Senate recognizes gymastics, swimming as club sports

09/18/08 - Two sports programs cut from the University of Rhode Island athletics lineup last year will be returning to campus, albeit in different forms.The Student Senate voted last night to recognize the Gymnastics Club and Men's Swimming and Diving Club as Level III student organizations.

The athletic department last year cut the two varsity teams along with the field hockey and men's tennis teams as a result of heavy budget cuts.

In both instances, the vote to recognize the clubs was unanimous.

President Erika Sloan spoke on behalf of the Gymnastics Club, which was represented at the meeting by 9 prospective members and with the club's coach in attendance.

"After our team was cut by the administration we decided that this couldn't be the end of gymnastics at URI," said Sloan, who was a member of the team last year as a freshman.

Derek Benard, president of the Swimming and Diving Club, told a similar story.

"Same position as the gymnastics team, you know, last year, administrative cuts, and there's still a lot of guys that want to hang around."

"We want to be able to give the opportunity to kids in the state to still swim, since there aren't many swim teams around," Benard said.

Benard said the club currently has 23 members, who practice with the women's team, and that the club has already begun to raise money.

Club Vice President Matthew Zrada said in an interview following the meeting that the team has in fact changed little since being cut.

The team has only lost two members, and with new freshman members, actually has greater numbers than last year.

The club's schedule will be almost the same as the team's was, Zrada said, with the difference that they will compete in a club championship rather than the Atlantic 10 championship.

The team has been able to preserve itself in this way thanks to their coach's connections and to the willingness of other teams to compete, Zrada said.

"It's kind of a special thing that we had just because of being familiar with the teams already."

The gymnastics team has not managed to preserve itself in the same fashion.

The club will be open to any interested students, regardless of experience, and Sloan said she has been contacted by about 20 girls interested in joining, only four of who were former team members.

Because the university has sold the gymnastics equipment and the practice area is under construction, the club will be training off campus at two local gyms.

In order to pay for transportation to and from meets, and to rent gym space for practices, the club is planning several fundraisers.

Speaking after the meeting, Sloan expressed pleasure over the senate's decision.

"It was very exciting tonight, we have been working really hard all summer to try to get this organized, and getting recognized tonight was such a big relief."

Sloan said the club would not be continuing the team's efforts of the previous year to have gymnastics reinstated as a varsity sport.

"Right now we're pretty satisfied as being a club team," she said. "Becoming a varsity team seems a little out of reach right now because that's a lot more money."

Zrada, on the other hand, hopes that club status will only be temporary for his sport.

"It's nice. I'm glad that we're taking this one step closer to the goal of getting the team back as a Series I varsity sport though, it's a step in the right direction," he said.

"We're just waiting to see what the athletic department decides to do . we don't really have any leverage in bringing it back I guess, we're just hoping that in the future if they're looking to bring a guys' team back they'll look to bring the guys' swim team back."

In other business:

The senate voted unanimously to recognize the Mob at Level IV. Club president Jason Coppa described the group's function.

"Basically we're that group that you guys either love or hate at basketball games, we're the bunch of nut jobs standing up, screaming . running around, whatever."

The senate approved a loan request to itself from its tax income reserve in the amount of $2,525.38, which will be used to buy T-shirts. The T-shirts will be sold and the money returned to the reserve.