Illustration by Leigh Douglas

After two hours of training, the gloves come on. Tired students circle up for full contact fights. The room fills with excitement and tension as fighters test their knowledge for two long minutes.

The Thai Self-Defense class considers sparring as a gift for a long day of training . It’s the kind of gift they measure in bumps and bruises.

“We have constant supervision for sparring,” said club member Marlo Custodio. “We operate under the saying that ‘iron creates iron, steel creates steel.’”

The class is UC Santa Cruz’s newest martial arts club of the 11 different martial arts clubs registered with OPERS. The club practices a form of southeast Asian kickboxing called muay Thai, which has been popularized stateside through Mixed Martial Arts fights.

Club founder George Chen pointed out the practicality of the martial art beyond competitive use.

“Muay Thai is the most realistic martial art,” Chen said. “It’s a good style if you’re ever confronted on the streets or if you want to compete. It can be applied in any situation.”

Chen considers the Thai Self-Defense class to be an alternative to gyms that charge monthly fees in the area. The club is free, with money being spent only on gloves, shin and mouth guards for sparring.

Muay Thai differs from other martial arts because fighters adopt a more square stance and usually keep moving forward into their opponent’s attack, as opposed to moving around it. Club signer Travis Trinh believes that muay Thai is a more psychologically intense form of fighting.

“It’s more an in-your-face style,” Trinh said. “Once you get into your opponent’s head, that’s how you know you’ve won the fight.”

Fighters are allowed to clinch their opponents and use their knees and elbows, moves banned by other kickboxing disciplines internationally for being too rough.

For Chen, Custodio and Trinh, muay Thai is a passion each developed while in college. Chen found his passion for the martial art through his older brother, while Trinh and Custodio both fell into the sport unexpectedly.

Trinh found muay Thai through seeing someone practice the martial art on the East Field. Trinh discovered that he was a member of a prominent gym in San Francisco. Despite interest, Trinh had never practiced martial arts before.

“Everyone watched Jet Li or Jackie Chan movies when I was a kid,” Trinh said. “I wanted to properly learn how to fight.”

Custodio, a former high school wrestler, found the sport at what he considered to be the lowest period of his life. Custodio was battling anxiety from being in community college for four years, while his mother developed cancer. To compound his problems, Custodio was also broke.

“I told the sifu [a Cantonese term for master or teacher] that I’d wash the mats, I’d clean the toilets, anything to get the training,” Custodio said. “I began to train with them six days a week for nine months. It became my life.”

Custodio credits muay Thai for providing discipline in his life. Custodio became an amateur fighter, amassing a 1–0 competitive record before choosing to finish college at UCSC as a film and digital media major.

In his training, Custodio developed an interest in the spiritual side of muay Thai fighting. He spoke of muay Thai’s storied origins when a single sifu freed the nation of Siam from colonial Burmese rule in the 18th century.

Custodio believes that muay Thai offers empowerment through its learning.

“Muay Thai isn’t just fighting,” Custodio said. “In order to learn it you must practice poise, composure and self-discipline. Moderation is heavily emphasized.”

Club founder George Chen said the muay Thai community provides a strong experience for UCSC students.

“We look to build that sense of belonging,” said Chen. “There’s a real brotherhood with fighting.”

The Thai Self-Defense Class is every Wednesday and Friday from 5–7 p.m. in the OPERS Multipurpose Room. The club also practices from 12–2 p.m. on Sundays at the OPERS Martial Arts Room.

Chaufan, 22, was on a backpacking trip organized by the Office of Physical Education, Recreation and Sports (OPERS) Recreation Program with 11 other UC Santa Cruz students.

It was just before the group left camp near Kibbie Lake on Saturday at around 11 a.m. when backpackers noticed that Field was absent from the group during a headcount. When they returned from a short hike an hour later, Field was still unaccounted for.

According to a press release issued by Yosemite Parks, Field was found at approximately 3:15 p.m. on Monday about five miles east of the group’s campsite by Kibbie Lake, where Field was last seen by his companions before he was reported missing.

UCSC director of information Jim Burns said one of two student leaders on the trip who had previously spent time in the wilderness alongside Field stayed behind in Yosemite when other students on the trip returned Sunday night.

The student leader was able to provide search teams with insight based on his previous experience with Field.

Rescue efforts were conducted by approximately 50 people, including personnel from Search and Rescue Teams based in Yosemite National Park, Contra Costa County, Marin County, Monterey County and the Bay Area Mountain Rescue Unit. Two helicopters, one from Yosemite Park and another from the California Highway Patrol also assisted in the search.

Burns said students who participate in school-sponsored camping trips are well-instructed on safety and wilderness protocol before embarking.

“The students on these kinds of trips are given quite a bit of advice,” Burns said, “particularly two things while in the wilderness: Don’t leave the group without checking in with one of the two student leaders in the group, and always travel in pairs.”

“No one was injured,” said UCSC spokesman Jim Burns in an article on the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Santa Cruz police and the sheriff’s bomb squad were on the scene and determined that the grenade did not contain live ammunition.

UCSC officials evacuated the Office of Physical Recreation and Sports (OPERS) and denied access to the area until about 11:30 a.m. Hagar Drive was also closed down from the East Remote parking lot to Steinhart Way.

OPERS staff members said quarterly evacuation drills prepared them to safely bring those inside the Wellness Center and surrounding facilities to the East Field.

Zev Warhaft and Nick Agler, members of the men's club baseball team, practice on the East Field for their upcoming games. Photo by Chelsea McKeown.

It is spring. The flowers bloom. The days are longer. The sun shines. It’s opening week for Major League Baseball. And while America is just getting ready for its first opening pitch, UC Santa Cruz’s club baseball team is already halfway through their season, looking to close strong.

“Our season started back in the first weekend of February. We played Cal Poly SLO,” said Dustin Miller, third-year player, coach and team captain of the UCSC club baseball team. The team is a member of the National Club Baseball Association (NCBA).

UCSC club baseball has a record of 5-8. In their season opener, they played a doubleheader against Cal Poly SLO, lost the first game, but came back to shut them out in the second game. The Slugs followed that weekend with three victories against UC Merced, and three more losses to University of Antelope Valley.

The Slugs face Cal Poly SLO and UC Santa Barbara, in two home games to end the season. They are fighting for an appearance in the post-season.

“We really gotta win out to have a chance,” Miller said. “The first place team in our league already swept us. If we win out, we’ll have a good chance of getting the wild card and going into the post-season.”

So far, the Slugs have played some exciting games.

“Our three-game series against Merced was pretty epic,” Miller said. “We had Nick Agler hit for the cycle. He had three home runs. We won all three against them. He got NCBA player of the week in the nation.”

Infielder Gilbert Prieto also hit back-to-back home runs that game.

The Slugs will play exhibition games this Saturday and Sunday against Morris League, a men’s team from Sacramento. Saturday’s game starts at 6 p.m., followed by Sunday’s 11 a.m. doubleheader at Harvey West Park, the Slugs’ home field.

“We’ve never played them before,” Miller said. “I expect three wins from this team. We’ve got six conference games following this weekend.”

Third baseman and pitcher Nick Agler spoke about the Slugs’ approach to the end of their baseball season, and what the beginning of spring meant to him.

“Spring means the beginning of the real baseball season,” Agler said. “Even though our season sort of wanes, we get to sit there and watch all the pros play, which is always awesome. Inspiration for next season.”

Miller urges fans to come out this Saturday and support the team.

“Not many teams have fans, but we definitely like to be that team when other teams come here, and our fans are there getting rowdy,” he said.

Drawing comparisons to MLB teams, Miller characterized his team as dogged.

“If I had one word to describe us, it’d be scrappy,” Miller said during practice on the East Field. “We’re definitely not the Yankees. And we’re definitely not the Astros, either. We just fight hard.”

Jeremy Parker and Robin Pisor participate in Relay for Life at the East Field. People participated in this event to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Photo by Sal Ingram.

Organizations set up booths where they sold a variety of goods and services. All the money collected was donated to the American Cancer Society. Photo by Sal Ingram.

“Cancer never sleeps.”

This was the motto of the 2011 Relay for Life, a 24-hour cancer awareness event and fundraiser. The relay, which began at 10 a.m. Saturday morning, was the third time that a Relay for Life has been hosted at UC Santa Cruz.

