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Letter: Women's gymnastics team unsettled by athletic department's decision
Issue date: 2/1/08 Section: Editorial/Opinion
2/1/08 - To the Cigar,
The University of Rhode Island Athletics Department announced yesterday that it would be "replacing" our women's gymnastics team with a women's lacrosse team at the end of this season.
As a team, we found this out only about an hour before it was officially announced and were disturbed not only by the news but by the way in which the situation was handled and the weak explanation that we were given.
With no warning and only three days before our next meet, our team was thrown for a loop when we were told that the nature of our sport was not something that URI was interested in sponsoring any longer. One of the reasons was that a lacrosse team will offer more spots for female athletes to compete. In reality, lacrosse will serve only seven additional team members compared to gymnastics. Another excuse given was that we do not compete in the Atlantic 10, like the rest of URI sports. However, the football team is part of the CAA, not the A-10s.
During the meeting, our sport was described as diminishing in the New England area and the athletics department had little faith in our success. It made our team feel that all of our hard work and dedication throughout our lives was for nothing and the University did not appreciate the URI gymnastics team or coaches. Although many people do not fully understand what goes into gymnastics, it is still a favorite of people all over the country including many young fans that we have met and have told us that one day they wanted to be a URI gymnast like us.
This means that some team members will be forced to choose between quitting gymnastics entirely or transferring to a new school and starting all over again. Those who are a part of our team have now been robbed of other opportunities that they could have received from a different school who would have appreciated their talents.
It's not just a program being cut. It's a team of 21 closet-knit women who have worked their entire lives to be a part of a division one team. We have been dedicated to this sport for almost our whole lives and will continue through our final season here at URI. Regardless of what the athletics department has said, we will give our all and encourage any support we can get to make them think twice about cutting women's gymnastics.
The Women's Gymnastics Team
The University of Rhode Island Athletics Department announced yesterday that it would be "replacing" our women's gymnastics team with a women's lacrosse team at the end of this season.
As a team, we found this out only about an hour before it was officially announced and were disturbed not only by the news but by the way in which the situation was handled and the weak explanation that we were given.
With no warning and only three days before our next meet, our team was thrown for a loop when we were told that the nature of our sport was not something that URI was interested in sponsoring any longer. One of the reasons was that a lacrosse team will offer more spots for female athletes to compete. In reality, lacrosse will serve only seven additional team members compared to gymnastics. Another excuse given was that we do not compete in the Atlantic 10, like the rest of URI sports. However, the football team is part of the CAA, not the A-10s.
During the meeting, our sport was described as diminishing in the New England area and the athletics department had little faith in our success. It made our team feel that all of our hard work and dedication throughout our lives was for nothing and the University did not appreciate the URI gymnastics team or coaches. Although many people do not fully understand what goes into gymnastics, it is still a favorite of people all over the country including many young fans that we have met and have told us that one day they wanted to be a URI gymnast like us.
This means that some team members will be forced to choose between quitting gymnastics entirely or transferring to a new school and starting all over again. Those who are a part of our team have now been robbed of other opportunities that they could have received from a different school who would have appreciated their talents.
It's not just a program being cut. It's a team of 21 closet-knit women who have worked their entire lives to be a part of a division one team. We have been dedicated to this sport for almost our whole lives and will continue through our final season here at URI. Regardless of what the athletics department has said, we will give our all and encourage any support we can get to make them think twice about cutting women's gymnastics.
The Women's Gymnastics Team
