St. Francis Brooklyn to Drop All Sports Programs, Including Swimming, Water Polo

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Photo Courtesy: Joseph Gomez

St. Francis Brooklyn to Drop All Sports Programs, Including Swimming, Water Polo

St. Francis College in Brooklyn announced on Monday it will drop all collegiate athletics at the end of the spring semester. It includes the school’s men’s and women’s swimming and men’s and women’s water polo programs.

St. Francis Brooklyn sponsors 21 NCAA teams in all. It has been a long-standing member of the Northeast Conference, at which its men’s swim team finished third and its women’s squad finished seventh this year. Men’s water polo competed in the National Water Polo Conference – it made the final in the fall before losing to Princeton. The women’s water polo team, which is in-season, competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

The school will honor all academic and athletic scholarships for athletes, however employment of staff ends at the semester’s conclusion. A university statement cited the impact of the pandemic on the college’s finances as a mitigating factor. The decision was taken by the board of trustees and leadership as part of its SFC Forward: Strategic Vision for 2023 & Beyond. A big part of that plan is working around a relocation of the primary college campus to a new facility at 179 Livingston Street in Brooklyn. (For what it’s worth, the move included a grant of a personal leave of absence for board president Dr. Miguel Martinez-Saenz with the appointment of an acting president.)

“We want to acknowledge that SFC has a rich legacy in competitive athletics, and are proud of our Terriers today and in all years past,” a statement read. “This difficult decision was guided by a commitment to preserving the College’s 164-year Franciscan mission to provide a high quality and affordable education to working-class and first-generation students.”

St. Francis Brooklyn has around 2,300 undergraduates. The decision comes in a season where the NEC has gotten unprecedented attention: Howard University won the NEC men’s swimming title after gaining national recognition, and Fairleigh Dickinson University became just the second men’s basketball team ever to upset a No. 1 team as a No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has left an indelible impact on St. Francis College, and as a result, Terrier Athletics,” soon-to-be former athletic director Irma Garcia said in a statement. “Our department has always been committed to providing an opportunity to compete at the Division I level, dating back to starting the oldest men’s basketball program in New York City to the introduction of men’s volleyball and women’s soccer in 2019.”

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Jose Trueba
Jose Trueba
1 year ago

Sad news played against the school in the early 70s and again in 1984 at the Fort Lauderdale Hall of Fame Swimming Pool. Maybe a Benefactor will step in with financial support?

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