Ever since the first Relay for Life in 1985, millions of people — cancer survivors, families and friends of the victimized, and others still — across the nation have been inspired to do the same, raising hundreds of millions of dollars each year for the American Cancer Society.

On Saturday, hundreds of people gathered to help the cause by either raising funds, running, walking or by motivating others who looped around the OPERS East Field track. Opening alongside the NCAA men’s tennis regional tournament and against clouds that threatened to turn for the worse — and later would — turnout for the relay was pleasantly higher than expected by some.

Rohan Prabhakar, a third-year student volunteer with the Santa Cruz chapter of the student organization Colleges Against Cancer, said he was pleased with the amount of people who had decided to join the cause.

“Things turned out really well, considering the weather,” Prabhakar said. “We had well over 300–450 registered participants before the start, and with the number of people that have passed through so far, I’d say we’re up at around 600 people.”

Many had personal reasons to be there. Mimi Stroud, a second-year with the Student Volunteer Center relay team, was motivated to participate after the death of her father when she was 12.

“I’ve always wanted to become involved,” Stroud said. “There is a history of cancer in my family, and, well, when my father died it had a tremendous impact on my life. I’m glad I’m out here today — I think it’s worth it.”

While the sun was overhead, participants and passersby gathered freely about the relay’s organization bazaar. There, the sweet scent of freshly baked cupcakes was met with the harsher hint of rubbing alcohol. Relay teams sold everything from henna tattoos to handcrafted bracelets. While sifting through the goods and services from one display table to the next, shoppers also enjoyed live performances from groups including Grupo Folklorico and the Indian Student Organization.

Flitting about from tents to organizers and back was fourth-year Colleges Against Cancer president Teji Kapadia, checking to make sure the relay went swimmingly.

“Last year we felt like teams weren’t interacting enough,” Kapadia said. “We put in a lot of time making sure to promote unity and interaction this year.”

Having already put in 14–18 hour days preparing the event the previous week, Kapadia said she was determined for this year’s Relay for Life to be nothing short of a success.

“Teji has been relentless in working on this event,” volunteer Prabhakar said. “We were worried when so many of the original founding members of [the UCSC chapter of Colleges Against Cancer] graduated, but she’s put countless hours into making this happen.”

And it shows.

In 2009, UCSC’s first Relay for Life raised roughly $10,000. Last year, about $26,000. While the total amount for this year won’t be announced until Friday, Teji projected this year’s relay at over $21,000.

The symbolic gesture made by the relayers to carry on for the entire 24 hours held true throughout the night. Even at 4 a.m., as the storm rains and cold winds punished the relayers — some without poncho or coat to speak of — they could still be found making their rounds about the track.

Photo by Nick Paris.

Men’s tennis head coach Bob Hansen shows his display of trophies. Over his 30-year tenure as head coach at UCSC, he has won 10 national titles with his team. Photo by Nick Paris.

Everything is silent on the UC Santa Cruz campus. The soccer fields are empty, the pool remains in complete stillness, and the volleyball courts are closed. There is only the echo of a frenetic crowd cheering for their teams during the season, but the season is over. It is summer, and this also means another coach has to depart.

Coach Selene Teitelbaum calls for a team meeting. For the women’s volleyball team, this is just a pre-season reunion, but Teitelbaum is trying to choose the right words to break the news: The previous day she signed a contract to join Winona State University’s coaching staff. Her words leave the team speechless. Their silence speaks loudly about the sad situation of sports at UCSC.

“It wasn’t something we saw coming,” said third-year Alyssa Trakes, current captain of the women’s volleyball team. “We were very sad to see her leave. She told us that she was offered a position as a coach for a Division II school. We all understood that she had an incredible opportunity that she couldn’t pass up.”

At UCSC, one or two coaches leave every year.They find work at other campuses with better opportunities, better salaries, a higher level of competition, full-time positions and a bigger budget that supports sports. Coaches leaving their teams at such a high rate over the years can limit the development of NCAA university teams. This has also turned into an issue for the student-athletes who are unable to develop their athletic skills to their full extent, as they have to keep adjusting to different coaching styles with every coach that comes into the university.

Former D-III school UC San Diego has gone through funding problems and coach turnover as well. However, thanks to the support they received from the administration and the student body, UCSD became a D-II school. UCSC still lacks this support.

“[UCSC] is a great place to gain experience in the coaching profession,” Teitelbaum said in an e-mail. “Unfortunately, due to the lack of support from the university, it is almost impossible to make a living as a coach at UCSC. Coaches are forced to look elsewhere.”

A History of Inconsistency

Over the past two years, four coaches have left their UCSC teams. In 2009 Nikki Turner, head coach of the women’s basketball team, and Dan Chamberlain, head of the men’s soccer team, left for Cal State East Bay and Stanford University, respectively. And in the summer of 2010, in addition to Teitelbaum’s departure, Adam Boothe, head coach of the women’s cross country team, decided to try Winona State University.

Throughout the history of the athletic department at UCSC, the high number of coaches leaving the institution has remained steady and is comparatively higher than the average D-III school. Athletic Department Executive Director Andrews said the main reasons coaches leave the school are career advancement with full-time jobs, and their aspirations to work in a D-I or D-II school.

“The bottom-line is that [UCSC] doesn’t have any career positions in coaching,” Andrews said. “If you want to [coach] as a career, this isn’t the place to do it.”

Because of a lack of financial support, the athletic department has to hire coaches in a by-agreement contract. This means that on average the coaches receive $10,000 a year, and they don’t receive medical benefits.

“I realized if I was going to further my coaching career it was time to move on. It certainly had nothing to do with the runners, or people in the department,” Boothe said. “When an athletic department receives little to no support from the University, it was just something I couldn’t be a part of anymore. Being a coach [at UCSC] can ruin coaching sometimes.”

There are only three full-time coaches at UCSC: Bob Hansen, men’s tennis coach; Kim Musch, head of the swimming and diving team; and Michael Runeare, current head coach of the men’s soccer team. The three coaches gained their titles because they also work as P.E. teachers or hold other positions inside the athletic department. This also means they get paid roughly $2,000 more than the average coach.

The rest of the coaching staff is forced to find alternative jobs to help them pay the bills in Santa Cruz, as they are unable to support themselves on a UCSC coach’s salary. For former UCSC women’s cross country coach Boothe, who currently works as an assistant cross country and track and field coach at Winona State University, the salary was a major concern during his tenure at UCSC.

“The average NCAA Division III coach makes around $32,000 per year. UCSC doesn’t pay any of their coaches full-time,” Boothe said. “I owned a running store in town to sustain myself. At Winona State I make enough to sustain myself from coaching alone.”

To sustain herself as the women’s basketball head coach, Nikki Turner had to serve as the assistant of the athletic director and the sports information director as well, while at UCSC.

“I had two other busy full-time jobs on campus and it was really difficult concentrating in all [of my jobs],” Turner said. “Trying to do that and practice, and then trying to do recruiting was hard. It really makes it harder for the coach to develop the program.”

In 2009, a few months before Nikki Turner left, Dan Chamberlain gave up the men’s soccer team head coaching position to go to Stanford and become an assistant coach. He knew that he was not only heading to a Division I school, but also, he said, to a place where he could learn from coaches with more experience.

After a year at Stanford, he is now an assistant coach of the Division I Dons at the University of San Francisco.

“There’s a staff of coaches that are here full-time, whereas in Santa Cruz it was me plus a couple of part-time people trying to help as much as they could,” Chamberlain said. “My responsibilities [at USF] are more in detail than they were in UCSC. When you have four people working 40 to 60 hours a week, you can get a lot more done.”

Although some coaches cannot fully develop their coaching skills at UCSC, Ryan Andrews said the school has an appeal to some coaches who are just beginning their coaching experience.

“Here we give coaches with limited experience the opportunity to work as head coaches, something that not many schools do,” he said. “However, ideally they would have a career as coaches.”

Tritons Find the Right Balance

Blue and gold flutters everywhere. It is not only in their clothes and in their banners — the colors are inside every student and every athlete. The crowd never stops cheering: “Triton power, triton power. UCSD! Fight, fight, fight.” The noise is overwhelming, but even then, the loudness is what makes you feel at home. This is a common scenario for the UCSD Tritons, but for the UCSC Slugs, this kind of interest in sports has not yet been developed.

