Dzikcitesteams'size,abilityinbudgetallocation

by Laura Casamento

taking a team away overnight."

editor in chief Other teams, such as the men's and women's basketball teams and the men's soccer team,

Although student-athletes have been concerned that the athletic department does not divide its money equally among its teams, administrators say that each team does receive adequate funding from the budget.

The 1997-98 athletic budget, which was recently sent for review to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, reflects a total expenditure of $270,000 for the entire athletic department. The money is used for salaries and total operating expenses for Cabrini's 16 intercollegiate athletic teams.

The six Cabrini men's teams are allotted a total operating expense of $67,864.

According to Athletic Director John Dzik, the total operating expense for each team does not include coaches' and assistants' salaries.

:'Total operating expenses covers the teams' transportation, lodging, meals, officials, uniforms and equipment," Dzik said.

The men's lacrosse team receives the most money for their operating expenses, which tally $19,740. Men's basketball is given $18,093, while the men's soccer team gets $14,500. The men's track and field and cross country teams are given a combined $10,158.

The men's tennis and golf teams are not allotted as much from the budget, receiving $2,525 and $2,848 respectively.

1997-98 Operating Expenses Cabrini College Athletics

Total budget, department:$270,000

Sport (# of members)

Men's Lacrosse(30)

Men's Basketball(15)

Men's Soccer (30)

M's Track/Crosscountry (20)

W'sTrack/CrossCountry (22)

Women's Soccer(22)

Women's Field Hockey(20)

Women'sBasketball (10)

Women'sSoftball (20)

Women'sVolleyball(12)

Women'sLacrosse (27)

Women's Tennis (11)

Women's Cheerleading (15)

Men's Golf 00)

Men's Tennis (8)

-obtained from 1997-98 NCAA Gender Equity Survey graphic by Laura Casamento

Women's athletics receive $66,206 to operate their nine teams.

Dzik said that there are specific reasons for the discrepancies between the amounts.

"Those teams do not have officials and they supply their own equipment," he said. "You do not go out and buy a complete set of golf clubs, for example, for each member of the golf team, like you would buy basketballs for the members of the basketball team."

In addition, the teams do not have as many members as the teams that receive more money.

"Those teams are much smaller, so their travel modes are different," Dzik said. "You can fit each of those teams in the vans, but you have to get a bus for the larger teams."

The women's track and field and cross country teams receive a combined total of $10,150, _ just $8 shy of the men's total. The women's soccer team is given $10,090, the field hockey team gets $10,030 and the women's basketball team receives $7,630.

The softball team is allotted $7,450, the volleyball team receives $6,327, the lacrosse team gets $6,319 and the tennis team is given $4,860.

The women's cheerleading team, which does not compete, is given $3,350.

Dzik said that the main determinant for how much money a team will receive is the size of the team.

"Smaller teams spend less money," be said. "The lacrosse team is given the most money because of the size of the squad. They require more equipment. They need more meal money. They need more hotel rooms and buses when they travel. The smaller teams don't require as much because they do not have as many members."

Dzik also said that the department tries to send each team on an equal number of trips.

"We try to give each team the opportunity for one overnight trip," he said. "Some teams do not do that. It depends on the coach. Some coaches do not want the 24-hour responsibility of ' are given guarantees at tournaments, which cut down on their expenses and allows them to go to more tournaments.

"Guarantees are offered by the school hosting the tournament to defray the costs to us," Dzik said. "They offer free lodging or free meals or things like that for us to go."

The men's basketball team competes in the National Catholic Basketball Tournament in Iowa every year, where they are given a guarantee for free lodging.

"You figure that's 10 rooms for $65 a room for five nights," Dzik said. 'That saves us about $3,000 that we would have used to go to that tournament that we can use on other tournaments or equipment."

Dzik said that the men's basketball team pays for all of its expenses from the budget, including such equipment as a pair of sneakers for each member of the team.

Another reason for the discrepancies in the budget, Dzik said, is the level of competitiveness of each team.

"All of the programs are not the same," he said. "It depends sometimes on when they started, or how long they have been around, or their athletic performance."

''The women s lacrosse team is young, but they are very good. They want to play better teams, which means they have to travel farther and get more meal and lodging money. In order to get more money for your team, you have to prove that your team is worthy of competing with the better schools that are farther away."

The overall non-league schedules are made and submitted by the coaches and then reviewed by Dzik and assistant athletic director Leslie Danehy.

''We approve the schedules within the budget constraints and competition level," Dzik said. "If a team is very good but wants to play against cream-puff teams, they will probably be denied, since they should be playing more challenging teams. In the same way, a cream-puff Cabrini team will not be permitted to go up against nationally ranked teams. It makes no sense."

Cabrini teams are required to play against Pennsylvania Athletic Conference teams, no matter what their skill levels, because of conference commitments. Coaches cannot alter those matchups.

The coaches also put together a pre-season request for money from the budget before the season begins, including number of hotel rooms needed, the price of the rooms, meals, equipment and officials. They are not required to calculate transportation fees. The budget is again either approved or denied by Dzik and Danehy.

Last year, the college operated on a zero-based budget, which requires that every team calculate exactly how much they will need to operate. This year, the department will operate on a percentage-increased budget. It will increase in direct proportion to the enrollment increase reported by the admissions office.

Although members of many teams seem unhappy with the money they receive, Dzik said that the department cannot afford to give every team what they want.

''We can't afford to give every team new equipment and new uniforms every year," he said. "Costs go up at a different rate than our budget goes up. Also, new equipment and new uniforms are not necessary every year."

The department receives the budget from the college every year. However, it is supplemented by several outside sources.

Ticket money from basketball games goes into a restricted fund, which is used to fund the entire department for purchases such as recent additions to the Dixon Center's equipment room, or are used for operating expenses for any area of the department. Gifts and donations to the athletic department are also put into the restricted fund; however, donations to a specific sport are used only for that sport and not for the entire department.

Dzik said that there is a potential for other athletic events to sell tickets to non-students.

''There is a potential to charge for admission to playoff games," he said. "We submit a budget to the ECAC [Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference] so that we can possibly host the playoff tournaments. We would have to charge admission to that."

The money from the tournament would be used to pay travel or other costs for participating teams and to help the host team pay for the tournament's operating expenses. The excess would go to the NCAA.

COMING NEXT WEEK:

How much money do the other colleges in the Penns,1vania Athletic Conference give to their sports teams?