# Texas A&M Women's Varsity Archery program to be cut



## AggieX10 (Mar 29, 2004)

It is with much displeasure that I write this post to inform the Archery community of the loss of Varsity status for the Texas A&M women's archery team effective for the year of 2004-2005. 

It seems that our new Athletic Director Bill Burns is concerned about improving other areas of our athletic department by eliminating the archery program and placing its funding and scholarships into other women's sports. 

The reason archery is being cut is in part due to the fact the archery is not an NCAA competition. Mr. Burns is convinced that changes to the Athletic Department can be made so that Texas A&M can compete for the Sears Trophy which goes to the school that ranks highest in all of their NCAA sports. He seems to hold a grudge against the University of Texas because they have competed for this award for the past many years.

It takes around 40 division 1 NCAA schools with teams to comprise enough members for the NCAA to consider it a sport and hold a NCAA championship for that sport. Archery has a total of 3. Our national championship is held through the National Archery Association and the usual number of participant schools is around 30 to 40 each year, 3 of which are considered to be NCAA affiliated.

The changes that will be made to the Texas A&M Archery team are slight for the men's club team as opposed to the women's varsity team.

Next year, the women will have the same club status that the men do now. The budget for the Varsity Archery team was approximately $250,000 for this year. That money will be put into other athletic programs, and club funding raised from tournaments and fundraisers will be used to fund both the women and the men next year. This means that the funding that the A&M club used to fund solely the male archers in the past, will now be spread across the board to the women too in effect raising costs for the men and women. 

The women that are currently on scholarship will retain their scholarship under the terms that they signed for before they came to A&M. The recruits who have signed with Texas A&M for the 2004-2005 year will also retain their scholarships under the terms they signed for. Unfortunately though, the benefits associated with being a varsity athlete (i.e. workout facility use, paid transportation, paid entry fees, paid meals, etc.) will not be covered by the A&M Athletic Department next year.

There is a dim ray of light at the end of the tunnel. I will be posting ways to get ahold of Mr. Burns to request that he reconsider this decision. I believe that with enough outside influence, Mr. Burns will consider keeping the varsity program around. But, it is up to us the archery community to convey our displeasure with his decision to cut this program. 

This is a major blow to college archery, but I am confident that our team will hold together and still be successful in the future. Although this is absolutely a terrible event to encourage recruits to come to A&M, I urge all young archers who have considered comming to A&M to still keep their interest in shooting for our program.

Check back here for updates on how to get your opinions accross. Any help would greatly be appreciated by me and my fellow Aggie teammates.


Thanks, and Gig'Em,


AggieX10
Josh Binger
Fightin Texas Aggie Class of '06


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## Chris Glass (Aug 3, 2002)

It is up to us to rise up and show support for our sport. With nearly 12,000 members that is a heck of a voice to be heard. But even if we can save the AM program we need to voice our beleifs at other schools to make sure that archery grows. I will do what it takes to make sure I send a message to the new athletic director, and it is with my hopes that many of you will do the same. Many young archers aspire to go to this college to recieve the funding that they get, without the program many great archers may drop out of archery during the years in which they are off to college.


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## Tur-bow (Oct 4, 2002)

Damn, that really sucks. I always thought other schools would follow the lead of A&M and produce well funded varsity archery programs. With the biggest school gone and only 2 NCAA schools left it will be tough to convice other schools administrations to make the sport varsity. 

I just cant believe they would cut a program that wins all the time. I could see if they were giving yall tons of money and yall werent producing but this is pretty rediculous. 

If yall end up like UT with a budget of next to nothing and relying on tournaments to make money I feel bad for yall.

I just hope the program stays strong.

Good luck.


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## Daniel Boone (May 31, 2002)

*Be sure*

And get us a email address. Thats a shame. If archery is going to continue to grow we need colleges to be adding archery.


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## TomB (Jan 28, 2003)

What I find ironic is the football time has been all over the news with DWI, assaults, etc with absolutely no consequences. They eliminate the program of a bunch of young people who bring nothing but positive press to the University. What a screwed up set of priorities.

tom

p.s. I will add the note from Kathy Eissinger notifying me of the news.

