WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina -- The Winston-Salem State University Department of Athletics has announced plans to reduce its sports sponsorships to 11 sports, as it will drop two sports beginning in the fall of 2014.
The discontinued sports are women’s bowling and men's tennis, and affect just three student-athletes monetarily.
The student-athletes participating in the affected sports who continue their undergraduate education at Winston-Salem State University will continue to receive their athletic aid for the 2014-15 school year, if they were receiving aid.
The Department of Athletics will grant releases to student-athletes who choose to transfer and compete for another university.
The reduction results in the elimination of one part time head coaching position.
“This is an extremely difficult decision, but it is being done in the best long-term interests of our student-athletes,” says Director of Athletics, Tonia Walker.
"Over the past eight years, our program has grown with respect to the number of staff, sports programs and the means in which we operate. Since the return to Division II in Fall 2010, we have been fortunate to yield phenomenal program success. However, we now face the challenge sustaining the program at the same level of operation while working against the challenge of a marked enrollment decline. The reduction of students enrolled in the University has a direct impact on the athletics fee paid by all students and makes up the greatest percentage of the athletics budget“, added Walker.
"With the University going through a right-sizing plan, and combining different segments of the University, the Athletic Department felt the need to do the same, as we work to align revenues and expenses in these turbulent economic times", says Walker.
COURTESY WINSTON-SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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