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The Guilfordian March 27, 2015 | 11 SPORTS WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM/SPORTS GUILFORDIAN@GUILFORD.EDU Athletes take a hit in budget crisis BY BANNING WATSON Staff Writer The budget crisis has affected every part of the Guilford campus and raised concerns for the future of programs such as the Bonner Scholars program and the Wellness Education Center, but we have yet to hear about the effects on Guilford athletics. "I think we’re all on a lot tighter budget than we used to be, which puts us in position where we have to cut some of our equipment and we had to make some sacrifices that made us have a less productive season,” said senior tennis player Blake Brown. “Everyone’s experiencing this, so you just have to learn to work with what you’ve got, but the cuts are definitely noticeable.” Teams have had difficulties in raising money for uniforms. “We still need to buy uniforms for the first-year players, but otherwise we’ve had to recycle old uniforms,” said senior tennis player Turner Votipka. “A lot of teams are cutting back on what they are spending and running fund raising campaigns.” For example, the lacrosse and football teams repeatedly utilize fundraising campaigns. “We’ve had to finance ourselves the whole time, so we’ve done fundraisers to get our gear like sweats, helmets, and gloves,” said senior lacrosse player Nick Huckins. “We’ve been lucky actually, because of an alumni donation from a former lacrosse player at Guilford for $100,000. “We can’t use it all at once because it’s an endowment, but it’s been helpful to have a little extra for travel expenses. We haven’t really felt the budget cuts as much because we’ve always had to raise money for ourselves and the endowment helps.” Students in the athletics department seem to be accepting of the cuts, as much as they regret the effects on the programs, “It’s hard to be as successful as we want to be without that monetary backing, but I think at Guilford they do a really good job of making a statement of not throwing all of their money into athletics if that’s not something the entire student body wants,” said senior lacrosse player Sam Cole. “We get by and we have the things we need.” Some students argue, however, that some teams could cut back more. "I know it’s one of the areas that can afford to have the budget trimmed a little and some of the teams have to pay for their own equipment,” said sophomore tennis player Nora Prokosch. “I think the smaller teams are more likely to get their budgets cut and suffer more than the larger teams do if they incur cuts. “I think sports in general are an important source of morale for the college, but I think we could afford a reduced budget in some places.” The majority of teams rely on similar fundraising methods to pay for non conference game travel and general travel expenses, as well as for uniforms. While resources are somewhat stretched at the Guilford athletic department, there seems to be limited danger of the program cuts which threaten the rest of the college. However, the future of the department will be more clearly detailed when the fall annual board of trustees meeting begins on Oct. 8, when the budget for the college is finalized for the 2015- 2016 school year. ACC Tournament to move away from Greensboro t “ 50 The UNC team lines up to sing the national anthem at the Coliseum before their final game-against Notre Danne on March 14. BY CORBIN BARWICK Staff Writer Since the formation of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1959, the city of Greensboro has become a staple for the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. Despite changing locations throughout ACC country, the city has hosted the tournament five of the last six years. With the ACC tournament being held in Greensboro, the event brings in a sizable amount of income to the City of Greensboro. Many families, teams and ACC representatives stay in local hotels, eat at restaurants and tour the city during these two weeks. For the 2015 ACC tournament, there was an excellent turnout with both the men’s and women’s championship games selling out. Notre Dame defeated North Carolina 90 - 82 in the men’s tournament while the Fighting Irish also took the women’s title in a 71 - 58 win over Florida State. With the original scheduling of the men’s tournament to have begun on Wednesday, March 11, and end on Sunday, March 15, ESPN, the ACC decided to change the time so that the championship game would be on Saturday night in prime time. Thus the new schedule began on Tuesday, March 10, and ended on Saturday March 11. “The reason the schedule was changed for the men’s tournament is because ESPN wanted the games to be aired at certain times,” said sophomore ACC intern Pat Charvat in an email interview. “Because of the contract with ESPN, the ACC had to compromise and move the tournament ahead a day. “When it comes to attendance, I don’t think it really made a difference this year. Since it is such a big deal, people are going to go Regardless ^^th’l^yTeSpeCiiilly with three-of foUt North Carolina teams playing multiple days of the week. The stadium will be packed regardless of the day.” The fans of in-state teams will soon see this change. The current layout the ACC has for the men’s tournament will put it in Washington, D.C., in 2016, Brooklyn in 2017 and 2018, then Charlotte in 2019 before returning back to Greensboro in 2020. This could potentially cause a significant financial impact to the city of Greensboro. However, the women’s tournament will still be held here in Greensboro for the time being. “I think losing the men’s tournament is going to be a huge impact on the City of Greensboro,” said junior ACC intern Chris Campolieta. “The women’s tournament does not generate nearly as much money as does the men’s tournament.” It is not just the revenue aspect that the City of Greensboro will be impacted by with the loss of the men’s tournament. “The ACC, players and families all stay in roughly seven different hotels that are close to Greensboro Coliseum,” said sophomore ACC intern AJ Pasquale. “It is obvious the tournament’s absence will be felt by the hospitality industry around Greensboro.” The importance of the ACC tournament to the City of Greensboro is very significant not only financially to the city, but it helps bring in more customers for local businesses in the area. The loss of the men’s tournament will be noticeable so it is up to the City of Greensboro to find something to fill in the gap. Obviously the city will do what they can to fill the void of the ACC tournament, but in reality, the tournament’s absence will be felt until it returns in five years. GGGGGGGGG Sports Calendar March 29, 2015 1:00 PM Va. Wesleyan @ Guilford March 29, 2015 1:00 PM Va. Wesleyan @ Guilford March 28, 2015 1:00 PM Bridgewater (Va.) @ Guilford April 1, 2015 3:00 PM Emory & Henry @ Guilford March 28, 2015 12:00 PM Bridgewater (Va.) @ Guilford
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
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March 27, 2015, edition 1
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