Hello All,
We would like to dispel some rumors that are out there about Texas A&M archery and make sure people have the facts. The athletic department here has opted to discontinue funding the women's varsity archery program at Texas A&M due to the fact that there has been no growth in the college program for the past 5 years. Archery was originally added as a varsity sport here at A&M 5 years ago with the plan that the sport would grow and move towards having a NCAA championship. There were 3 varsity programs 5 years ago and there are still only 3 now with no signs of growth in the near future at the college level. Therefore, they have decided to move in another direction. If private monies can be found to fund the team, they will keep it as a varsity sport. If no funding becomes available, archery WILL continue at Texas A&M but as a club sport. We had a strong archery program before the women became a varsity team and plan to continue that tradition regardless of whether the program is a varsity or club program. If you would like to voice an opinion to the athletic department or university on this matter, you can contact the following people:

Bill Byrne - Athletic Director
Athletic Department
Texas A&M University
P.O. Box 30017
College Station, TX 77842-3017
[email protected]


Robert Gates - President
Texas A&M University
1246 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-1246
[email protected]

Sincerely,
Kathy Eissinger
Head Women's Coach
Texas A&M University


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## onebadapple (May 25, 2002)

Sorry to hear the news!!!!!
but if i would have been able to attend a college i'd have been just happy with a higher education!!!!! 
but for the sake of helping ARCHERS
lay a email addy on us and i will do my part.
OBA


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## onebadapple (May 25, 2002)

*opps*

guess i better start reading everybodys posts.....


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## baldmountain (Apr 21, 2003)

TomB said:


> *What I find ironic is the football time has been all over the news with DWI, assaults, etc with absolutely no consequences. They eliminate the program of a bunch of young people who bring nothing but positive press to the University. What a screwed up set of priorities.
> *


True, but even with all the problems football brings boat loads of cash to the school. If you want to grow archery at the school figure out a way of generating cash for the school. An email campaign will have no effect what so ever. Get some serious money coming into the school through Archery and you'll be on your way.

Actually, the same could be said for Archery in general. If you want Archery to grow figure out a way to generate money in the sport.


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## InKYfromSD (Feb 6, 2004)

Does anyone else see the irony when comparing the huge success of Kentucky's Archery in the Schools / On Target for Life program against the future of collegiate archery? What part of "for life" are we missing here?

What portion of A&M's budget goes to archery? I imagine it's very little. I think that BaldMountain has a point but what a sad commentary on the state of our higher education institutions. What is the graduation rate of kids in the archery program versus other atheletes? Mr. Burns makes it very clear where his support lies. Too bad there isn't a million dollar a year alumni that would pull their support if archery is cut.

I'll bet Mr. Burns is just mad 'cause he couldn't hit a barn wall with an arrow if he was locked inside.


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## Tankker (Feb 27, 2004)

Oh man, I was hoping that i could get good this summer and try to make a US varsity team for next fall so I can get a bit nicer of an engineering degre from some fancy school, but doesnt look like thats going to happen with things like this going on, i was so close too, only about 10 pts from being in the top 5 or so university males :-(


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## AggieX10 (Mar 29, 2004)

Archery compared to any other varsity sport here at A&M is pretty cheap. Granted, no revenue is really generated by archery mostly because no one in their right mind, myself included, would pay to watch an archery event. 

The athletic programs are funded within the athletic department from the revenues genererated from the big time sports, mostly football, basketball, and baseball. The program was running fine under its allotted amount of $250,000 which is much lower than the cost of running other non-revenue generating sports.



Please e-mail Mr. Burns and Dr. Gates and express your feelings.


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## archeryking (Aug 3, 2002)

For those people who don't know this, we are not talking about a team that is losing, we are talking about a team who has reached the pinacle of collegiate archery. In the 5 years the varsity team has been in existance they have won 4 NAA collegiate national championships (in combination with the men), the 5th is to be decided in a few weeks at JMU. This team has put members on world teams, has world record holders, and world champions. 

This was all brought about as Head Coach Kathy Eissinger decided to step down to persue other ventures after the end of this year. This caused Athletics to evaluate the program and eventually brought out the decision that we all see before us now. This is not a funding issue. Archery does not make the kind of money that football or baseball does, but they don't loose the kind of money that having a basketball team in last place does. It comes down to the fact that archery at the division I level is not growing and at this point there don't look to be any schools considering adding archery at that level. 

I will urge everyone, if you want to make an impact write an actual letter. They are much more personal than an e-mail especially when it has your signiture on it. It would be awesome to see the archery community flood the mailboxes of both President Gates and Bill Byrne. 

Thanks to everyone out there for your continued support in this matter.