Ten years ago, UC San Diego was in Division III, alongside UCSC. Today, the UCSD Tritons not only have moved up divisions, but they stand as one of the best D-II schools in the country.

In 2009, UCSD was ranked first in Division II and seventh in all schools, according to the National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA) Power Rankings, which bases its results on student-athlete graduation rates, academic strength and athletic prowess of the university. UCSC, meanwhile, was only ranked No. 79 on the list of Division III schools.

In 2007, UCSD students decided to pass a fee-referendum to charge $78 per quarter in order to help the athletic department keep growing. According to the UCSD Triton’s website, this fee allowed the school to increase the budget that the NCAA requires for D-II schools from $250,000 to $300,000.

With enough funding, the first step UCSD’s athletic department took after becoming D-II in 2000, was to turn all its part-time head coaches into full-time coaches, with an average salary of $50,000 a year. However, the changes to the program were more than just budgetary.

UCSD athletic director Earl Edwards said that there is an intrinsic importance in having a consistent coaching staff, together with a strong athletic department. He said this is why the UCSD’s sports program has been so successful.

“The athletic department is a place for personal development. Coaches spend four years with the athletes. They spend a lot of time practicing and getting to know them on a personal level — they get to serve as mentors, they get to know things about them outside of the classroom,” Edwards said. “The athletic department gives the student-athletes more of a holistic approach to education.”

Andrews sees more complexity in the way UCSC’s athletic department was created.

“The difference between UCSD and UCSC is that their athletics was separated from recreations. Here it’s all in one same department,” he said. “In their case, someone decided to make an athletic department and fund it.

“Here, the decision to have athletics came from within the recreation program. Usually it is the university’s administration the one that decides to create an athletic program.”

In only 10 years, UCSD has shown that, when both the students and the administration are interested in a wholly successful university, there are steps that can be taken to provide the required funding to every department — this includes athletics.

The Struggle of the Student-Athlete

One year ago, second-year history major Tyler Hoyt decided to come to UCSC, where there is no men’s track team, because his high school track and field coach had recommended he train with women’s cross country coach Boothe. After six months of training together, Coach Boothe announced he was leaving.

“I understood it was a good opportunity for him to go to a Division II school. It is admirable and respectable,” Hoyt said. “[But] it’s sad that the [athletic programs] cannot be more competitive. They need more support. Passion can only go so far without it.”

For the athletic department, recruiting new athletes is more difficult than it is for other teams because of the inconsistency in the coaching staff. Andrews explained that student-athletes want some assurance that the coach that recruited them before coming to the university is going to be there, so they know what they will obtain from the program. For those who are already part of the team, the transition also poses difficulties. “If athletes are used to one way of thinking and doing things, it takes time to adjust to another way of doing things,” said former women’s volleyball coach Teitelbaum.

Students who have gone through the process of changing coaches in the middle of their collegiate athletic career believe that the transition does affect the team. Coach Teitelbaum’s former player and current team captain Alyssa Trakes said a consistent coaching staff is central to a team’s development.

“Comfortability with coaching style is really important in most sports because it allows the athletes to build up a strong relationship and understanding with their coach,” Trakes said. “When there are frequent changes in coaching staff, the comfortability obviously decreases.”

Chamberlain, former head coach of the men’s soccer team, says that the current situation of the department is “unfair for everyone” and that it should take a determinate direction.

“If [UCSC’s administration] wants the department to have true student-athletes, then Division III is a good place to be, and then the university needs to fund the department accordingly,” he said. “If they think that they shouldn’t have an athletic department, then they should get rid of it, and have sports clubs only.”

Getting on the Right Track

In a small office overlooking the OPERS facilities sits one of the few coaches that have been at UCSC for over three decades despite the adversity and the lack of funding.

Thirty-three years after he first came to UCSC, Coach Bob Hansen sits smiling as he looks around the walls of his office. He is surrounded by tokens of his achievements: photographs celebrating championships, certificates that show his years of experience, and awards, both for coaching and for his overall team.

In his 30 years as head coach of the men’s tennis team, he has been named Coach of the Year four times by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) and has won 10 national championships in his tenure, which is the most of any NCAA D-III tennis team.

“Early on I wasn’t given a lot of support, but everyone just stood out of my way and let me create this wonderful team,” Hansen said. “I’ve had chances to leave but I was so committed to what I wanted to accomplish here; I wanted to have the best program in the country and I just kept focused on that.”

To him, the reality of the athletic department is sad, but shouldn’t be seen as an obstacle in making a team successful.

“Many coaches have remained at UCSC because they love the challenge. If you’re easily discouraged, it’s not a good place for you as a coach,” he said. “I used to think that there’re a lot of places where you can coach if you are successful, but if you can face the challenges here, you know you’re good.”

The current administration at UCSC is also becoming publicly aware of the difficulties that the athletic department has been facing over the years. As a result, UCSC vice chancellor Alma Sifuentes decided to make a report about the sports program in the university. The intention is to develop measures to improve the athletic department’s current situation.

Although this document hasn’t been approved by the school’s administration, executive director of the athletic department Andrews said that among its proposals is having full-time coaches. However, given the economical situation of the school, right now “it is not realistic to improve [the coach’s] salaries,” he said.

Coach Boothe doesn’t consider this a matter of selecting academics over athletics, or the other way around. Instead, he said that to be one of the best universities, “it is important to acknowledge all of your students’ interests, talents, and pursuits…it’s about supporting all of your students.”

The debate is still going on between the athletic department and the administration as they decide how to better support sports at UCSC. Meanwhile, the student-athletes at UCSC believe that they are the ones who will continue to deal with the inconsistencies of the program.

“[UCSC has] a great program with a huge potential,” Trakes, captain of the women’s volleyball team said. “However, our potential is being incredibly limited by the lack of support.”

The ’69ers flag football team practices on the East Field. Photo by Rosario Serna.

Intramural sports are considered a good way of combining friendship with physical activity. Photo by Rosario Serna.

The Intramural Sports program is touted as being UC Santa Cruz’s oldest campus sports tradition, according to the Office of Physical Education, Recreation and Sports (OPERS) website.

Kevin “Skippy” Givens is only the second intramural sports supervisor in the history of the campus and has held the title since 1988.  Before taking over the position, he worked alongside Terry Wood, who founded the Intramural program at UCSC in 1966.

“The program still runs close to the ideals that Terry began with,” Givens said. “We try to create a community that helps transcend any socioeconomic, sexual or ethnic barriers — a community where all those things become secondary to the participation.”

The programs are diverse in terms of their participants, and in the athletic ability and experiences they possess. There are coed leagues and leagues with no gender requirements. There are leagues that allow students who are just looking for a fun time, and leagues for those who are looking to win and play competitively. There are basketball, football, indoor and outdoor soccer, and softball leagues, just to name a few.

First-year psychology major Ashley Giannini has never played softball in an organized environment before. She joined up with fellow members of the College Eight student life staff.

“I thought it would be fun to join up with a team, and they were putting one together, and I’m an alternate with the group,” Giannini said. “I wanted to participate in more sports here, so I figured, ‘why not?’”

Patrick Schock, a fourth-year business management major, plays with the ’69ers, a flag football team made up of males with different athletic backgrounds, from football to rugby. Schock has been playing intramural sports since he first came to UCSC, and has witnessed changes, particularly in the football and basketball leagues.

“I feel like it’s become more competitive — there are better teams now and it’s just become more intense,” Schock said. “People come out and they know what they are talking about and doing. Teams even practice, so the competition has just become much higher.”

Schock also said that the intramurals give students an outlet to release their energies.

“They provide a sports release. We’re not very big on sports here on campus, but when I joined up, I wanted to play some flag football and just do something outside of the classroom,” Schock said. “Just knowing that I can come out on a Tuesday and play football with my friends against other people, or play basketball whenever — it’s just extremely beneficial to the athletically inclined.”

Intramurals are nothing without the referees who make sure games go on according to set rules and safety precautions.

Tyler Hunt, a second-year biomedical engineering major, says the job has both pros and cons.

