Hartwick..are they next ?

I know this will come across as overly negative, but hopefully college soccer coaches see the writing on the wall and start taking actions towards trying to generate some revenue for their program so they aren't put on the chopping block whenever there is a crisis with the budget.

I don't think it's realistic to expect many D-I men's soccer programs to be profitable, at least not in the short term, but coaches need to take steps that will at least generate some revenue so their programs aren't such a drain on the athletic department.

What can the coaches do?

*Promote and market your team more. Look at a program like Maryland, where Sasho Cirovski has made the sport a bigger deal by hitting the bricks and getting sponsors and bigger crowds and what not. They aren't a revenue producer in the sense they bring in more than they cost, but they generate money that goes towards the bottom line and keeps them less in the red.

*Emphasize rivalries. Every school has a team or two that its fans love to hate. Make those games a big deal for men's soccer just like they are for football and hoops. This should get more fans, and get more passion and energy at the games and the games then become something of an event. An event that can generate some money.

*Play attractive soccer. Coaches can control this. Stop with needless subs that disrupt the flow of the game. No 20-year old should need to come out in the first half unless he's hurt. Stop with the long balls and try and emphasize a posession game that folks will want to watch. Go out and find players that can play this type of game. It's hard but it's not as hard as seeing your program eliminated. Just look under some rocks you usually don't check and you might find a few more talented players. Don't just resort to ugly kick-and-run. No one wants to watch that so if you play that style, don't be surprised when folks don't show up.

*Sell merchandise AT GAMES. Yeah, stuff like School X Soccer t-shirts and sweatshirts and caps. Usually you have to go to the bookstore to get that stuff. Make it available at the games to folks who obviously have an interest in the program.

*Promote boisterous student sections. Easy to do. Many schools already do it. Work the campus and the campus media, get with some students and encourage them to form a group to sing, make noise, taunt, etc... No money will be made since students get in free, but it creates atmosphere and gets more people wanting to be at a game.

*Market the program to local youth clubs. Like MLS, sell blocks of tickets at a discount to youth teams. Get the kids in the seats. Selling a ticket cheap is better than not selling it at all.

*Take advantage of new media. No excuse not to have games cast on the net, both video and audio. The technology isn't difficult nor is it cost prohibitive. Plus, it gives the audio/video geeks a chance to get firsthand experience. Win-win. And, there are myriad TV channels now and they need content. Get with them to get your games on TV. You aren't gonna command much in right's fees but it exposes your prodcut and that's something you can take to sponsors.

*Create for-credit internships to kids to market your program and to promote it to the local media. Sure, you have an SID but they may not have the time or interest to really push stories. But a kid with credits to earn can devote plenty of time to this or to doing things to market the program and get sponsors, etc...

It takes time and effort. It's gonna be hard. But things aren't gonna change unless coaches make it change and until the sport starts creating some more money for itself, it's always gonna be looking over its shoulder to see programs cut.

Not every program will be able to generate money, even if they do all of the above. And they might get cut. That will suck, just like it sucks for Hartwick and Western Kentucky.

But doing nothing isn't a sollution. Coaches have to be proactive and do everything they can to get sponsors, sell tickets, create media coverage, play good soccer, etc... But programs will continue to be cut until the ADs and beancounters see their is interest in the program and the program can generate some revenue to limit what it costs the school.

 

Excellent ideas. Most are achieveable. Very well thought out.

 

All good except for the fact that Fresno State was among the nations leaders in attendance and still got the axe. If someone wants you out, you are out. One thing to remember is that there is no such thing as a revenue generating men's soccer program, there is only those programs who lose less than others. That is a fact. There is no TV contract or attendance that can compensate for the coaches salaries and scholarship costs. If they (administration) wants to trim the budget, men's olympic sports is going to be the way it is done since none make money - maybe a baseball program or two, but that is it.

Vanderbilt played high tempo run and gun soccer, FIU was at times Joga Bonito, Hartwick has unbelievable history and tradition. One is gone, the other two in big trouble.

First and foremost, as Al Davis said, "just win baby". It is a lot tougher to cut a program that is a consistent winner.

 

All great ideas, and almost all are used at UCONN. The student section, merchandise, possession game, free attendance on certain youth nights (also boy scout night, etc.), audio on the internet of games, student discounts, group discounts, advertising at clinics, and more. It's freezing up here in late fall and when the NCAAs roll around and we still pull in great attendance. UCONN the institution seems to push the basketball teams and football team, while UCONN the soccer team pushes the soccer team.

 

Very well said. When you have 20,000 - 50,000 students on campus you should not be getting outdrawn at soccer games by the local high school team.

Your point on playing attractive soccer is also very good. Of course some coaches would have to actually start looking for skilled soccer players instead of just big kids that can run.

 

That's a damned fine list of suggestions there Sandon, but I can assure you that in the specific case of Hartwick soccer, we learned that lesson several years ago and have actively pursued many of the suggestions you list. More in fact. It is unfortunate, but it really sounds like there's a better than even chance that there will be a coaching staff well versed in implementing many of the ideas on your punchlist that will be looking for work shortly.

As an alum, I am ashamed of the way the administration of Hartwick College has chosen to handle this matter. No one was informed of this plan until Monday of this week, and the players are out on break. They lacked the courage and the common decency to tell these kids what the deal was in person! Are you kidding me. And what about the recruits who they allowed the coaching staff to pursue full bore while they cooked up this scheme in the backroom? Weak!