Gig em Aggies, WHOOP

Archeryking
Anthony Kaune
President, 
TAMU Target Archers (club team)


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## InKYfromSD (Feb 6, 2004)

This is straight from the Aggie web site - Is Byrne trying have his cake and eat it too? What's he thinking?
"Our world champion archers Mary Zorn (individual) and Amber Dawson (team) and their teammates make their final home appearance in the Texas Shootout. Some of the nation’s best will compete out by Mount Aggie near the Bush Library. This is a great spectator event, they say, because for one thing it’s head-to-head elimination, with competing archers going at it right beside each other. Another reason is that the crowd can get into it. Our team would love to experience something like the Reed Rowdies or Olsen Field Raggies. Mary Zorn tells of her experiences in world competition in Korea where the home fans blew horns and whistles and rang bells and shouted at will. We can match that, can’t we?"

You can email Mr. Byrne from here. 

Email Mr. Gates from here.


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## Tim Z (Jul 11, 2003)

*Mary Zorn*

You would think with having the #1 Am going to the school they would want to keep it going. I can see it now.

Scenario #1(Archery kept): A alumni shooter goes pro and wins the Triple and says they owe it to the college for supporting archery, FREE ADVERTISEMENT!!!

Scenario #2(Archery Dropped): A alumni shooter goes pro and wins the Triple and says they owe it to themselves because the college dropped the program and what do they get; BAD FREE ADVERTISEMENT!!!


just my 2 cents


Tim


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## Double Lung 'Em (Dec 19, 2002)

*Another Idea*

Just a thought, since this could possibly be a club only does that mean when Mary whoops up at Vegas next year she gets to collect a paycheck?

Also someone mentioned that they need to come up with the $250k budget to keep it a sanctioned NCAA team, and that there are 12k members here on AT, I will send $20 and if everyone else does, well there is $240k of the $250k budget I think they would keep the sport then. I know I pay $20 for I don't know how many hunting magazines every year I would do the same here because if my kid can get a free ride (when he's old enough) from shooting a bow, but there is no where for him to go, what ground do I have to stand on when I ask him to go to college to get a degree if he's good enough to make money on a pro-level (wishful thinking), i.e. high school kids jumping to pro ranks in basketball.


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## Chris Glass (Aug 3, 2002)

Keep sending the E-Mails.....

Maybe this is just an eye opener for us, we now have Kentucky placing bows in the hands of youth and many more states joining the cause to promote archery. To ensure that the programs stay for many remaing years we need to send emails, letters, and phone calls to other Universities encouraging them to do the same.

I know at my current University I can hardly get my athletic director to talk to me, so I took it upon myself to start a club and get people involved, but maybe an uproar at other Universities could turn some heads.


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## AggieX10 (Mar 29, 2004)

Well either way, Mary will be shooting for the big bucks because this is her last year of eligibility for the NCAA anyways... so Double Lung Em... youll get your wish, and she'll actually get to cash a check next year!

Thanks for the support guys... no word yet on whether a real fundraising effort is going to be started, but of course we will keep you guys posted.

thanks and Gig 'Em


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## amber dawson (Mar 20, 2003)

Hey everybody. I just wanted to thank everyone for their support of our team. I wanted to also point out the one big piece of information that seems to be missing... the athletics department is looking for a long-term donor. In other words, enough $ to keep the program running for at least 5 more years to make it worth their while. Now, that's going to be hard to pull off, but you never know. We're approaching big name sponsors, but it will be hard to say what happens. 

Either way, as Josh pointed out at the start of this thread, it's important to remind future Aggies that we still have a great club program. We host 3 tournaments a year that do the majority of our fundraising. A&M is a great school academically and is full of tradition. Despite the archery program, that was a big draw for me to come here. 

Thanks again,
>>>---Amber Dawson--->

The loudest and proudest member of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2005! WHOOP!


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## TTUArcher (Sep 30, 2002)

That really sucks. I was just readin the other day about the girl that shoots for yall who has won 3 or so years in a row and is going to try for the olympics.

I wish Tech had an archery team. Sure would be cool


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## archnut (Apr 21, 2004)

Shooting for A&M has given us the opportunity to be part of something that most archers never have the chance to experience and that is being part of a team. It's difficult to take an individual sport and turn it into a team competition, but the spirit and unity that exists at A&M has given every member of the varsity program the opportunity to experience something bigger than an individual competitor. Kathy Eissinger and Frank Thomas have built a program at A&M that young archers can look forward to as something more then a recreational past time. The scholarships that the varsity status gives allows for shooters from all over the country to have the opportunity to be able to shoot while still attending school.

