As schools ponder cutting sports, tennis proves vulnerable

Now he's pondering his future thousands of miles away from his family as financial reality crashes down on his sport. Winthrop announced last month that both its men's and women's tennis programmes will be dropped because of budget woes resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. When the Big Sky relaxed that requirement last month, both schools dropped their programmes..

The promise of college tennis lured Abhimanyu Vannemreddy from his home in India to the United States, where he settled in at Winthrop in South Carolina. Now he's pondering his future thousands of miles away from his family as financial reality crashes down on his sport.

Winthrop announced last month that both its men's and women's tennis programmes will be dropped because of budget woes resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. Tennis has been hit hardest among college programs as athletic departments nationwide ponder cutting sports to save money. "I was definitely caught by surprise," Vannemreddy said. "No prior warning or rumor about the programme shutting down. It was just a random call one day and just found out it's done." Dozens of college tennis players across the country are in similar situations. Men's and women's tennis are the only sports dropped by more than four Division I schools since the start of the pandemic, according to AP research.

East Carolina, Northern Colorado, Southern Utah and Wright State have eliminated men's and women's tennis over the last three months. Green Bay suspended its men's and women's tennis programmes indefinitely while in Arkansas, UAPB suspended them for the year. Appalachian State cut men's tennis, while Akron dropped women's tennis. Connecticut won't have a men's tennis team after 2020-21. "My assessment is some of these cuts had probably been in the works," said Timothy Russell, the CEO of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, the governing body for college tennis. "Usually when there's a cut, there's a big hue and cry. There's so much going on with the noise in this environment, it's easier to make these cuts with nobody paying as much attention." Nearly 89 per cent of Division I schools had women's tennis programs and 71.5 per cent had men's teams as of 2019, but these recent cuts have raised concern and pushed officials to seek solutions.

Tim Cass, a former New Mexico and Texas A&M coach, now is general manager for the US. Tennis Association's national campus in Florida. He believes colleges can help their programs by opening on-campus tennis facilities to their communities, hosting junior or adult tournaments and offering after-school programs. "If you're doing that, more than likely your programme has a very good chance of being safe," Cass said.

A lack of quality facilities has contributed to some cuts. Winthrop deputy athletic director Hank Harrawood said his school's tennis facility required at least USD 1.3 million in repairs, though men's coach John Collins says he's received an estimate that all 12 of the school's courts could be renovated for less than USD 600,000. Southern Utah and Northern Colorado didn't have indoor facilities on campus, and Southern Utah's teams often had to travel 45-50 minutes for practice.

Northern Colorado and Southern Utah belong to the Big Sky Conference, which previously required its members to field tennis teams. When the Big Sky relaxed that requirement last month, both schools dropped their programmes..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)