If they truly believe they are acting in the best interest of the college as a whole, that's fine. In fact, that is their job. But act with dignity and courage for crying out loud!

 

Or, maybe, Hartwick just figured that when the NCAA tacitly admitted (in the White v NCAA suit) that D1 schools were improperly "undercompensating" D1 athletes for the value of their scholarships, it simply was no longer feasible to operate D1 soccer in a D3 school. Not only were they going to incur increased costs, but I suspect that their legal counsel strongly recommended against the ongoing operation of a "have's/have's not" athletic program, to avoid potential litigation.

To their credit, they didn't eliminate the program. They're simply moving it into line with the rest of their sports. Sometimes, managing a university boils down to issues not easily digested on sports message boards.

 

I am familiar with the Hartwick story from a first person perspective. Hartwick jerked Jim Lennox around and he ultimately resigned, vowing never to set foot on the campus again (after 30 years of service) and then hired Ian McIntyre (a former 'Wick scholar-athlete All American) to replace him. Ian had helped bring neighbor SUNY-Oneonta back to regional prominence before being hired at his alma mater (Oneonta has since moved down to D III...perhaps a slight, but not necessarily unimportant, coincidence for the Hartwick Board to refer to). I've worked for both Lennox and McIntyre on staff at the Hartwick soccer summer camps. When Ian took over, he was faced with the same "dropping to D III" dilemna and was able to get tremendous support in a fund-raising effort of immense proportions to keep D I status. You can't expect any coach to work the same financial miracle twice in such a short period of time.
I wonder what, if any, impact the fact that Oneonta's women's team (always a D III, with it's men a former D I) won a national championship a few years back, has had on (a) Oneonta's decision to move its men's team to D III, too, and (b) if the loss of it's most storied, literally "down the block" rival has had on the Hartwick administration's plan.

Hartwick, joining DIII would be an interesting jolt to the upstate NY smaller school soccer scene. Not too many opposing teams would complain about having to play on Elmore Field. Not sure how Hartwick would be able to, if at all, maintain their British connections through McIntyre's native background. As a small, selective, but not quite elite D III liberal arts school, their recruiting peer institutions would change to include Hobart, Hamilton, Rochester, Steven's Tech (playing in upstate NY, because of a political faux pas when trying to enter the Landmark Conference a year or two ago), RIT, St. Lawrence and regionally they'd be thrown in with the better SUNY D III's to vie for NCAA tournament selection (Plattsburgh, Fredonia, Geneseo and, of course, Oneonta). D I is D I, but there are, amongst this group of D III's, some better than decent teams.

 

I actually wasn't refering to what Sandon wrote, which was a well-placed "word-to-the-wise" for D1 programs in financially-strapped institutions. What I was doing was suggesting that it's too easy to point the finger at your "...supposed academics" as being simply ignorant of the beautiful game, when there were likely more important considerations at work.

 

If Hartwick goes Division III, McIntyre will not remain for long. Book that.

 

Unfortunately, I think one thing that effects men's college soccer programs is also Title IX and a schools compliance with that rule. Title IX was put into effect to help raise the opportunities for female athletes, as far as athletic money and number of sports offered is concerned. Unfortunately, it has effected non revenue producing men's sports like tennis, baseball, and soccer. Personally, I also think a school's participation in football, American football, has an effect on men's soccer. If a school has a football program, that sport "sucks up" a lot of the athletic dept. budget.

 

See, that's the part that has me STEAMED right now. If anyone is asking for a second fund raising miracle, that's news to me. I don't think that's quite "it" either. Although that's just a hunch, since apparently the phones and e-mail systems are down in Oneonta this week.

Hartwick has been able to raise approximately 1.5 million dollars to support it's DIV 1 athletics since the first shoe dropped four years ago, January 2004. That was done through an on-going fund raising commitment. I know I've sent my check each year, and I fully intended to continue to do so.

Now four years later, and like the first time completely out of left field, I get an e-mail this week telling me the second shoe has fallen. Here's what I think the deal is, plain and simple.

President DICK Miller is resigning after the Spring 2008 semester. It was his idea to drop to DIV III in 2004. The uproar that caused in the alumni community, plus the efforts to create the ReIgnite the Wick fundraising platform caused him to back off the plan. Temporarily, it turns out. I suspect this is simply a case of DICK still believing his original plan was the correct thing to do. Now that his tenure is about to expire, it's back on the table.

As for how interesting this move makes DIV III soccer in upstate NY, I'm simply just not ready to contemplate that one yet. But I can say that everyone should get ready for <<shivers>> FIELDTURF ON ELMORE FIELD. <<shivers again>>. That'll be next.

 

"... In a related matter, the Trustees voted to table a resolution regarding the discontinuance of Division I and athletic scholarship supported sports at the College. ..."

I am assuming that this means this matter has been tabled until May, when the Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet again. I am hoping this tabling action was taken so that a deeper conversation about the matter can occur.

Bullet dodged for the time being. It will be interesting to see where this leads.

 

Amen! Welcome to my world.

We've seen one good list on this thread already about what coaches should do to improve monetary realities. The current Hartwick administration is providing great materials for a second list.

"What Administrators Should Not Do"

You can start that one with:

"Subvert recruiting and morale by issuing repeated threats to eliminate the program."

I stand by my earlier post in which I expressed how ashamed I am by the lack of courage demonstrated by these supposed leaders.