Standing here now as the end looms over us, I've been hearing some teammates talk as they may have to go home and others are trying to figure out financially how they will be able to afford to remain here in Aggieland. We can promise that we won't let this program go without a fight, basically a war has been declared. We want to thank you for everyone who has given their support and we ask you to please try and continue emailng Robert Gates and Bill Byrne with your thoughts. All of us here at A&M want to see archery grow and we are all hoping it will start to happen now. If unfortunately things do not go the way we'd like them too, we do promise our club team here will continue to strive and be the best.

Sincerely,
Lorinda Cohen and Amanda Raffaelli


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## baldmountain (Apr 21, 2003)

Uhg! Please don't start a war.

Let's think for a moment. Who wins when you start a war. No one. People get killed, everyone feels bad. Instead get the team together and go talk to Robert Gates and Bill Byrne and ask them what it will take to keep the program. Then make it happen! Since you gals are going to a good school I assume you are pretty smart. Use those smarts to build archery into an important collegiate sport, not just at Texas A&M but at other schools as well.

It's so easy to hunker down and pick a fight. It's so hard to jump up and use intelligence to build something. But in the end, if you make the effort, building something will make everyone feel better.

What I'm suggesting is doubly hard. If you've read AT at all you'll have noticed many heated discussions on how best to grow archery as a sport. People have been trading ideas and theories until everyone is sick of it, but no one has really had any success. The number of archers keeps dwindling.

Someone somewhere managed to convince someone to make archery a Collegiate varsity sport. It's up to you Collegiate archers to follow in that person's footsteps and grow archery into an important Collegiate sport. I have no idea how you will do it. But do a little research and figure out who and how Archery became a varsity sport. Start there and build on that work to convince other schools to become involved. Look for some corporate sponsorship for the programs. (Not just at Texas A&M, but at other schools as well.) And not only the Archery manufacturers but other corporations too. I'd be willing to bet that a good portion of the CEOs in the US have fond memories of shooting a bow as a kid at summer camp. (I did!)

Please don't start a war. I've never seen a fight like this turn out well. All it causes is resentment and desire to kill off the program as quickly and cleanly as possible.


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## G33k (Jul 16, 2003)

It is interesting to read that the number of archers keeps dwindling because that is not true in the collegiate division. In the NAAs collegiate division there was has been a significant growth in both the number of schools involved and the number of students at those schools. Here in California alone there have been several new programs started in just the past year.


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## AggieX10 (Mar 29, 2004)

I would also point out the Archery in the schools program that fielded more young shooters in Louisville then I've ever even imagined!! That program right there is an excellent way to get archers started. Granted, there may only be a few of them that actually stick with it til they are adults, but that is the way to gain popularity and growth in the sport. That is how to fill the college ranks. You cant start college programs all over the country without people who are interested in shooting... 

All of us here at A&M are reasonable and will not result to lowering ourselves to get our points across to Dr. Gates and Mr. Byrne. But we will do everything that is possible to make them reconsider.

Cassidy an I have talked about 'Making him an offer he cant refuse.' 

just kidding!


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## Rudey (Jan 29, 2004)

You posted this on the 20th that they were cutting Varsity status for the women.

Yet, on the 21st, A&M announced the signing of 3 new women archers to letters of intent?!?!

Seems like a contradiction. Why would they sign 3 new archers if the program were being cut? Or, why would 3 world class archers agree to letters of intent if they knew the program were being cut? 

I'd be a little ticked if I found out that the sport I signed my letter for was actually cut the day before I signed!


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## clever_guy (May 21, 2002)

"there are 12k members here on AT, I will send $20 and if everyone else does, well there is $240k of the $250k budget I think they would keep the sport then."

It would never work, I bet you would get 1% (if that) participation. Even if it did work, to be fair are you then going to do the same for every other University Varsity Archery Program...

archeryking has the best idea. E-mail is a waste of time, no one takes it seriously, and it is too easy to dump in the bit bucket, sometimes before it every gets to the recipients mailbox. If they recieve a couple of thousand letters it might make them rethink shelving the program at least for this year.

