Tennis cut: Will sports cuts continue?

As some attentive UCCS sports fans may have noticed when they walk into the old Lion's Den, there is a banner on the wall for tennis; yet when they visit gomountainlions.com, they do not find a page for this supposed  sport.

That's because tennis has been cut at UCCS.

UCCS is not the only school to cut sports. Over the past several years, numerous schools have cut sports programs such as wrestling, baseball, cross country and swimming. There are two major contributing factors to the reduction in collegiate sports teams.

 First, unless you are talking about football or basketball in a major Division I conference, schools often lose money on sports teams, so they're often cut in hard times.

Secondly, in 1972, Congress passed legislation known as "Title IX," which requires gender equality in sports funding. Alison Kasic with the Independent Women's Forum said that, "They get gender-equity compliance from the government standpoint and cost savings from their standpoint. And its male athletes who are basically sacrificed as a result--and they get all the negative results."

This legislation, combined with the budget deficit facing many higher education institutions, makes funding unprofitable athletic programs a very difficult task. The question then presents itself: Is it worth it?

Student Tim Hilt said, "Both the body and the mind are integral to a quality education." He went on to explain that in order for students to develop as a person, they need to develop in every area, not just academics.  He said that a complete person will not only have the technical skills that are taught in the classroom, but the teamwork skills that are taught on the court.

Researcher Ken Robinson said, "Companies now face an unusual crisis in graduate recruitment. It's not that there aren't enough graduates to go around, it's that too many of them can't communicate or work in teams."

UCCS graduate and local high school teacher Brian Hoff agreed. He said that "determination, hard work leading to results, and teamwork" are some of the valuable lessons he learned from college athletics. 

With the tennis team cut and looming budget cuts, it is difficult to foresee the future of UCCS athletics. Check in next week for an interview with the former tennis coach and continuing coverage of the issue.