“I enjoy refereeing, I like getting paid, but I don’t like hearing people complain. That’s the worst part of the job,” Hunt said.

It’s up to the referees to get in-between players caught in the heat of the moment.

“There’s always a lot of trash-talk going on, and there was even a fight that broke out last week. You just have to try and get in the middle and break people apart. We can’t have any punches being thrown or any injuries,” Hunt said. “I wasn’t refereeing that game, I was watching. But the people who were [refereeing] handled it correctly.”

Building an active community since 1966 is no easy task, but the UCSC intramurals are open to anyone and everyone willing to go out and have a good time staying active.

“In the end, intramurals are supposed to be fun,” Givens said. “You start off with just a bunch of buddies in the dorm, get together once a week and knock the softball around, but what ends up happening is you start to build some lifelong friendships through that.”

CHP Archive.

The going is getting tougher for the UC Santa Cruz athletic department, as its staff tries to find a way to continue supporting their teams with their limited budget.

The latest problem is that UCSC currently does not meet the requirement set by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). According to NCAA standards, colleges must have an equal number of men’s and women’s teams — UCSC has seven women’s teams to five men’s teams.

Ryan Andrews, executive director of the Office of Physical Education, Recreation and Sports (OPERS) and head of the Athletic Task Force, explained the current requirements that UCSC does not meet because of this discrepancy.

“The minimum number of teams right now is 10, which we meet,” Andrews said. “Next year though, it’s going up to 12, which we do meet, but what the NCAA wants is six men’s teams and six women’s teams.”

Andrews explained the role Title Nine plays in the decision to add an NCAA team. Title Nine requires colleges requesting federal funding to distribute the money in proportion to the gender population on campus.

“The issue with adding a men’s team is that we will also have to add a women’s team in order to stay Title Nine-compliant, because we want to have equal participation between men and women, or at least participation equal to that of our campus,” Andrews said.

Since the athletic department feels unable to comply with this new rule due to a lack of finances, they are applying for a waiver that would exempt UCSC from the rule for the upcoming year.

“There are a lot of schools going out and getting this waiver because they too are just not ready for the jump, either financially or otherwise,” said Linda Spradley, the athletic director.

All this comes at a bad time for the department due to the recent budget cuts and the current re-evaluation of its programs by the Athletic Task Force. “We just had to drop two sports a year ago,” Spradley said, explaining why it would be unrealistic for UCSC to comply with the NCAA rule by adding new teams. “Why on earth would we think we have money to add sports?”

Andrews agrees that this is not the time to add more strain to an already underfunded program.

“This is not the time to add a team, for two reasons,” Andrews said. “Financially, obviously, but we are currently spending the year reviewing athletics. So why would you make implementations before you’ve really had a chance to review the program?”

Andrews clarified, however, that the Athletic Task Force is pushing for the athletic department to thrive and continue competing in the NCAA.

Spradley and Andrews say there is little concern about the school receiving the NCAA waiver, as they feel that the current funding situation will warrant it.

The problem that remains, however, is solving these financial woes. Currently each student pays $15 a year toward the athletic department. However, at an average Division III school each student pays $100 to $150. In addition, the current annual budget for the athletic department is about $1.1 million, while the DIII average is close to $1.9 million.

“We need the students and the administration of this campus to step up and decide what the value of this program is to them,” Andrews said. “Within the next three years, if the department can get through that, there will probably be a referendum on the ballot in which the students will have to decide if they want this program.”

Junior Molly Kossoff, a recent transfer student, says she would support the athletic department as long as they would spend any additional money wisely.

“If the students [get] involved in the programs, and if we as a community saw concrete changes occur to the program, then yes, I would be fine giving some more money to the program,” Kossoff said.

Andrews believes that in the meantime, the best thing for the athletic department to do is bide its time and wait for a final decision regarding the waiver before they act.

“I think it’s crazy to make a move and start adding teams before we’ve had a chance to make a full review,” he said. “We have to be smart and strategic about this.”

Photos by Devika Agarwal.

UC Santa Cruz is known for many things. Among them are the beloved banana slug, an eclectic and unique mix of academic programs and majors and the coding of the human genome. However, unlike at many other UC campuses, athletics doesn’t top our list.

The UCSC athletic department is easily one of the most under-funded programs on campus. Budget cuts and an overall lack of financial stability have caused the school to reevaluate the future of the department.

Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Felicia McGinty recently assembled the Athletic Task Force to assess the current state of athletics on campus and to see what can be done to make it a fully functioning and autonomous program.

Athletic Director Linda Spradley hopes that this newfound interest in athletic programs will help bring about an athletic renaissance.

“The school wants to see the value of athletics at UCSC,” Spradley explained. “It’s a move to improve the athletic department and we’re doing this to give a better picture of athletics during this economic downturn.”

Ryan Andrews, the executive director of OPERS and head of the Athletic Task Force, explains that there are currently many issues that need to be considered when looking at the athletic department’s situation. These aspects include full-time coaches and faculty, financial needs, campus commitment level, as well as UCSC’s potential future as a Division II school.

“The Athletic Task Force is immensely diverse in its members,” Andrews said. “We have student athletes, people from enrollment management, faculty representatives, alumni and even the assistant chancellor. So we have many points of views on how the campus is and how athletics factors into it.”

Creating Fanatics

Vice Chancellor McGinty believes one of the biggest problems with UCSC athletics is unrelated to finances, but rather has to do with an overall lack of awareness.

“There are improvements that can be made to the department that don’t require money, such as giving our student athletes a greater profile and publicity on campus,” said McGinty.

With the lack of publicity for sporting events on campus, even students that want to be interested in sports have a hard time keeping track of what’s happening with their favorite teams.

“I never know what’s going on with our sports on campus, I never see fliers, and I never see any kind of promotions, so I stay pretty unaware of what’s happening because of that,” said third-year Raquel Parks.

Brenna Sullivan, one of the captains of the swim and dive team, feels that the creation of a fan base as well as promotion of school spirit are essential to the success of teams on campus.

“You get more exposure to the school, enhance school spirit, develop a fan base and ultimately cultivate very loyal alumni who contribute money and endowments to the university,” said Sullivan. “As long as UCSC is set on expanding the campus, more funding and effort should be put into athletics. For now, I think most athletes on campus are just content on being able to participate in their sports in light of funding cuts.”

Men’s Soccer Coach Michael Runeare said that the small amount of publicity that is generated on campus does not come from the administration or athletic department, but rather from students themselves.

“The student media around here does a great job of giving athletics serious coverage; however I do feel that the school could generate more publicity around athletics,” Runeare said. “I know I just gave my team fliers to hand out promoting the Regional Tournament being held at East Field this weekend so I know we are doing what we can.”

Runeare also added there is the need for coaches to become full-time employees to the school, which he believes would better allow them to perform their coaching duties, promote success and constantly be there for the players whenever they are needed.

“I think a priority should be to pay coaches as full-time employees,” said Runeare “It makes a big difference to be able to meet and see someone whenever, plus there are so many ways to employ coaches with the department, if only the funding was there.”

Andrews concurs with Runeare and says that the school and the Athletic Task Force are taking that into serious consideration.

“We have talked to and researched a lot of other universities and their athletic programs and there are some constants that appear — such as the hiring of coaches as full-time staff — which is a factor that we within the committee have to seriously look at and consider on many fronts.”

The UCSC athletic department operates with a yearly budget of $750,000 to cover everything including travel, facilities, equipment and coaches’ salaries. The average budget for most D-III sports programs at other universities is about $1 million higher than at UCSC.

“Seventy percent of my budget goes to travel costs alone. This year my players bought their own gear because we didn’t have the funds to supply them some,” said Runeare. “It’s turning into a situation where it’s costing more to come and play here, which is tough on certain athletes who have financial constraints”

With the rising profile of UCSC as one of the state’s best public universities, McGinty sees this lack of athletic funding as a real problem

“I was really taken aback when I realized just how poorly funded athletics [are] here on this campus,” said McGinty. “This is frustrating considering how beautiful our campus is, and the rising population of students attending.”

Division II Rumors

One of the most radical changes being considered by the Athletics Task Force is the idea to make UCSC a Division II school. Currently, NCAA D-III schools cannot give out athletic scholarships. A switch to D-II would mean attracting more student athletes that are seeking athletic scholarships, which could potentially mean a larger talent base.