If the bottom line is that A&M will not sustain program funding from it's budget, and has made the decision that funding must come from outside sources with a long term commitment, mail from bunch of people from the Internet isn't going to change anything. They shoved the A&M program into a tight shoe, the program in itself can't grow varsity archery, in all likelyhood they won't be able to find a single donor to make a multi-year million dollar commitment, and they can't change archery into a high-visibility revenue generating program at A&M.

Personally I think there are only two real options for the A&M varsity members, first raise holy hell on the administration and sports department through the student's union, campus news papers, city and state newspapers, campus demonstrations, campus polls and signatures, almumi mail-outs, and support from athletes in the high-profile programs. Embarrass them into funding you, just to shut you up.

Secondly, corporate funding. If anyone on AT *really* wants to help and you work for a good size company - approach the corporate officer in charge of philanthropy and corporate donations and press them.

Good luck,

-CG


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## JAVI (Jun 19, 2003)

I’m a Longhorn, but my son-in-law is an Aggie and is very involved in the Alumni Association. Kevin is also a archery nut, I will see him tonight and see what trouble “Javi” can stir up for the A&M archery program.


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## Dusty Britches (Feb 10, 2003)

Hey, y'all -

I don't think this has anything to do with money. Only football program makes money and it supports ALL other A&M NCAA sports. Baseball may break even, I haven't checked into it yet.


For those of you in the Aggie community, is there anyway the Brazos County Archery Club could co-host or otherwise step into the ring for you? As president of the club, I'd say we'd would like to get involved and go to the mat for you to keep the program. I will even meet personally with Mr. Bryne to discuss alternatives, but I need some support, information, advice and ideas.

Tracey Sadler
Proud supporter


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## Spotshooter2 (Oct 23, 2003)

Byrne is a jerk , he was up here in Nebraska before he went there, I never liked the man here and sorry that Texas hired the creep . I sure hope that A&M keeps their archery program , because a little gal in our club is planning on going to school down there when she finishes high school. Her name is Erika , so she still has 3 more years of high school but her heart is set on going to A&M after high school. She shot down there in the Shootout and did extremely well. Dang this sucks to hear something like this happening to a fine sport , will ask Erika's dad if he has heard any thing of this .


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## Mrs Archer (Feb 20, 2003)

TSadler said:


> *I don't think this has anything to do with money. Only football program makes money and it supports ALL other A&M NCAA sports. Baseball may break even, I haven't checked into it yet.*


It's not actual cash flow from the sport itself (ticket sales, vendor sales, etc.) that they are looking at (IMO), it is alumni support - how much money does the sport draw from alumni? How much name recognition, etc. That is the bottom line. I argue all the time with a guy from our office about how our local university spends too much money on the sports, instead of putting it into acedemics. He explains that the school has to, to keep the $$$ flowing from alum, which then circulates into acedemics. It's always about the money.


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## archeryking (Aug 3, 2002)

Rudey, you bring up a good point. Unfortunately they had signed letters of intent before the meeting took place where the A&M coaches found out that the program would be cut. Originally the meeting was thought to be a discusson on who was to be the new head coach, unfortunately this was not the intent of Mr. Bryne. The announcement of the signing came after our coaches found out that the program is probably going to be cut.

Mrs Archer, money is not the big issue in this case. The big issue is when will archery have an NCAA championship. It takes 40 varsity level schools for this to happen, and it seems that Mr. Byrne is not willing to wait for this to happen.

AK


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## Mrs Archer (Feb 20, 2003)

archeryking said:


> *Mrs Archer, money is not the big issue in this case. The big issue is when will archery have an NCAA championship. It takes 40 varsity level schools for this to happen, and it seems that Mr. Byrne is not willing to wait for this to happen.*


And why does it not have an NCAA championship? If I read the posts correctly, its because they need 40 schools to have archery teams. Why aren't there 40 schools with teams? Because there is not perceived to be enough money in it, because either it does not get enough media attention, enough alumni attention, or enough cash flow. It's still money. 

I'm not arguing whether or not what Byrne is doing is fair, or whether or not archery is deserving of NCAA status. Byrne is looking out for the overall financial welfare of the athletic department, and that is done with more than just looking at the individual success of some team members, it is done by looking how that team is bring $$$ to the school.


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## AggieX10 (Mar 29, 2004)

Rudley, even though Archery has been cut, once you sign for you scholarship, you recieve that scholarship... and it hasnt really been made public except by us ags that they are cutting out the program.


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## JAVI (Jun 19, 2003)

It will be mentioned at the Alumni meeting tomorrow....


