College Squash cuts continue in US
More bad news for college sports in the USA as Stanford joins Brown in cutting sports – including squash – from their programmes.
CNN reports on Stanford cuts
A gap in resources widened by the coronavirus pandemic is leading Stanford University to cut 11 varsity sports from the school’s athletics program in 2021, the school announced Wednesday.
The school says because of the costs associated with running 36 varsity sports teams, the athletics program has been carrying an economic deficit for years — and the pandemic exacerbated the financial burden.
The Cardinal sports teams to be eliminated are men’s and women’s fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men’s rowing, co-ed and women’s sailing, squash, synchronized swimming, men’s volleyball and wrestling.
“Still processing, but we will keep our heads on a swivel and fight this,” associate head wrestling coach Ray Blake wrote on Twitter. “Stanford has made this decision with wrestling in the past and each time, the program has come back stronger.”
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Brown Cuts
The Stanford desicion follows Brown’s cuts in June which prompted widespread outrage in US squash circles, leading to petitions and possibly legal appeals on the decision to drop 11 sports.
A university committee of Brown alumni reviewed the university’s athletic competitiveness and other factors, such as diversity and inclusion, roster sizes, and the quality of facilities, it concluded it was no longer viable for the university to support certain sports, the press release said. The cuts included men’s and women’s fencing, golf, and squash, women’s skiing, women’s equestrian and men’s track and field and cross-country.
The University reversed its decision on track, field and cross country club sports but the fight for squash continues.
Penn University’s new Squash Centre, opened late 2019