“The attractive part of becoming a Division II team is the fact that we can give out scholarships to those who need them, however it also requires the department to have an increased budget and have the athletic facilities improved,” McGinty said.

While Coach Runeare does concede that a D-II athletics program would take away the financial stress and create a more intense competition atmosphere, he favors the D-III mentality.

“I like being a D-III school; I like the student athlete philosophy. I like D-III and our positioning within it. Being the only D-III UC helps us bring kids who want to play but also want the UC experience.”

Swim coach Kim Musch isn’t so sure that UC Santa Cruz will become a D-II school.

“I’ve heard that the school is looking at becoming a D-II school, but to do so would require minimum funding levels for the team. The school would have to make a real commitment to the programs. Personally I don’t see it happening.”

Women’s swim and dive captain Sullivan thinks that with some programs, such as swimming, becoming D-II could be beneficial to the program, but doubts that the finances needed are available.

“I think some sports might benefit from being in Division II.  In swimming, for example, the national cuts are slower because there are fewer schools in Division II,” Sullivan said. “However, I don’t think this would be a good move for the athletic department as a whole — our programs barely get funded as it is.”

Andrews looks at the potential change realistically and wants to address the problem at hand before looking to the future.

“Becoming a Division II team would take upwards of 15 years. Right now we need to work on properly funding a Division III team.”

Changing Perceptions

Beyond the financial hurdles, one of the biggest obstacles the athletic department may have in trying to expand athletics is UCSC’s reputation of a student body that rejects school spirit and athletics.

“People just don’t know what we could be; some people have a fear that the campus will suddenly become fully focused upon athletics instead of academics,” McGinty said. “But the two can exist together.”

Third-year Kyan Mahzouf also feels as though the campus should recognize all the good that can come from athletics.

“I don’t think we should become UCLA or Berkeley, where athletics are a huge priority to the campus and the culture,” Mahzouf said, “however I do think that there is a lot of good that can come from supporting our teams and the athletic department.”

Men’s basketball coach Gordon Johnson feels as though many on campus have an outdated perception that athletics are rejected on campus.

“I personally feel that the school has a misconception of sports on this campus,” Johnson said. “Our athletes are smart and responsible kids who work hard at their sports and for their school, [and] I don’t see why investing money into them should change any of that.”

Ryan Matsuoka, a guard for the men’s basketball team, feels that student athletes are not adequately recognized by fellow students.

“I think that athletics are sometimes underappreciated on campus by students and faculty,” Matsuoka said. “Those who know what our athletes do and sacrifice understand a little more and are respected.”

Coach Runeare feels that the perception of sports and their place on campus has changed for the better over the past several years.

“I’ve been here eight years and I have seen a change in the school spirit and games,” Runeare said. “The demographic here has changed [in] that now there are more people who are interested in athletics”

Andrews underscored why he thinks it’s so important to keep sports fully funded.

“It’s hard to put a specific value on athletics,” Andrews said. “How do you put a value on camaraderie, leadership, hard work and commitment?”

Matsuoka is happy to be playing at UCSC and feels as though being on the team has allowed him to grow substantially as a person.

“I have loved every moment of playing basketball for UCSC,” he said. “I have learned so much about hard work and what it takes to be a successful athlete, student and human being.”

Julie Kimball leads yoga students in triangle pose from the center of a circle in the Martial Arts room. Her style is influenced by Iyengar yoga, which often uses blocks and other props to reach different asanas, or poses. Photo by Morgan Grana.

Photo by Morgan Grana.

Bare feet stretch toward the sky while bodies twist and coil, heaving deep breaths all throughout the city.

Since the Beatles-induced Maharishi wave of the ’60s, yoga and Santa Cruz have cultivated an organic and intertwined relationship. Santa Cruz is home to roughly 20 different yoga venues, each with a varying technique and purpose. The compatibility of the practice with the town seems to stem from the general personality type that gravitates towards Santa Cruz.

Don Bard, a UC Santa Cruz faculty member and local yoga instructor, attributed the prevalence of yoga in Santa Cruz to the demographic of the student body at UCSC.

“I think there’s a lot of classes offered here because it’s a university town,” Bard said. “I think Santa Cruz draws environmental, spiritual, in-tune students anyways, because of the ocean and landscape.”

In a similarly organic process, many of the prominent yoga instructors who now work in Santa Cruz began their yoga exploration as students on the UCSC campus.

Julie Kimball is one such instructor. She has experienced the connection between yoga and Santa Cruz firsthand.

“What’s neat about Santa Cruz is people learn to learn here. There is nothing that feels better than being in that flow of purpose. In Santa Cruz that flow could be found in surfing, hiking, in the woods — there are so many ways to learn here,” Kimball said. “You add on yoga as a way to heal or add to that flow of purpose — I think that’s why we have so many yoga teachers here.”

If You’re Always Content, You Never Learn

Her bare feet padded across the mint-green mat. Kimball pointed to three red words scrawled on a whiteboard: “Sat Chit Ananda.” She repeated the words aloud to a room of students who smiled up from the martial arts room floor.

“Thank you for being here,” Kimball said.

Kimball arrived in Santa Cruz in 1974, and her journey into yoga began soon after.

“I wanted something exercise-related to do here, so I thought, ‘Well, I’ll try yoga,’” said Kimball, whose first yoga experience was in a UCSC physical education yoga class, much like the ones she now instructs.

After graduating from UCSC with a degree in German literature, Kimball embarked on world travels to Ecuador, Japan and India, where she received intensive yoga training.

In India, Kimball studied at the Iyengar Institute of Yoga under B.K.S. Iyengar, known as one of the foremost yoga teachers in the world and the founder of Iyengar Yoga itself. The practice is known for its use of props such as belts and blocks. It is also a form of Hatha yoga, which focuses on the structural alignment of the physical body through the development of asanas, or postures.

“Watching [Iyengar] teach students was really a kick,” Kimball said. “He was very hard on us physically, but I came to realize a lot of his physical harshness was designed to slap down that very large ego that many of us Westerners have. Once you hung with him long enough you’d realize it was a game to get us to be more sensory.”

Kimball subsequently embarked upon several return trips to study with Iyengar in India to hone her practice.

Eventually returning to Santa Cruz, she has been teaching yoga to UCSC students since 1982. Her classes are offered by the Office of Physical Education and Recreation (OPERS).

Eve Wheatley is a third-year Cowell student who has been practicing yoga since she was 15, most recently with Kimball.

“I’ve gone through a lot of different studios and a lot of different styles, and I’d say [Kimball] is one of the best teachers I’ve ever had,” Wheatley said. “She allows you to get inside of your body in a way that other yoga classes and instructors haven’t. I usually feel very calm after her classes. I leave looking around at the world, humming or whistling, like ‘Oh look at the birds,’ or ‘Look at those trees!’”

Classes with Kimball are more slow-moving than some of the other styles found on campus. They focus in on different parts of anatomy in correspondence with yoga positions.

Kimball said her teaching philosophy and yoga method stem both from her training with Iyengar and her time spent in Santa Cruz. She also draws inspiration from a great collection of literature she has studied, noting especially the book “Power of Myth” by Joseph Campbell.

Chris Spencer is a recent UCSC graduate and part time stand-up comedian who took Kimball’s class for three quarters. He continues to practice yoga almost daily and said Kimball was an enlightened teacher whose class inspired him to continue with yoga.

“I loved when [Kimball] would make jokes,” Spencer said. “She’d say something like, ‘There’s a lot of tension between India and Pakistan right now, much like the tension between the liver and the kidney. We’re going to do a stretch to lubricate our liver and kidney, and then hopefully Pakistan and India will get along better too.’”

Kimball’s method is to teach with the students, rather than to them. She describes herself as a “rebel” and says she understands that when told to do something, many naturally resist. Her method chooses to educate rather than coach.

“If you’re always content, you never take risks and you never learn,” Kimball said as she sat cross-legged, with perfect posture, at the end of one of her classes in the martial arts room on the UCSC campus. “I think it’s really important for students to learn to be comfortable with things they don’t understand — we’re used to things that are palatable, and we need to become comfortable, relaxed with things much bigger than us, because most things are.”