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## Dusty Britches (Feb 10, 2003)

Archery, equestrian, volleyball are all examples of Title IX requirements to have an equal proportion of female athletic scholarships as the female enrollment. Very few schools have more than 1 or 2 sports that make money - most can't even claim one sport.

Archery at A&M has been here as a varsity athletic event for 5 years. The equistrian team took 8 years to become a sanctioned NCAA event and 5 more years to earn NCAA championship events. Most "emerging" women's programs take over 12 years to earn the NCAA blessings and much longer to earn the championship events.

I talked to Kathy Essinger yesterday. She said the reason the program was being cut was due to the lack of an NCAA championship availability. Never mind the team has met the mission statement for the Athletics Department, beat the minium gpa requirements and have maintained the integrity and diginity of the University (no arrests or public intoxitations, etc.) The Athletics Department does NOT have a goal of obtaining an NCAA championship. If that were the case, A&M wouldn't have a basketball team anymore.

No, the goal is to obtain national ranking status. Has A&M done that? Of course.
GPA goal - 2.5. Team average 3.0

What this program needs is time. And time is running out.


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## Marcus (Jun 19, 2002)

Wouldn't it be great if our major companies like Hoyt, Easton, Mathews, PSE etc etc all put money into the development of an NCAA tournament system and gave these athletes something to shoot for. The NFL and NBA get huge boosts in support from being able to follow athlete's careers through from college. Also would be the first step in raising the profile of archery as a competitive sport. 
This would lead to a larger market for these companies in the end as more young people would take up archery in college.


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## BillyRay (Oct 16, 2003)

dang this news blows!!!!!!


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## Valkyrie (Dec 3, 2002)

*News article in the Battalion*

Here is a link to a news article written for the Texas A&M newspaper

http://www.thebatt.com/news/2004/04/26/News/Archery.Program.May.Get.The.Axe-670902.shtml


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## clever_guy (May 21, 2002)

Hmmm...Kind of a wimpy little article. Hope it is just the first salvo in the war, and not the death weeze of the women's varsity team...

-CG


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## JAVI (Jun 19, 2003)

According to my son-in-law it was brought to the table by him and was discussed at the Alumni meeting Friday and there were Regents present. 

I don't have all the details of the discussion as of yet. But I'll try to talk to him tonight.


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## clever_guy (May 21, 2002)

JAVELINA;

Beyond the A&M issue. I keep wondering whether there isn't a way to get 4 more NCAA colleges/universities to pick up varsity women's archery. If I was involved with the ATA, NFAA, or NAA at the senior levels, this would seem to be a worthy cause. We need more women in archery, and to combine it with academic achievement makes sense. If they could form varsity teams at various colleges/universities in "clusters" so that the members of the varsity teams (and clubs) could have something like sectionals so the travel expenses wouldn't be to high, and then then a Nationals for the teams that qualify - maybe in conjunction with an NAA or NFAA event (if not the NCAA). This might help to increase participation, and have a program that wouldn't be too expensive for any college/university. 

Archery *should* be a great collegiate sport for women, heck - some of the best archers in the world are women, I know I wouldn't want to shoot for pinkslips against a to Korean woman archer at 70m...



-CG


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## xshot13b (Mar 1, 2004)

I do agree, I wish more colleges had men and womens varsity archery programs. It is an excellent sport I wish more people realized that. I attend the University of Wyoming and I really wish we had a program to compete in with other Universities. I dont suppose anybody has ideas on how to promote archery to Universities around the U.S. Maybe not even a Division one sport but a club that maybe we could build up to Division one sport.


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## slickwill (Jan 13, 2003)

xshot13b check out my message about Idaho State University on the General forum.

We might not ever be able to get varsity status but at least we can try to improve what we have.


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## kyarchergirl (Nov 12, 2003)

What an idiot! Does he not understand, that is what made A&M so appealing to most archers.....Having a Varsity archery team. Football cost alot more to fund that archery! I Mean you have to buy helmets, pads, jock straps, those little tight pants. Has he even seen them shoot? They have Mary Zorn, Kate Kuchenbrod, Kristie Nelson......All have been ranked in the top 10 or have been on a US Team. I'm sure with all of the kids that are shooting in the school systems now, this is going to be a major disapointment to them, I'm sure alot of them wanted to continue shooting when they got out of high school...to me it looks like this guy played football or rugby tooo much in his day, and received alot of blows to the head, cause he has not thought to much about what he is doing to the archery community!


