remus
Sophomore Member
$3k for a phone bill is awful expensive
Posts: 233
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Post by remus on Jul 12, 2006 21:20:31 GMT -5
I have nothing to do with the running of this board, haven't had for years. With the tag of Global Moderator, it's not hard for one to draw the conclusion that you are still involved with running this board. Perhaps that might be the cause of confusion for some...no big deal either way.
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Post by laxbona on Jul 12, 2006 22:37:48 GMT -5
In reply to the original post about new sports and increased enrollment: A men's lacrosse team makes the most sense. Isn't there already a men's club team in place? How hard is it to go from a club/jv level to a similar varsity schedule the women follow? Lax is a sport that will attract student-athletes. Especially a D1 program in a lax hotbed that isn't too far from home for many of the potential recruits. (Check out www.laxpower.com for the list of 2006 men's recruits from the Western NY area.) Actually I'm surprised the university hasn't jumped on this already. Enlighten me if I'm misinformed here. JMHO
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Post by sneakers on Jul 12, 2006 22:54:53 GMT -5
In reply to the original post about new sports and increased enrollment: A men's lacrosse team makes the most sense. Isn't there already a men's club team in place? How hard is it to go from a club/jv level to a similar varsity schedule the women follow? Lax is a sport that will attract student-athletes. Especially a D1 program in a lax hotbed that isn't too far from home for many of the potential recruits. (Check out www.laxpower.com for the list of 2006 men's recruits from the Western NY area.) Actually I'm surprised the university hasn't jumped on this already. Enlighten me if I'm misinformed here. JMHO You are absolutely correct. A few months ago I went to Hobart to see them play Penn State. What a great atmosphere! There appeared to be about 50 players on Hobart's lacrosse team. They thrive as a team because of all the high-level lacrosse that is played in this part of the country and this year they beat Syracuse in the dome!. One of this year's seniors is a family friend and we have discussed this program several times. These kids would never have selected Hobart as their college of choice if not for their lacrosse program. I know that Hobart has a history in lacrosse that dates back several decades and that SBU would have a lot of catching up to do. However, there are a ton of high-level lacrosse players in up-state and western NYS that would be interested in finding a program to play for in college (not to mention the potential students in the lacrosse hot beds of New Jersey, Long Island, Massachusetts and Maryland).
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Post by laxbona on Jul 12, 2006 23:19:07 GMT -5
Hobart is extremely close to my heart, and SBU is our new lax family. It is the perfect fit for kids that want to play D1 lax, but don't want to go far from home. Honestly, it could be a lax "diamond in the rough". The pieces of the puzzle are already in place.
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Post by steviecsbabygirl on Jul 13, 2006 0:24:04 GMT -5
I am not against adding football or other sports yet I do feel there are some massive mountains to climb to do these things. One item I would put in the massive category is money. I respect very much that alumni/ea would be willing to donate and help fund a program like football. A key would be getting accurate numbers on what type of cash it would take to get the ball rolling, and I am not talking a guessing game, but real hard numbers. It looks like someone will speak to a coach at Iona and that will be a good step toward finding out actual costs, not just guesses. I would believe that it would be critical to find out how these football programs are funded on a yearly basis (donations, endowments, % of tuition $ from students who play that sport). Many businesses go under even though they had plenty of start-up cash.
All the talk of adding programs does, however, beg the question:
Why are all of the current sports funded last in the A-10 ? (not that all of them are, but from what I am reading it seems that quite a few, including basketball, are at the bottom of the conference)
Would programs be being added only to end up in the same situation ? (ie, last in the conference or league for funding)
Would adding football (or other sports) be like using your money to build a pool to your backyard when the foundation of your house is cracked and your roof is leaking ?
Just asking questions....not taking sides or looking to take a run at any one or any group of people
may you all have enough in your lives
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Post by FriendsofAN44 on Jul 13, 2006 5:10:08 GMT -5
It is just an honorary title.
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Post by rimRocka44 on Jul 13, 2006 6:28:42 GMT -5
I entered Bonas in the fall of '98 and joined the club lacrosse team. My understanding was that the university had gotten rid of the lacrosse program 3 or 4 years prior. For whatever reason I am not sure. Granted this might have been a rumor because it always was accompanied by "we're going back to D1". But looking back it would make sense. Lacrosse has always been around and pretty popular but on a smaller scale (mainly in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern US). It was not until the late 90's/early 2000's that it really began to take off (ie many high schools and colleges slowly starting to add programs and then it snowballed and continues to grow today on a national scale.) The NCAA Final Four went from being held in College Park, MD in the 90's to Lincoln Financial Field in Philly this year and Ravens Stadium next.
I think a Men's Program could definitely take off, especially considering how much of a hotbed NY state is for lacrosse. Look at the success Zonstant has had. The rumor always was they were going to add Men's Lax and Women's golf respectively. Field Hockey is another Women's sport that comes to mind that could take off into a successful program at Bonas.
Maybe Bonas tried to start a program in the mid 90's and "missed the boat". I would be interested to know if anyone out there knew the real story. It might have come and gone real quick.