Endless World in the City

Ask anyone who knows a thing or two about yoga, and they will tell you there are literally too many different styles and strains of yoga to count.

“The first thing you’ll learn about the world of yoga is that it is huge!” Kimball said.

The UCSC campus alone offers Bikram, Warrior and Hatha yoga classes every single quarter, and other more specific types flutter through intermittently.

This quarter, OPERS offers five yoga classes, four of which are taught by Kimball.

Yoga classes taught through OPERS have historically been free of charge, but as of this quarter, budget cuts have resulted in a $10 fee per quarter, per student enrolled in the class.

According to Katie Taylor, the reception center supervisor and administrative assistant for OPERS, physical education usually offers between five to seven yoga classes per quarter.

“Yoga tends to be fairly popular. All yoga classes tend to be full and the instructors have additional people who want to take them,” Taylor said. “The $10 fee has not really affected yoga enrollment.”

In addition to the yoga programs on-campus, many other styles and studios can be found in the city of Santa Cruz. The One Yoga Center offers flowing, stronger styles of yoga; Village Yoga features Bikram hot yoga; other classes can also be taken at the Pacific Cultural Center, Mount Madonna Center and the Veterans Hall. In addition, small private practices dot the town and many larger gyms, such as 24-Hour Fitness, Gold’s Gym and Spa Fitness offer weekly classes (see guide on p. 20).

Yoga Center Santa Cruz is one of the largest and oldest venues for yoga in the city. Like Kimball, the center bases its practice on Iyengar’s yoga method.

Maya Lev has been the director of Yoga Center Santa Cruz for 13 years. Lev also started her yoga journey at UCSC, and like many, stumbled on her passion for yoga by chance.

“My instructor at the time introduced me to the idea that you could separate one part of your mind from another,” Lev said. “When I studied yoga it was really just by chance. I had a roommate who was enthusiastic about it so I tried it out. It’s become a lifelong project.”

Lev was a Kresge student who graduated from UCSC with degrees in psychology and women’s studies in the eighties. While at UCSC she also took classes from Kimball, who served as an inspiring mentor.

“I remember once we were doing a challenging pose in one of her classes, and [Kimball] said you could fall asleep in that pose. I thought, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ But now I could fall asleep in that pose,” Lev explained. “If you choose to stick with it, [yoga] will benefit you in ways that are beyond your wildest imagination.”

Yoga instructors in Santa Cruz come from outside of the city as well.

Don Bard works full-time for the ocean sciences department at UCSC. He teaches yoga for Cabrillo College’s physical education department, a yoga class for the city of Scotts Valley Parks and Recreation, as well as a drop-in yoga class for staff, faculty and retirees three days a week at the Wellness Center on campus.

Bard emphasized yoga’s tendency to start as a physical activity, and blossom into much more.

“[Yoga is] a good way for people to meet their physical and spiritual needs,” Bard said. “I like that it’s a meditative practice. In my humble opinion that’s what yoga is all about. Yoga is a meditation.”

Abbey Asher runs the College Nine & Ten service learning program at UCSC. She stumbled into yoga as a way to de-stress after having children in her thirties.

She now teaches yoga on campus and at Yoga Center Santa Cruz. Asher also studied at the Iyengar Institute in India after a bit of encouragement from Kimball, and said it benefited her experience with yoga immensely.

However, unlike many yoga instructors, teaching yoga was never Asher’s goal.

“I fell into teaching, I didn’t really choose. Around the same time the university and Yoga Center Santa Cruz asked me, ‘Do you want to teach here?’ I thought, ‘Maybe it’s a calling,’” Asher said. “Now I love to teach.”

After her experiences teaching and getting to know the community, Asher said it’s no surprise that Yoga has such a strong following in Santa Cruz.

“Life is slower here. There’s a lot of alternative medicine here, there’s a lot of massage. . .this type of community encourages an alternative lifestyle. People are open-minded and searching for their spirituality here. People are interested in taking care of themselves here. People love nature here, love the outdoors. It’s that kind of a community.”

Yoga centers of various shapes and sizes dot the city of Santa Cruz. 1. Village Yoga offers a form of Bikram hot yoga. 2. Veterans Hall Yoga offers a multitude of styles depending on instructor. 3. One Yoga Center is home to flowing, strong styles of yoga. 4. Pacific Yoga Cultural Center is a mixed-use facility that offers the Ashtanga style of yoga. Illustration by Maggie McManus.

UCSC water polo coach, Alan Cima. Photo by Rosario Serna.

Alan Cima has been the head coach of the UC Santa Cruz men’s water polo team and the co-head coach of the women’s team for the past nine years.

Despite his laid-back demeanor, a more careful look makes clear the strain Cima has endured, both personally and professionally, in the face of a dying UCSC water polo program. Though visibly agitated as he discussed OPERS management, Cima has worked hard to remain even-tempered and calm as he watches the program he loves fade away.

In his office, lined with the All-American certificates of past water polo players, Cima sat down with City on a Hill Press to discuss the negative consequences facing water polo and other UCSC athletics due to recent budget cuts.

City on a Hill Press: The pool has been in relatively bad condition all season, ending with its current closure. How has that affected the water polo teams?

Alan Cima: The pool deck is being rebuilt and the pool is being resurfaced, [but] that doesn’t really affect us that badly. Originally, the closing of the pool was supposed to happen earlier, so we couldn’t schedule any home games during that time.

And then with the program being dropped, we had no program during the normal scheduling season. We had to try and fit games into the schedules that all the other teams already had. Most people were more open to playing a second game only if we traveled to their home pool. Usually we have more teams that want to come here, but because of the scheduling timing it wasn’t true this year.

CHP: How does the current water polo program compare to the one you saw when you first started at UCSC nine years ago?

AC: Well, the water polo program has gone through three or four coaches in two or three years. Overall, the program from then till now has better athletes, more fit and more disciplined practices and certainly more success.

CHP: It seems that in the last couple of years the water polo program has been in danger of getting cut. How have the current budget cuts been directly affecting the water polo teams and coaches at UCSC?

AC: In terms of last year’s budget cuts, that is when OPERS management decided that they needed to cut the water polo program, but then it was reinstated for one year, which is this season. Clearly the budget cuts are impacting the whole OPERS department and so it’s impacted water polo in sort of a major way, with them eventually deciding to drop it.

CHP: Do you think that the cutting of water polo was mainly a question of money?

AC: Realistically, the year I got here water polo hardly got any money from the university anyway, though it’s improved through the years. After the announcement of the dropping of the program last year we raised about $75,000. When the reinstatement for one season was announced, we asked the donors if they still wanted to continue to donate. We ended up giving back about $20,000 because, as one donor put it, “Who wants to donate to a funeral?” In 10 years as a varsity program water polo has raised more than $400,000 in donations.

CHP: Through what outlets does the water polo program get most of these donations?

AC: Supporters in general. Alumni, parents who are part of the unofficial parent group, people that have played against us in years past. It varies.”

CHP: What is the reason behind OPERS management effectively ending the program from here on out?

AC: They’ve switched their story from ‘cost-cutting’ to ‘lack of infrastructure,’ which has yet to be defined. The parent group offered to raise money — $25,000 per year — to give to the athletics department to help pay for infrastructure for all sports, but that was refused.

CHP: What has been the response from other water polo programs, players and coaches regarding the end of UCSC water polo?

AC: Water polo in California is pretty big, but outside the state not so much. All the other UCs were worried, such as Cal and UCLA, to name a few.

CHP: What does the future for the UCSC men’s and women’s water polo programs look like?

AC: At this point, it looks fairly negative because they’re dropping the program. It was a decision that was made with inaccurate information.

CHP: What would your argument be to get OPERS management to bring UCSC water polo back?

AC: Well I think that if they look at California and serving the students that are here and the students coming up through high school, I think they’ll discover that they should bring back water polo because it’s sort of part of the mission of the UC. That mission has traditionally been to provide education, leadership and athletic opportunities to students. There are several hundred students that are here that want to play and every year there are 20,000 students who graduate high school in California that want to play.

Several volleyball teams competed during the Intramural Games at the East Field House on Tuesday night. Photo by Morgan Grana.