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## bowsmith (Sep 17, 2002)

kyarchergirl-
It may cost more to fund the football team, but the amount of revenue made by football and the other large sports is used to fund the smaller sports. The archery team creates virtually no revenue for the university. If you were facing the budget constraints that most universities are now, you would look for the sports that are costing you money, and do not make money to cut.

To combine with the this, part of the deal with the A & M varsity program was that there would be an NCAA championship created in archery. Since there has been virtually no growth in the area of varsity archery programs, the NCAA can not make a championship. No championship, no reason to have a team.

Also, has anyone thought of the idea that maybe the large A & M program has actually hurt college archery? What would have happened if some of the shooters had gone to other colleges and started their own archery programs. There would be, in essence, more college archery programs across the country. Good Luck and Safe Shootin'.


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## Chris Glass (Aug 3, 2002)

Thats a good point BowSmith.....I actually thought about that. By AM recruting or asking archers to attend their University they in essence take away from other Universities if an archer were to start a program somewhere else. 

I think if the NAA were to set up with all the clubs and get the Universities to agree that if enough colleges were to sign on then they would all agree to go to varsity status. There is definately enough college clubs to make a NCAA tournament for archery. Someone just needs to get a postion in the NAA and push this and help colleges put in programs to help the growth.


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## Dusty Britches (Feb 10, 2003)

*Don't give up!*

I am sending the following letter today to Mr. Byrne -

Dear Mr. Byrne:

It is with great sadness and disappointment that I write you. Recently, the Texas A&M University Archery Team notified the archery world that their program was cut from the University’s athletics program due to lack of growth within the National Colligate Athletics Association (NCAA).

Archery is an emerging sport within the NCAA. Emerging sports, as you know, do not have the participation of established sports. Although growth within the NCAA has been slow, the sport of archery has exploded. 

The National Bowhunter Education Foundation, Archery Shooters Association, International Bowhunters Association, and more relevant to the University, the National Archery Association (NAA) have experienced unprecedented growth in recent years. Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and 4H have also seen rising interest for archery.

The University’s archery athletes actively volunteer to assist Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Women in the Outdoors programs to teach non-high school aged people about the sport. In fact, it was 2 archers on your team that started me in archery. The foundation they laid for me in 2002 lead to the Texas State Women’s Championship title in 2003.

The NAA, working with numerous archery authorities, are diligently establishing varsity archery programs in high schools across the country, setting the foundation for colligate archery growth.

Archery is also a sport the entire family can participate in. Young adults I encounter at shoots excitedly talk about attending Texas A&M University so they can continue shooting.

The University offers a unique opportunity to develop top archers and provide an outlet to train and compete at the colligate level and ultimately for the USA Olympics. 

Texas A&M University is known as a leader and is positioned to lay the foundation for colligate archery sports throughout the world. Please stay the course by keeping the women’s archery program and I am sure the University will reap the benefits in the near future.


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## Dusty Britches (Feb 10, 2003)

Y'all -

We have until August to save this program. Don't give up yet.


And as far as what bowsmith said - I say you are just muddying the waters.

One person cannot start an NCAA archery team. You need coaches. You need to petition the athletic department and the NCAA. You need lots of prep work and lots of time.

The ladies that came to A&M all thought about going elsewhere until Kathy showed them Aggieland. These ladies do not appear to me to be interested in starting a varsity athletic program. They want to shoot.

And another thing - I have, in my very limited experience, never heard of a coach or team members soliciting money and sponsorships to support their own programs. Most universities in Texas that I've seen it is up to the Athletic Director to woo those monies. Obviously, Byrne can't handle that.

The previous Athletic Director, Wally Groff, was excellent at raising sponsorships and money. He expanded Kyle Field, built Reed Arena, the Rec Center (non-varsity sports), and numerous other projects and programs.


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## bowsmith (Sep 17, 2002)

I do agree that one person can not start a varsity program. However, one person can start a club sport program that could interest other shooters and lead to more collegiate shooters and more varsity programs. Chris Glass (see above) started his own archery club this year at Oakland University so that he could shoot. It's not that hard to do! I think we need to work on getting more universities involved, even if it is initially a club sport and it COULD lead to more varsity programs. I have nothing against A & M, I think they are a great group of people and some great competitors. However, you must look at all of the possibilities. Good Luck and Safe Shootin'.


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