a Page 2-The Michigan Daily/New Student Edition-Sports - Thursday, September 9, 1993 ich drops men'sgymnsics Women's soccer elevated to varsity to comply with Gender Equity Act a by Ken Davidoff and Ken Sugiura Daily Sports Editors On March 22 the Michigan Athletic Department announced the end of var- sity status for the men's gymnastics program, and in conjunction elevated women's soccer from the club to varsity level following the 1993-94 season. The main reasons cited for the discontinuation of men's gymnastics are the University's desire to comply with the Big Ten's gender equity policy, and the decreasing numberof gymnasts participating in Michigan high schools. The University will honor the scholar- ships of those gymnasts who will not graduate following the 1994 season. The GenderEquityAct, accepted by the Big Ten last June, mandates that member schools increase their percent- age of women athletes to 40 percent by 1997. Eliminated Wolverine gymnast Raul Molina performs on the parallel bars. Michigan decided to drop the men's program due to the lack of participation in Michigan high schools and to comply with the Big Ten's Gender Equity Act. The act states that all Big Ten schools must increase their portion of women athletes to 40 percent by 1997. The Michigan High School Athletic Association dropped sponsorship of boys' gymnastics in 1979, but since then, the sport has continued under the direction of a gymnastics coaches asso- ciation. The number of competing high school teams has steadily declined to the point where the recent state meet included just five fully rostered teams. However, while the number of stu- dents and teams involved in high school gymnastics has declined, participation in club gymnastics has been on the rise during the same time period. There are currently approximately 4,500 private boys' gymnastics clubs registered with the United States Gymnastics Federa- tion (USGF) - a significant increase according to USGF Men's Program Director Robert Cowan -and another 10,000 unregistered programs. "Today, kids need to train longer at a sport than three months, and most high schools can'tprovide that," Michi- gan men's gymnastics coach Bob Darden said. The Board in Control of Intercolle- giate Athletics, the governing body for Michigan athletics, made its recom- mendation to Athletic Director Jack Weidenbach in February. Weidenbach informed Darden of the board's find- ings March 1. Themen's gymnastics program, long having been considered "on the bubble," was originally designated to end upon the completion of this season. After Darden asked for a "window of oppor- tunity" at a March 4 meeting, the board granted him a reprieve and allowed the program to continue through 1994. Darden stressed his desire to be pro- active throughout the process. How- ever, he also said he felt that the board's options are not restricted to eliminating his program. "The concern is that all the issues have not been fully realized and looked into," Darden said. One possibility Darden said he felt was feasible was "tiering," a solution that would facilitate the desire for gen- der equity as well as deal with cost containment, a problem many athletic departments face. Penn State is the only Big Ten school that currently uses tiering. This process allows schools to partially fund certain sports and only compete on a regional basis. University President James Duder- stadt recommends this solution for Michigan. "A trend in athletics is tiering, we realize, and we're aware of it, and we want to be a viable program when tier- ing becomes a reality," Darden said. "We want to be able to be lea-rs in that." Board members, while in support of further study of it, said tiering is not an immediate possibility. "I think (tiering is) always a con- tinuing possibility," said Richard Kennedy, vice president for govern- -- Eleven Questions New Students Frequently Ask Us: A What types of student organizations are at Michigan ? A How can /join a student organization? A Why should / get involved with student activities? A How canl1 become a student leader at Michigan? A How do I start a new group at Michigan? A What's available on North Campus? A How can 1 make the most of my experiences at U of M? A What opportunities are there for minority students? A How can I acquire skills that can be applied after college? A Can 1 take leadership development classes for credit? A ... What's the Diag? For the answers to these and many more of your D e mnquestions, stop by 2202 Michigan Union, or call 763-5900 for details! ment relations, secretary of the Univer- sity and board member. "And I think that's one of the considerations that'll shape the whole program in intercolle- giate athletics. "How do we accommodate the student's interests in a whole range of sports? You can't make them all varsity sports, but how do we tier them in such a way that you maximize the opportuni- ties for participation? I think that's one of the guiding principles the board is looking at. What's the best way to make participation available to the widest group of students, men and women? "I don't think we've (the board) thought about it in thecontext of tiering rightnow.... First, we've got tofindout where it's (men's gymnastics) gonna go, whether it's going to stay or not stay as an intercollegiate sport. Then the question of tiering comes up, and tier- ing is going to be applicable to a whole range of sports. How many of these programs at that level can be supported is another question the board is going to have to face." One other option Duderstadt has mentioned is instituting a student fee to be given to the Athletic Department. Currently, the Athletic Department re- ceives no money from the University's * general fund. This fee would allow Michigan to fund more sports - some partially - instead of cutting them. Some sports that could benefit from this fee would be crew, lacrosse, men's soccer and men's gymnastics. Board members also cited the even- tual separation between the NCAA and gymnastics as a reason for terminating the men's program. The NCAA de- cided this past January that it would only sanction sports that have at least40 participants. Rightnow, 36 schools have squads. Due to the new rule change, the NCAA allotted a two-year moratorium on sponsorship terminations, meaning all sports would be safe through the 1995 season. After this point, however, men's gymnastics will be in serious jeopardy. "It's a real blow to men's gymnas- tics at Michigan," former men's coach Newt Loken said. Loken ran the Michi- gan men's gymnastics program from 1948 to 1983, compiling a 240-72-1 record. "I don't think anyone wants to see the sport dropped. It's a sad day for the coaches and the athletes." OUTFITTERS , ,. ., ' , _ 4 , , "_ _' _- BACKPACKING CAMPING MOUNTAINEERING X-COUNTRY SKIING OUTDOOR CLOTHING EQUIPMENT SPECIALISTS 333 S. Main St. 761-8515 10 am-6 pm;Th-Fri,till 8 pm Open Sundays! Mon-Sat, , 0 , YOU'RE A WOLVERINE NOW- SO SHOW IT!!! WITH MICHIGAN, UNION BOOKSTORE CLOTHING AND APPAREL INCLUDING: WE'VE GOT EVERYTHING YOU'LL NEED TO SHOW YOUR SCHOOL SPIRIT, ,I ,.CA/C 03V 1 $ Ni fV G ATSHIRTS, SHORTS, TEE-SHIRTS, HATS, JACKETS eMUGS, GLASSWARE eNOTEBOOKS, FOLDERS AND OTHER SUPPLIES SAND MUCH, MUCH MORE AND, YOU CAN USE ENTREE PLUS! EXCLUSIVELY AT 0 0 0 I UM:. IRa I I"