SANTA CRUZ, California, June 5. ACCORDING to an article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, and yet unannounced by the athletics department, UC Santa Cruz has elected to cut its men's and women's water polo teams.
The article states that "according to Ryan Andrews, executive director of the UCSC Office of Physical Education, Recreation, and Sports, the athletic department needs to cut roughly $50,000, and eliminating the teams will save close to $40,000."
This brings UC Santa Cruz, a Division III department, down to five NCAA level sports for men. If another cut occurs, UC Santa Cruz could be under the minimum level of sports required to be an NCAA competitor in men's events.
The timing is somewhat suspect by those close to the situation as UC Santa Cruz had a referendum passed last year to raise around $200,000 for athletics based on a per student per quarter basis. That referendum was passed without any threat of budget cuts, but only to bolster the department.
This year, the department felt it needed an additional $50,000 in wiggle room, enough to make a decision to cut two teams. However, some reports claim that the athletics department was forced into the $50,000 cut by the university, and that led to the decision to cut the two squads.
Full text of Santa Clara Sentinel article.