April 25, 2012
Save Our Sports website
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
While our spring teams are working hard to achieve their goals on the field, there are a number of Athletics Department coaches and staffers also working hard to achieve our goal to Save Our Sports. I wanted to take a few minutes to update you on our progress.
Some of our programs have requested and received new financial benchmarks. In working with the men's track and field program, there is a new roster configuration that created a better chance of that sport going forward in an outdoor-only schedule.
Some of these numbers won't look as good as we'd like. We knew the task was going to be difficult, but we remain hopeful. The figures listed are as of April 19 and reflect funds currently in the UMCP Foundation accounts:
Acrobatics & Tumbling - 0.1 percent toward June 30 benchmark
Swimming & Diving - 2.4 percent toward June 30 benchmark
Men's Tennis - Less than 0.1 percent toward June 30 benchmark
Men's Track & Field - 61 percent toward June 30 benchmark
Water Polo - 2.3 percent toward June 30 benchmark
As you can see, now is the time for us to talk to friends, contact alumni and re-double our efforts to do as much as we can. We also need to be clear that all donations go directly to help save the affected sports and will be refunded if we're not able to save that sport.
We remain committed to fulfill any current financial-aid assistance to those who wish to continue to pursue their University of Maryland degrees, as well as providing assistance to those who wish to transfer. We will also honor all coaching contracts, as previously stated.
Our charge from campus and our core value in this department is to provide our student-athletes with the best possible experience while they are in our care.
But we must do this while being fiscally responsible, and we can no longer afford to provide this quality experience to as many student-athletes as we have in the past.
We must ensure that what we provide to our student-athletes gives them the chance to compete at the highest level, sharing the quest for excellence that is a goal of every department at this great institution.
I join you in your concern about this situation. But as Terps, we'll keep on fighting and never quit.
I welcome your comments or suggestions and appreciate your continued support of Maryland Athletics.
- Terps -
