Open Letter to MVS Members, Parents and Coaches
DATE: March 30, 2001
TO: Missouri Valley Athletes, Parents, Officials and Clubs
FROM: James R. Devine, General Chair
This is a call to arms!
On March 4, 2001, University of Kansas Athletic Director Bob Frederick
announced elimination of the men’s swimming and diving program at KU.
Discontinuance of the program is not, according to KU, “performance
related” and is not related to the need for gender equity under federal
law. Rather, elimination of men’s swimming and diving (as well as men’s
tennis) is entirely financial. "Without the prospects of significant
additional revenue sources on the horizon we have no alternative but to
discontinue two sports," according to the KU announcement.
On a slightly different, yet similar note, a lawsuit was recently filed in
St. Louis county, Missouri attempting to regain eligibility for a Missouri
high school woman who did not report for the start of the women’s high
school season until the third day of practice. Because she practiced with
her USA Swimming club during the two preceding days, she was ineligible
under MSHSAA rules.
The similarity between these events is the threat they both represent on
the historical Olympic sports. While KU continues to talk of increasing
seat licensing costs—and revenue--for basketball, it attempts to balance
its budget on the backs of its male swimmers. While the MSHSAA sounds like
it is committed to swimming as a high school activity, MSHSAA
administrators will tell you publicly they do not care if “elite” swimmers
actually compete in their championship.
Unfortunately, the situation in Missouri Valley is not significantly
different from what it is in other places in the country. In fact, as this
letter was being composed, the University of Nebraska, on March 26,
announced that it, too was discontinuing men’s swimming and diving,
effective immediately. Increasingly, swimming as a sport is under the
pressure of nonexistence at both the high school and collegiate level
And that’s wrong.
As members of USA Swimming, we are part of the organization created by the
United States Congress under the Amateur Sports Act to be the guardians of
our sport. As parents, coaches, officials and friends of USA Swimming, we
know how important swimming is in the life of our athletes. We know that
swimmers make excellent citizens. We know that swimmers understand the
value of their classroom activities and are assets to the educational
averages of any athletic department. We know that the dedication and
self-discipline that swimming brings to athletes makes them better able to
handle graduate studies, medical and law school, than their non-athlete
colleagues. In short, we know that Olympic sports like swimming are an
integral part of our swimmers’ development as human beings, and are a
significant component in their overall education.
Now, as guardians of those ideals, we must make a financial commitment to
assure that our sport remains that integral part of our athletes’
education.
At its meeting on March 18, the Missouri Valley Swimming Board of Directors
voted to present to the House of Delegates for its approval on April 21 the
following three-part proposal:
- First, the annual registration fee of all full-year Missouri Valley
athletes will increase by $5.00 beginning in the fall, 2001. Registration
fees for seasonal athletes will increase by $2.50. All of this increase
will be set aside into a separate fund dedicated by MVS for the exclusive
purpose of promoting swimming at the college and high school level.
Administration of the fund will be left to a separate committee within MVS.
- Second, all Missouri Valley swimming clubs, both full year and seasonal,
will be encouraged—but not required—to annually match all or part of the
monies placed into this fund by their swimmers. Thus, the full year club
with 100 swimmers will be encouraged to contribute up to $500 to the fund.
Again, all funds generated by this effort will be placed into the fund
dedicated to promote swimming at the college and high school level.
- Third, Missouri Valley swimming, as an LSC, will dedicate a portion of its
annual revenues to this same effort and will take from its operating budget
an as-yet-undetermined amount and put it into this fund.
With this three-pronged effort, we, as guardians of Olympic swimming, make
a statement to the world. We say that all levels of our organization, the
individual swimmer, our member clubs, and our LSC, are all committed to the
notion that swimming is an integral part of the education of each of our
athletes. Further, we say we want that integral relationship to continue.
I encourage each of you and each of our clubs to support all parts of this
proposal when it comes to a vote in the House of Delegates on April 21.
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