According to Athletic Director Suzanne Coffey, the College asked her department to implement the 15 percent cutback in the fall. Since many sports teams were already in season by then, Coffey had to make immediate cutbacks. One such cut was in the uniform policy. Under the athletic department’s previous uniform plan, every team receives new gear once every four years or five years. Now, teams that were due for new uniforms had their orders put on hold until further notice. “By [the] fiscal year 2011, some teams will have uniforms that are six or seven years old, which can be difficult,” Coffey commented. “I’ve noticed that the women’s hockey uniforms are looking a little tattered, but since they’re not the most important thing to spend money on, we’re trying to put it off for as long as we can.”
However, most of the budget cuts are across-the-board decreases in spending. One major cost-saving change the department made was switching to Peter Pan buses, which will save the College money. Additionally, beginning next fall, multiple teams that are traveling away to another college will share buses. “I don’t know exactly how much it’ll save, but I’m sure the numbers will be somewhere around a couple thousand per program,” said Coffey.
With the proposal for more budget cuts next year, many athletes voiced a concern about “meal money,” or cash for food given to players when they miss meals at Valentine due to games. However, Coffey does not project many cutbacks in this area because she feels that such cutbacks could affect athletic execution. “I do want to make sure that there is no unnecessary waste, but I also believe that after-contest nourishment is very important to performance,” she said.
The NESCAC is instituting measures of its own in order to cut costs. One such decree will drastically alter the way men’s and women’s basketball games are played. Under the current system, men and women play the same schools but are home and away at different times. However, next year, the men and women will play their away games together on the same day and thus reduce travel expenses by riding on the same bus together. “We [the NESCAC] thought about making this change several years ago, but decided that the team who played the later game would be leaving unnecessarily early and thus might miss more class,” Coffey explained. “For these academic reasons, we were reluctant to adjust traveling schedules even though it would save more money.”
Men’s basketball player Kurt Bennett ’11 sees positive sides to this cutback. “You won’t get a crowd split between women’s and men’s basketball games; you’ll have bigger crowds and a bigger atmosphere which hopefully leads to better performances,” he said. “I also like it because it will make it easier for us to support the women’s team, even when they are on the road.”
Additionally, the NESCAC president has prohibited all team travel outside of the continental U.S. Though international travel is always financed by team fundraising and individuals’ own contributions, the NESCAC felt that asking students to raise money for expensive trips was an unnecessary pressure in this economic time. The rule goes into effect in August, and the women’s hockey team has already called off a trip to Europe that they were planning for the summer of 2010.
Though fall and winter sports have not been as affected by the recent decreases in spending, spring sports are certainly feeling the crunch. Last year, the cost per player for the softball team’s annual spring break trip to Arizona was around $250 after fundraising and the athletic department’s contribution. However, this year, with less money from the department, the trip was going to cost over $900 per player, even after a fundraising effort and cutting travel costs.
“We eventually convinced the athletic department to rethink their contribution and we did a lot more fundraising so that the price is closer to last year’s, but it took a ton of work on our part,” said team member Jillian Masi ’11. She also noted that the softball team has lost one of their two assistant coaches this year. “Only having two coaches really is not enough, especially considering how many coaches other athletic teams have to help out during practices and games,” she said. “I don’t think any more cuts could be made without seriously affecting the team.” The Amherst athletic department is hoping that changes being implemented now merely for the sake of fiscal prudence will be reversed once the economic crisis turns around for the better.