Sport clubs lose travel funds

Robert Henry Becker Arizona Daily Wildcat Dana Miller, an art history senior, stands among her Women's Lacrosse teammates and expresses confusion over sport club funding plans. About 200 people gathered in the Arizona Ballroom last night to listen to the new funding guidelines.

Under the old procedure, a one-time lump sum was allocated to a Student Recreation Center account by ASUA each fiscal year to be used proportionally for all sports clubs based on their activity level, fund-raising efforts and team budgets from the previous year.

Mary O'Mahoney, assistant coordinator for intramural and sport clubs, would then disburse the money to each sport club based on the individual needs of that organization. This year, $10,000 was allocated to the Rec Center - $4,000 less than last year, she said.

A 30 percent budget cut that has reduced ASUA's club funding from $86,000 to $76,000 this fiscal year prompted the decision to change the way funding was allocated to sport clubs, said Erin Russell, ASUA vice president for clubs and organizations.

The new process will require the 32 sport clubs to compete with the other 300 clubs on campus for ASUA funding by submitting individual requests for each event to the seven-member Appropriations Board, Russell said.

"All funding requests will be made on a case-by-case basis to ensure all clubs have an equitable chance at receiving money," Russell said.

The only legitimate requests for ASUA funding will be league and organization membership dues, event registration fees, one-time consumable equipment purchases under $500 for items such as tape and ice, and for fees related to sponsoring a campus event.

ASUA will not cover expenses associated with personally-fitted equipment or any equipment valued at more than $500. Academic materials, mailing costs and awards and trophies also are not available for funding. What may be most crippling to sport clubs is the elimination of funding for travel-related expenses.

UA rugby, which received about $800 in ASUA support this fiscal year, spends more than $13,000 for each road trip the team makes, and will have expenses that exceed $85,000 for the season, said coach David Sitton, whose team is primarily funded by alumni support and player-organized fund raising.

"For all the sports clubs, any help from ASUA is huge and very important," Sitton said.

Russell told the audience of about 100 concerned athletes that after a discussion with Risk Management and university attorneys, it was decided that there were liability risks associated with funding travel expenditures.

However, ASUA does allocate money to non-sport clubs for travel-related expenses, Russell said.

Sitton argued that the dean of students gives approval for each of the sport club teams to travel, and in doing so, the university would not be any less or more liable if it were to help fund travel expenditures.

Sports psychology sophomore Cheryl Glass said her dues to the United States Synchronized Swimming Inc. include insurance coverage for participating in events sponsored by that organization.

Mirum Washington-White, associate director of intramural and sport clubs, said he was concerned because the decision to change sport club funding was done without consulting any professionals in the field or notifying any of the teams it would affect to allow them to be present when the changes were being considered.

"While we are behind the process, I think the logic is a little skewed and a tad bit unfair to sport clubs," Washington-White said. He was told by ASUA he would be invited to the meeting with Risk Management but was not.

UA men's lacrosse coach Mickey-Miles Felton, who received $1,000 from ASUA to nip at his teams nearly $28,000 worth of expenses, was also concerned.

"I don't think anyone is protecting the students' best interest," said Felton, who is one of the winningest coaches in lacrosse history.

"These athletes are attending class and practicing several times a week, and most have jobs, so to ask them to also be responsible to raise money is really a shame," he said.

Felton said if the team sells T-shirts that say 'University of Arizona' on them, they are required to pay a licensing fee to the school, which again hurts money-raising efforts.

Associated Students president-elect Gilbert Davidson said that ASUA will re-evaluate the new procedure when a new director of campus recreation is hired.

"The money is available, so it's not impossible that ASUA may still allow funding for travel expenses," Davidson said.