“It’s not about whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game,” the old sports adage tells us, and the thousands of UC Santa Cruz students who participate in intramural athletics each year would likely agree. While they play with a competitive spirit, their main goal is to have fun with their friends.

Kevin “Skippy” Givens, who has supervised the intramural program for 21 years, said that “friendship through competition” is the motto of the program and that participation in intramurals can have long-reaching benefits.

“It’s designed to be a friendly competition amongst friends, and quite often what happens is that lifetime friendships are established as well as some of the fondest memories of college life,” Givens said.

Senior environmental studies major Casey Rummel, who is a captain for one of the intramural basketball teams and has also played intramural volleyball and soccer this year, said that the competitive spirit that comes with playing is also a plus.

“It’s cool to be able to play organized sports because you can go out and shoot around with your friends,” Rummel said, “but to actually compete adds a level of intensity to the games and makes it more fun for me and the people I play with.”

Sophomore Lauren Negrete, who is a lead official for intramurals, said that playing competitively is not the primary focus, however.

“While intramurals can definitely be competitive, it’s not like win or die,” Negrete said. “Sure you may lose, but it’s totally fine to put a team of your friends together [though] you have no experience and just go out there and mess around.”

Rummel said that while there is definitely a competitive drive in intramural sports, it does not compare to that of NCAA teams.

“Intramurals get competitive and people do care,” Rummel said, “but with NCAA you’re talking about scholarships and people practicing five to six days a week with their team, which is a whole other level of dedication.”

Senior environmental studies major Graham Wesolowski said he chose intramural soccer over the UCSC team because of the significant time commitment required of league teams.

“I played soccer in high school, but if you’re not willing to commit to a ton of practice there’s no real way to play competitive soccer besides being on the team or the club team,” Wesolowski said. “So [intramurals] seemed like a good level of investment for me.”

There are, however, drawbacks to the intramural program, particularly when it comes to officiating.

“The refs are a lot more nonchalant about the game,” Wesolowski said. “At times it seems like the refs don’t really care — it seems like they’re just trying to make their $6.50 an hour.”
Rummel said that in intramurals no one enforces the important rule in athletics that referees remain neutral.

“They can do whatever they want,” Rummel said, “and they take advantage of that sometimes.”

As a lead officiator, Negrete recognizes this concern.

“Intramurals is great, although we could have some better-trained officials, myself included,” Negrete said.

Intramurals board supervisor Givens acknowledged that there can be issues with referees sometimes, but said that completely fixing the problem is impossible due to a lack of funding.

“It’s always going to be a constant problem because we have limited resources, so to address that issue is going to be cost-prohibitive,” Givens said. “I’m not trying to marginalize it, but it’s so frustrating dealing with the university, and there are looming budget cuts, so there’s not much we can do.”

Despite these financial issues, UCSC’s intramurals program has had significant staying power since it was first introduced in the fall of 1966.

During that first year, there were a total of roughly 900 members on all  intramural teams, a number that more than doubled within five years. Last year the participation total was nearly 4,000, and Givens expects that number to grow even more this year with the reopening of the West Gym.

“We have close to 5,000 students participating this year,” Givens said, “which is a staggering number considering the resources made available to us.”
Rummel agreed that the  popularity of intramurals seems to be ever-increasing.

“I’ve just been involved in it this senior year,” Rummel said, “and from what I can tell, its popularity is growing, especially with A-leagues, because people are actually pretty good.”
Wesolowski attributes the appeal of intramurals to the “friendship through competition” motto of the program.

“You can lose every game and still have a good time,” Wesolowski said. “Which is a really cliché sports thing to say, but with intramurals it gets to be true.

Photo by Catie Havstad.

Jennifer Gunnell doesn’t know how much longer she can tread water.  

It’s 6 a.m. when the UC Santa Cruz women’s water polo team jumps in the pool to train, hoping that winning a championship could save their sport.  

Players say they cannot bear to look at each other with the thought that this could be their last practice, as the loss of their program seems immenent. 

“It’s more than nationals; it’s trying to save water polo,” said freshman Jennifer Gunnell, a defensive and offensive player who decided to attend UC Santa Cruz because of the water polo program. “They can’t cut champions.”

During the end-of-year athletics barbecue last year, water polo coaches Alan Cima and Danielle Mulford were told by administrative athletic officials, Linda Spradley and Ryan Andrews, that the UCSC athletic department was dropping the water polo program. 

Cima said the reason he was given for the cuts was that the athletics department had to implement the budget cuts by cutting a team. In response, water polo parents presented a written proposal, which promised $320,000 to financially support the program over the next four years. 

However, Spradley and Andrews rejected the proposal, dubbing the donation “soft money.”  The concern was that after students leave and graduate, funds from parents would no longer be available. 

Because so many freshmen committed to the university to play water polo, the administration reinstated the sport for one year. According to Spradley, this was to give athletes time to transfer if they wanted to continue playing intercollegiate water polo at a different school.

But Gunnell, who was aware of the cut and yearly reinstatement when she committed to UCSC, hoped the university would accept her sport’s contributions before the season was up, and revise their decision to cut the program. 

“[The freshmen] knew that UCSC was the place we wanted to go and we would take the risk,” Gunnell said on her way to the Western Water Polo Association (WWAP) Division III national championship. “I was ready to fight for this team because I knew this was the fit for me and playing for anyone else wouldn’t be the same as playing for UCSC.”

Gunnell, whose lowest grade to date in college has been a B, could have attended any UC or upper-echelon college but was drawn to UCSC by the water polo program.  She doesn’t regret her decision, though, due to the connections she made with the players and coaches on the team at UCSC.

If the sport is no longer offered at the intercollegiate level, UCSC will be the only UC that doesn’t offer intercollegiate water polo. Gunnell is staying optimistic, but fears for the future of water polo at UCSC. 

“One [more] year isn’t enough,” she said. “If water polo gets officially cut, we’re out of here.” 

Like fish out of water: The men’s and women's water polo teams have found themselves without a program to call home. Photo by Catie Havstad.

Funding an Intercollegiate Team

It wasn’t until after the parent group offered to set up a long-term fund that decision-makers brought up other reasons for cutting the program, Cima said. 

Aside from a lack of administrative staff and no institutional support, Spradley said the decision was based on the absence of an individual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) DIII title and less expansion of the sport on the DIII level, as well as other reasons. 

 “We had to cut them, we had to,” Spradley said, raising her voice defensively. 

Unlike most other schools, UCSC’s athletics and OPERS programs are combined. As the executive director of OPERS, Ryan Andrews has the ability to make decisions that affect the athletic department. 

“The decision to cut a sport was purely financial and predicated on the fact that we were facing budget cuts,” Andrews said. “The other factors were only considered when trying to decide which sport to cut.”

After the news about the cuts broke, Mike Huff, father of second-year Connor Huff, and other water polo players’ parents organized to raise funds.  

Huff, who has worked for UC Berkeley’s athletics department for 30 years as an operations and maintenance manager, knew that Princeton University’s DI water polo team once faced cuts and now operates as a fully self-funded team.

“If the university were to allow [water] polo to exist, the team would be able to fund the operational costs or a part-time person to help with infrastructure issues,” Huff said. 

“Infrastructure” refers to the administrative staff members within the athletic department. As budget cuts continue to take effect, administrative staff positions are the first to go. Recently, the department has just dropped the position of Sports Information Director.   

Huff also authored a written proposal that offered to establish a “Friends of UC Santa Cruz Water Polo” fund similar to one that UC Berkeley uses to support its aquatic program.   

The proposal offers to pay $80,000 each year for the next four years totaling up to $320,000.

In a press conference held with student media last week, Chancellor George Blumenthal said looking for outside donors is a way to fight off budget cuts.

“Private money is key to the future of our campus … we’re in a financial crisis,” he said.  

However, Spradley said she rejected the proposal because the money is not guaranteed to be there in four years, when the students whose parents started the fund will most likely graduate. 

Spradley said that all other intercollegiate sports on campus are required to raise 50 to 60 percent of their budget. However, she did not distinguish the difference between the fundraised money coming from other NCAA sports, which is also not guaranteed to be there in the long term, and the “soft money” coming from water polo.  

Andrews said that all NCAA sports have some institutional support. 

