The Student Newspaper of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Volume XVI, Number 33
Charlotte, North Carolina
Thursday, December 4, 1980
Ike Gardner
49er Soccer Coach Resigns
By Beverly Harris
Carolina Journal Staff Writer
UNC Charlotte’s athletic director,
Clyde Walker announced Monday the
resignation of soccer and tennis coach
Ike Gardner.
Gardner, 33, built UNCC‘s five-
year-old Division I soccer program
from scratch since coming to the
University in 1976 and had establish
ed his tennis program among the best
in the state on the Division I level.
Both soccer and tennis teams were
runner-ups in the Sun Belt Con
ference in 1979. Gardner was named
league coach of the year in both
sports. He finished his career at
UNCC with a 47-47-5 soccer mark,
and a 62-30, tennis record.
“I’d taken the soccer program as
far as I could take it and lost the
desire to take it any further. I just got
Bryant
stale with the players, which hap
pens, and felt they needed a fresh per
son, a fresh start and a different
coaching style,” said Gardner.
After a trying season plagued by in
juries and internal problems, the
49ers finished with a 10-8-3record.
Gardner did not resign due to team
problems, he resigned by his own
choice.
Kevin Bryant, student assistant
coach said, “There were numerous in
ternal problems throughout the
season and the players were unhappy
about the way things were going.”
When asked what Gardner’s ap
proach to the problems were, Bryant
replied, “Gardner knew there were
problems, but the players never
directly came to him about them.”
Bryant added, “There was no dis
cipline on the team, the players came
to practice late and said and did what
they wanted.”
“We had too many chiefs and not
enough Indians,” Bryant said. Bry
ant agreed that the players had valid
gripes and that there were coaching
problems, but the way the players
handled the situation was in poor
taste.
“We had a basic attitude problem.”
Bryant said. Bryant told of an in
stance when the team was going up
against top-ranked Clemson (Sept.
24). The player’s goal was to keep the
Tigers from scoring over 8 goals and
the only thing they hoped to win was
the coin toss. Only after going into
half-time with a 0-0 score and being
told “that the Tigers wore their jocks
the same way they did,” did the play
ers decide to play like a team. (The
49ers lost 1-0).
Another common practice among
the 49ers squad was the constant
criticism of each other and their play
ing. Roger Burgess, freshman goalie
was one of the many who were given
grief over his performance. Bryant
said, “Roger had a hard time living
down David Higgins (1979 UNCC
goalie) and the players were tough on
him all season.” “Luckily, for the
team, Roger was a hustler and fought
back even harder when the famous
words were echoed,” said Bryant.
“Burgess was given hell for a month
over the UNC-Chapel Hill game,”
Bryant said. (UNCC lost 8-1).
“Basically the UNCC soccer play
ers had no team pride,” said Bryant.
“I think the hardest thing to unders
tand was why the players voiced their
grief in the manner they did,” Bryant
said. Bryant was referring to the arti
cle that appeared in the Charlotte
Observer on November 25 by reporter
David Scott. Scott, a follower of the
UNCC soccer program had nothing
positive to say about the team since
the beginning of the season. The arti
cle was about the team’s problems
and consisted of several comments
from 49er players about the team and
coach. Bryant recalls previous reac
tions from the players when Scott
wrote numerous negative articles
about the players and how they
played against UNC-Chapel Hill,
Wake Forest and UCLA (1978) as be
ing “That S.O.B., can you believe he
wrote something like this . . .”
“But the players were the first to
give Scott a story when he called
them,” Bryant added.
“There was no need for anyone to
talk to the press, Mr. Walker was
aware of the problems and they were
being handled and the players knew
this.” Bryant added. Bryant felt that
the article just kicked Gardner lower
and showed the style of players the
team consists of.
“I really care for the team or I
wouldn’t have done the things I’ve
done, but I’m real disappointed in
how they handled everything,” Bry
ant said.
“It was a two way street and pro
blems existed on both ends; I’m hop
ing we can put it all behind us and have
a good season next year. Our soccer
players have a lot of potential and are
very capable of being the best,” Bry
ant said.
Gardner’s replacement has not
been named.
Photo By Milton Hinnant
Gardner
Legislators Ask Profs
To Attend Exams
By Chip Wilson
Carolina Journal Staff Writer
Citing a problem of widespread
cheating on examinations, the Stu
dent Legislature passed a resolution
recommending that instructors be
present during the administration of
a test.
The motion, sponsored by Phase
II/III Representative Jan Hobbs also
referred to the need that a professor
should also be present to answer
questions arising during the time a
test is given.
The only debate surrounding con
sideration of the motion occurred
over the wording of the proposal. The
legislators expressed the concern that
they were not saying all UNCC stu
dents are apt to cheat.
“This proposal is analagous to
locks on car doors,” said legislator
Mike Derby. “It will keep honest peo
ple honest.” -He explained that the
resolution would serve to eliminate
the temptation to cheat.
The legislature, acting as a commit
tee of the whole for Campus Affairs,
passed the resoultion by voice vote.
The resolution, along with an explan-
itory cover letter will be submitted to
Robert Synder, interm vice-chancellor
for academic affairs.
In budget matters, the legislature
approved an expenditure of $55 for a
car towing expense. During a recent
concert held under the covered park
ing deck adjacent to the Cone Center,
three cars had to be moved. As a co-
sponsor of the event, the Student
Legislature assumed the cost after
the Public Safety department refused
to foot the bill.
A change in the budget for the
Model United Nations club was also
approved.
The legislators also approved the
secondary charter for the Student
Nurses Association.