Hall of about 50-60 athletes at $300-$400 per plane ticket and 25-35 hotel rooms, meet fees, food allowances etc etc and multiply that by each meet including conference meets etc., $1.5 million is NOTHING, especially if they are counting scholarship expenses into that mix.

As long as track continues to cost more than every other sport but Football and makes ZERO money, schools will continue to cut the sport(at least the mens version)and add womens sports that are cheaper and change the participation percentage in favor of "equal" numbers.

Dr. Pepper wrote:

This should be another warning to all D-1 Track & Field programs. You have to generate support from the alumni and the local running community to bring in $. If you don't think marketing to those groups is important, you will be out of a job. If you think the booster club will take care of that, think again. Like all endowments, it will take time to build the fund, but start now. Very few programs have alumni that can write big checks every year.

Every track/xc coach in the country needs to print out the above, highlight it, and hang it in their offices.

Looking back, my college coach wasn't the best training-wise (we did okay, but could've done better), but he was brilliant in that, the week he arrived on campus, he started a track/xc endowment fund. He was a finance guy and had done some fund raising for non-profits, and even back in the early 90s he could see the writing on the wall that programs had to become as close to self-suffienct as they could.

Flash forward and the team is almost at that point. The endowment fund pays for uniforms, travel to overnight meets, per diems, equipment, and clothing. The school pays the coach, runs the training room, and provides infrastructure (track, locker rooms, etc.) and pays for non-overnight meets. The team is now the best-funded team on campus, and it is never brought up when discussing which teams to cut to make budget.

Coaches need to get on the horn TODAY with alumni. Start the fund. Show you're making progress. Having an athlete qualify for the Olympics in the 1970s is great for tradition, but it's all about income and expenditures TODAY.

This is a money issue. To say it's a Title IX issue in Seton Hall's case is a joke. The men's team has 31 on the roster, the women's team has 26. They're adding maybe 8 women's sports spots. They won't be any more in compliance with Title IX by adding women's golf, since they just cut a bunch of women's athletic opportunities. However, it seems like a better choice to cut a program that is hemorrhaging money, than to drastically cut the budget and diminish its competiveness. Regardless, AD's have to realize they cannot cut women's sports, especially when more women are in college than men.

you know its almost stupid of them to not cut xc too. im an xc runner but i would never go to a school that didn't have track too. if you cut the xc team, you'll still have kids who'll go to be sprinters and hurdlers for track thus still having a good track team. you just gave up 3 teams for the price of two.

SD Track Coach wrote:

I'm shocked that nobody mentioned the REAL reason "The Hall" cut track, that being that it is a Title IX issue. Did any of you see the blurb at the end of the sentence that said they also added womens' golf? If you cut the largest male sport(as far as team members) and then replace it with womens' golf, you get a net win for your Gender Equity Percentage.

Hardly, you failed to notice that they also cut women's T&F, however cutting both track programs cuts 4 sports which takes them below the minimum required to remain Div 1. So they have to add one more sport, as mentioned above they already have men's golf so they can add women's golf for very little expenditure. This change has no Title IX effect, maybe the move could be challenged under Title IX though, it may be that the men are now under-represented regarding opportunities(6 sports vs 8, women have tennis and volleyball extra).