Florida Tech relegates five sports to club status, will honor scholarships for those affected
Florida Institute of Technology announced it will discontinue five varsity sports programs this fall and transition them to club sports.
The sports include: men's rowing, women's rowing, men's cross country/distance track, women's cross country/distance track, and men's golf.
Florida Tech Assistant Director of Athletic Communications Christina Hardman the school considers distance track as an extension of cross country — which is why it is five sports, and not seven.
Their rosters consist of the same athletes, but "some athletes who are on (cross countr don’t participate in the spring track due to being on other sports teams," Hardman explained.
This school says the program realignment affects 40 returning students, including 31 men and nine women.
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Athletics leadership has notified the affected coaches and students and said the university will be working over the coming weeks to finalize the details of the transitions.
"This is not a cost-cutting measure but rather a strategic decision to deliberately increase our competitiveness within our Sunshine State Conference," said Jamie Joss, Director of Athletics. "Our resources are simply spread too thin to adequately support each at a competitive level.
"Our athletic department is committed to leading the conference in scholar-athlete academic success while also fielding highly competitive athletic programs that bring pride to the university. This realignment will empower our core 11 conference sports with the increased resources and focus required to better achieve this vision."
Acting President Marco Carvalho confirmed that all scholarship-eligible athletes impacted by this realignment will have their athletic financial aid honored through their undergraduate degree completion at Florida Tech.
"Our students are always our first priority," Carvalho said. "We will work closely with them now and in the coming days to answer any questions that they may have and support them through this realignment."
This isn't the first sports contraction at Florida Tech.
In Feb. 2019 it was announced the school would discontinue men's tennis, women's tennis and women's golf.
In May 2020, Florida Tech discontinued its short-lived football program, which competed from 2013-19.
U.S. Department of Education data showed Florida Tech spent $3.1 million of the athletic department's $10.7 million on football during the 2018-19 fiscal year.
Florida Tech is left with 11 varsity sports, five men's and six women's.
Men's sports include: Baseball, basketball, soccer, swimming and lacrosse.
Women's sports include: Softball, basketball, soccer, swimming, lacrosse and volleyball.
"The Florida Tech administration and Board of Trustees understand and embrace the important role that quality varsity and club athletic programs play in the college experience of many of our students," said Travis Proctor, chair of the board. "Moving the identified sports to club programs rather than eliminating them underscores the university's desire to celebrate the rich history of these sports at Florida Tech while also demonstrating its increased commitment to the importance of club and intramural sports on campus."
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Florida Tech ends varsity sports programs including golf, cross-country
