Equestrian team loses varsity status, remains a competing team
Budget cutbacks cause team to lose varsity status but new club creates different opportunities
By: Paige Hayter
Issue date: 2/26/09 Section: News
Saturday marks the last show of the season for the newly reformed SFA Equestrian team. The girls will be battling it out in the West Texas A&M arena in Canyon against teams twice its size in hopes of taking home the top prize.
After budget cutbacks in 2008, both western and English riding teams struggled to remain part of the SFA athletics programs. The Equestrian team was stripped of its varsity status in April after competing in the Varsity Equestrian National Championships in Waco. The Stock Horse of Texas team and the Horsemen's Association avoided being cut.
Dr. Joe Gotti, equine science professor and coach of the two riding teams, said he believes the main reason the team was cut because of failures to recruit new riders.
According to Robert Hill, SFA athletic director, the decision was made in response to a campus-wide budget reduction plan. In a press release in April, Hill attributed the high cost of operating the program and the lack of an NCAA championship as leading factors in the decision.
"The cost of operating the program was more than we could handle under the current economic times," Hill said in the release. "We were also under the impression that there would be an NCAA championship for the sport because other schools were going to add it, including some Southland Conference members, but that has not happened."
Equine sports are considered by the NCAA as "emerging sports" because of a lack of supporting institutions.
Kristen Landes, Dayton, Va., junior, said the new club status gives everyone a chance to compete, versus the varsity level team which was "very selective."
Riders can compete in classes ranging from Walk-Trot to Open on the Flat and Over Fences.
"Our team is different from the last team because we accept riders with various levels of experience," Anna Reynolds, Marble Falls sophomore, said. "Riders can show with us if they've been riding their whole life or just a few months."
After budget cutbacks in 2008, both western and English riding teams struggled to remain part of the SFA athletics programs. The Equestrian team was stripped of its varsity status in April after competing in the Varsity Equestrian National Championships in Waco. The Stock Horse of Texas team and the Horsemen's Association avoided being cut.
Dr. Joe Gotti, equine science professor and coach of the two riding teams, said he believes the main reason the team was cut because of failures to recruit new riders.
According to Robert Hill, SFA athletic director, the decision was made in response to a campus-wide budget reduction plan. In a press release in April, Hill attributed the high cost of operating the program and the lack of an NCAA championship as leading factors in the decision.
"The cost of operating the program was more than we could handle under the current economic times," Hill said in the release. "We were also under the impression that there would be an NCAA championship for the sport because other schools were going to add it, including some Southland Conference members, but that has not happened."
Equine sports are considered by the NCAA as "emerging sports" because of a lack of supporting institutions.
Kristen Landes, Dayton, Va., junior, said the new club status gives everyone a chance to compete, versus the varsity level team which was "very selective."
Riders can compete in classes ranging from Walk-Trot to Open on the Flat and Over Fences.
"Our team is different from the last team because we accept riders with various levels of experience," Anna Reynolds, Marble Falls sophomore, said. "Riders can show with us if they've been riding their whole life or just a few months."
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