Really, really bad news.
Stick It Media posted a rumour that Men’s Head Coach Coach Barry Weiner has retired, his Assistant Coach Aaron Floyd resigned:
We’ve been hearing rumblings about the possible demise of the Cal Men’s Gymnastics program. Even the women’s program is also presumedly on the chopping block.
In light of all the budget cuts and the state’s overall fiscal degradation, both programs’ subsidization is ruffling the tender feathers of the more militant, sports-averse members of the school’s faculty.
Apparently Cal’s athletic department racked up a $1.7 million deficit this past year and received a loan from the school’s general fund. We’ve heard that the guillotine is poised over five men’s sports programs right now, making us wonder why men’s sports are being singled out. If only it were Title IX’s ugly head on the block. …
We hear a decision about men’s and women’s gymnastics will be made next month. Elimination of Cal’s men’s gymnastics would be devastating for the team, the state, and NCAA men’s gymnastics as a whole. Locally, it would have a huge negative affect on Stanford’s program. It would leave Stanford as the only men’s Division I gymnastics program west of the Rockies. …
read more – Is Cal Men’s Gymnastics in Jeopardy?
Ono No Komachi recommends we encourage enthusiasts to donate. Link at the bottom of that page.
7 comments ↓
There is a donations link at the bottom of the article.
Even 1 $ helps – if 500,000 people gave 1$, the program would most likley be saved.
It’s tax deductible.
Tell your friends. Tell them to tell their friends. Even if they don’t care about gymnastics.
Just do it.
Club sports is the answer. Athletes would need to have their own funding for school (but so what, normal people have to do that). Facilities and coaching are pretty expensive for gym. Associate with a club in town and have student-led training. You won’t be able to have the same development as at the USOC, but the people involved would still get the joy of sport.
At least with wrestling or boxing, the facilities are dirt cheap and not inherently dangerous. but gym…heck when you have to have pits and all.
Well it seems the athletes do not know about this. Here at UC Berkeley, our men’s and women’s teams share a facility that also houses a profitable USA gymnastics program. The burden of maintaining the facility largely falls on the gymnastics programs outside of the varsity teams. The men’s team produces some of the highest level gymnasts in the country and is of little cost to the University.
We ask that everyone help spread the word and help us save the team. As alumni, we are still looking into what it will take to save the program.
The average yearly cost of running a men’s NCAA gym team is roughly 400,000 to 500,000 yearly. Cal spending less, which is good for them.
The good news is it’s not that expensive compared to most other men’s sports. The average college baseball team costs close to a million bucks.
The bad news is that $ 400,000 isn’t chump change
to a university strapped for cash, and Title lX isn’t helping.
Raising that much money in a short amount of time sounds depressing, but it’s really not…if you get enough people to pitch in.
Have the Cal Alumni considered starting a Facebook page to spreas the word?
The alumni are mobilizing for letter-writing and a website, which should be up soon.
Thanks Kristin.
We will support that, of course.
Hey everyone, please spread the word.
CalGymnasticForever.com
the official site with a link to donate to the team and a template for the letter writing campaign
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