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Post by sneakers on Jul 13, 2006 8:45:46 GMT -5
I entered Bonas in the fall of '98 and joined the club lacrosse team. My understanding was that the university had gotten rid of the lacrosse program 3 or 4 years prior. For whatever reason I am not sure. Granted this might have been a rumor because it always was accompanied by "we're going back to D1". But looking back it would make sense. Lacrosse has always been around and pretty popular but on a smaller scale (mainly in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern US). It was not until the late 90's/early 2000's that it really began to take off (ie many high schools and colleges slowly starting to add programs and then it snowballed and continues to grow today on a national scale.) The NCAA Final Four went from being held in College Park, MD in the 90's to Lincoln Financial Field in Philly this year and Ravens Stadium next. I think a Men's Program could definitely take off, especially considering how much of a hotbed NY state is for lacrosse. Look at the success Zonstant has had. The rumor always was they were going to add Men's Lax and Women's golf respectively. Field Hockey is another Women's sport that comes to mind that could take off into a successful program at Bonas. Maybe Bonas tried to start a program in the mid 90's and "missed the boat". I would be interested to know if anyone out there knew the real story. It might have come and gone real quick. I know in the mid-1980's we had men's ice hockey, men's lacrosse and women's field hockey (teams, not clubs) (and I believe women's volleyball as well). I don't know when these sports were dropped, but I sense a connection between dropping these programs and our difficulty attracting students to Bonas. These programs are not all that expensive to run. Almost every high school has them (granted with much less travel). Almost every college has them as well. We are missing out on huge portions of the available students by not offering things that they are interested in. BTW, you are correct about the explosive growth of lacrosse over the last 5 to 10 years. They say it is the fastest growing sport in America. Our local high school alone has over 100 kids going out for the team. It is really hurting baseball participation though. By middle school many kids see that lacrosse is a more exciting sport than baseball and make the switch (I know baseball can be exciting, but there is a lot more action in lacrosse).
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clubber
Sophomore Member
Posts: 242
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Post by clubber on Jul 14, 2006 8:24:20 GMT -5
Babygirl,Financial feasibility is clearly the most critical element in determining the viability of bringing football back to SBU.There are two primary hurdles to this proposition, annual recurring costs and facilities. To minimize start-up costs, a lot of universities institute a staggered program launch.
Here are some projected #'s for you. 1)Multi Sport Stands and field built into M-J field. 3,000 Seat Grandstand/Press Box= $ 668,755 Turf,no track=$650,000 Multi Sport locker room=$300,000 Initial Player & field equipment=$120,000 These #'s are in the ballpark of Campbell's projected start up costs of 1.5-2 million.
2)Playing games at Bradner Stadium Locker room=$300,000 Equipment=$120,000. Here is an example of a staggered program launch for football at SBU. December 2006: Board approves football,search for coach begins Feb 2007:Head Coach named,20-25 student athletes recruited. August: Initial recruits begin school,red shirt first yr. Recruiting & alumni functions continue. July 2008: locker room complete. August 2008:Football practice begins with 80-100 players.
There are plenty of ways to raise money,here are some examples.There is grant and state money for athletic facilities available. Nebraska Wesleyan received a $300,000 grant to upgrade their football facility. Seton Hill got $400,000 for arena,locker rooms,weight room and coaches offices. In NC the Nash County Tourism Authority awarded NC Wesleyan a $50,000 grant to assist with the initial costs of implementing their football program. Instead of asking for big donations, a school in Texas got 500 grads to donate $50 a month for 1 year. Loyola U. George Halas track was partially funded by the NFL. Adding football would not take away from other sports since it would be self-sustaining. There is a great article on St Anselm's and why they re-started their program after a fifty yr absence. You can also look up Brevard college, their reports are full of information or Campbell Colleges athletic site,plenty of info.
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Post by spils84 on Jul 14, 2006 12:04:01 GMT -5
I am fairly certain that Bonas' Athletic Director has already been provided many of the cost projections that we are talking about here. It seems as though he is not going to act at this point, given his status. However, I would hope that the Board of Directors are looking at adding athletic and other programs that will boost enrollment. Adding football would certainly do just that.
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Post by ThomasMerton on Jul 20, 2006 12:23:57 GMT -5
Clubber You're research and facts are right on the money and a fresh breath of reality. The Bradner Sgtadium scenario seems realistic and affordable. Why won't the school put together a feasability study looking into football? It makes sense, because the school and the community would reap the benefits. After the startup costs are secured and the facilities are built, the problem would sustain itself. The school's image was soiled in recent years but has rebounded. The next step would be to introduce an impact sport that alums could rally around. Football not would raise the level of awareness in another sport realm but would supply additional revenue strems (AKA enrollment). Your example were well thought out and show a school like Bonas can do it. BRING BACK BONAS FOOTBALL!!!!!! -- TM
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Post by spils84 on Jul 20, 2006 12:42:18 GMT -5
Even though he has been dead for 38 years, Merton's writing continues to be right on the money. (Although he apparently has fired his proof reader). Non-scholarship football at Bonas makes perfect sense. The benefits of football, financial and otherwise, clearly outweigh any negatives. The time is now for the St. Bonaventure administration to seriously consider this proposal.
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clubber
Sophomore Member
Posts: 242
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Post by clubber on Jul 20, 2006 13:32:54 GMT -5
Duquense's President(SBU grad) has instructed his AD to schedule a football game at Davidson. Why? Because the Charlotte area has a growing alumni base and he wants to use football as a vehicle for alumni events.
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Post by MIKE MACALUSO on Jul 20, 2006 14:41:06 GMT -5
davidson is a member of the pioneer conference which is comprised of "basketball first" schools...davidson, dayton, butler, valpo, san diego, jaxsonville, drake...basketball is king at all of these schools, but football brings in 100 or so tuition paying students
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