“NCAA teams represent the university and therefore should receive funding (in part or full),” Andrews said in an e-mail addressed to senior water polo player Heather Stewart. “That has been the distinction at UCSC between a club sport and an NCAA sport. To have a team be 100 percent fundraised is setting a precedent I do not want to create.”

Unfortunately, playing for a club team isn’t an option for many intercollegiate water polo players after playing two years of NCAA water polo.

“All the girls who have played [intercollegiate water polo] for two years can’t even play club,” Gunnell said. “The boys’ team asked that water polo be an exception, but the committee [who regulates club sports] said no.”

Stewart was the first to question the cuts last August when she heard that both Spradley and Andrews did not accept financial support to keep the program.

In the e-mail, Andrews went on to explain that allowing an NCAA team to be 100 percent self-funded would “blur the lines between club sports” and intercollegiate sports. He also said that giving an NCAA team the chance to be fully self-funded would create expectations from club sports also seeking NCAA status. 

The NCAA did not reply to confirm whether or not institutional funding is a requirement of their organization. On its Web site, there is no implicit mention of institutional funding as a requirement. 

“Typically, what it means to be an NCAA sport is that the school wants you as a program,” Andrews said regarding institutional support as a definitive aspect of NCAA sports. “To me it’s a requirement. I’m not sure if it is [for] the NCAA. I don’t know what they require.” 

More Money, More Problems

Coach Alan Cima said in the 10 years water polo has been at the university, the team has raised more than $400,000, mostly from parents and fundraisers.

“The year I got here water polo hardly got any money through the university, anyway,” Cima said. “Though it’s improved through the years. After the announcement of the dropping of the program last year we raised about $75,000. We [ended up] giving back about $20,000, because as one donor put it, ‘Who wants to donate to a funeral?’”

Even water polo Olympian Natalie Golda offered support in order to keep the program alive at the intercollegiate level. 

Golda, a three-time NCAA national water polo champion and two-time Olympian, is a product of UC water polo. Golda sent a letter to the chancellor asking the university to reconsider the decision to cut water polo. 

Andrews said in an e-mail, “Although I appreciate and applaud the community rallying behind water polo and agreeing to provide funds, this is only a short-term solution.” 

Spradley said that some teams occasionally fall short in fundraising and that the athletics department is left with a deficit. As of last year, the department is $85,000 in debt.    

“The teams that I have can’t even raise their own money,” Spradley said.  “And if they don’t, it comes back on athletics.”

Most of the NCAA sports have accumulated a debt over the years. Coach Cima said if the deficit for polo is an issue, then they should keep the program and request that the sport clear the deficit.    

“We were told that the accumulated loss did not matter,” Cima said. “If there is an issue, then they should just say that water polo has to clear that deficit to continue, like they did with Shakespeare Santa Cruz.”

The slugs stay competitive with an opposing NCAA team during a six-on-five play. Players say they will not give up the fight, and continue to push for water polo to remain an NCAA intercollegiate program at UCSC. Photo by Alex Zamora.

Two weeks ago, the women’s water polo team competed in the WWPA DIII Championships, where they placed third after being ranked seventh. 

WWPA is a NCAA DI water polo conference featuring 14 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams. Each year the WWPA hosts a championship for men in November and women in April. 

Heather Stewart earned an honorable mention this season. Her reasons for wanting first place went much further than glory. 

“We thought if we got first, how could they cut us?” Stewart said.

Placing first in the conference, which is different than placing first in the division, would have advanced the team to the NCAA DI, DII, DIII national meet in Maryland. 

Linda Spradley said the decision to cut water polo was partly because the sport does not have its own DIII national championship, which she thinks is necessary for recruiting purposes.  

“It’s not Div. III, it’s Div. I, II, III all together,” Spradley said. “Do you really think that a DIII is going to qualify for DI, DII national championship?” 

But Coach Cima said the combined championship has helped with recruiting, regardless of a title. 

“Players know that if they play for UCSC they will have the opportunity to play against all of the best teams in the country, not just those in a certain division,” Cima said. “I can’t tell you how many letters I’ve received from student athletes saying, ‘I saw your game against USC.’”

A Growing Sport 

Though invented outside of the U.S., water polo has been growing in popularity in the States — especially in California. Every water polo NCAA champion has been a Californian college, and no non-Californian college has ever made the finals.

According to Cima, there are 20,000 Californians who graduate high school wanting to play collegiate water polo.

One of the reasons Spradley gave for cutting the water polo program was that the sport is not growing at an intercollegiate DIII level. She said that last year there were only 15 DIII men’s teams and this year there are only 14 men’s teams.  She also said that the amount of women’s DIII water polo teams has gone from 19 to 18. 

But Cima feels this factor is irrelevant when used to decide which sport to cut.

“There are nine NCAA teams within 100 miles of Santa Cruz that want to schedule UCSC and play us,” he said. “I think that compares favorably with any other sport that UCSC sponsors.” 

What the future holds is still uncertain and despite news of demise, the team will keep fighting to protect what means the most to them. 

As Stewart prepares to graduate in the spring, she can’t help but get emotional.

“I look at my teammates and I don’t want the administration to deny them their right to play,” she said. “Water polo is one of the best things that happened to me at UCSC, hands down.”

Experienced archer David Delaney readies his bow Saturday at the DeLaveaga Archery Range. Photo by Isaac Miller.

Armed with bows ranging from highly sophisticated design products to rudimentary sticks with nylon strings, the Santa Cruz Archers roam the hills of DeLaveaga Park, unbeknownst to the neighboring golf and disc-golf course visitors.

The club was founded in 1968 and pledges to “foster, expand and perpetuate the practice of field and target archery and the spirit of good fellowship among all archers.” By offering quick start-up lessons and lending out equipment in exchange for donations, all in good humor and with great generosity, this is exactly what happens during an archer’s afternoon on the range. 

Randy Redmond has been shooting for over 40 years, and if you head to DeLaveaga during public hours, chances are he’ll be the one taking care of you. 

He’ll get you started in about five minutes with the basics.

“Stand up straight, just like your mother taught you,” Redmond instructed. “The basics are what it’s all about. Now I want you to do that exact thing, forever.”

And don’t worry about not owning a bow and arrows.

“We won’t rent out the equipment,” said club president Henry Bertram, “but we’ll let you borrow some.” 

Five-year-old Daisy Delaney uses a compound bow, which makes the bow lighter and therefore easier for her to shoot. She never misses the target. 

Her father, David Delaney, said he was a member of the archery club “years and years ago. My whole family was.” And indeed, the main building is dedicated to a Delaney, David’s father, who helped build it. Although it’s been a while since David has visited the range regularly, he and Daisy are getting back into it.

Back inside the Delaney building, a handful of UC Santa Cruz students are learning how to shoot. 

“It’s a lot of fun,” fourth-year Erin Nolan said, “but definitely challenging. I want to come back and go out on the range, see how well I fare out there.”

This class, a quarterly event, is sponsored and organized by UCSC’s Office of Physical Education and Recreation (OPERS). 

The OPERS archery trips fill out fast, said Nolan, and she tried to get in for many quarters. “This was my last chance, and it was worth it. I really recommend it to anyone who wants to take a few hours out on their Saturday to learn to shoot.” 

Many of the club members will be going back with sore arms from carrying the bows, some even with bruises from where the taut string stuck their elbows.

Club president Bertram was teaching the class. 

“Come back and check out the range,” he said to the group. “It’s a nice walk, but it’s even nicer if you’re carrying a bow and arrow.” 

The club encourages donations, with a suggested amount of $3 if you come to learn and borrow.

Although a Santa Cruz park, the range is entirely built and maintained by club members. 

“In the last couple of years, we have had a fantastic group of people who come by and work hard to maintain the range,” Bertram said.

Inside the “animal shed” lays an array of tools and paint buckets alongside foam cougars, elk and other animals, the biggest an impressive gorilla. They will be used in the upcoming event “Stick Bow in the Woods,” where 28 foam animals will be scattered as targets amid the old oaks and redwoods.

“It’s all for fun,” Bertram said. “You want bias? This is the best range in the area, no question. Go around, fling a few arrows, don’t tell the wife, and that’s all there is to it.”

A close-up of a target at the range. A variety of arrows and bows are available to borrow from the Sant Cruz Archers. Photo by Isaac Miller.