Shoreline Community College’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously at its June 25 meeting to approve the school’s 2007-2008 budget that included keeping the men’s and women’s tennis programs.
“I’m very pleased. I had hoped that would be the case,” said tennis coach Eric Moujtahid-Webster, who was in Europe at the time and did not attend the meeting.
Tennis was put on the chopping block to be replaced by cross country as a cost savings measure by the college’s athletic director, Doug Palmer, early this spring. The plan had support of the school’s administration, but the college’s Student Body Association Senate recommended a budget that kept tennis in the budget.
“For sure we’ll have it for next year and probably the next two years,” Palmer said.
“I wasn’t very surprised,” he said. “I think the students were protecting students. That’s what they should do.”
The Board of Trustees could have rejected the budget as it was presented but chose not to do so.
“The Board approves the budget period, we do not approve line-by-line,” said Board chairman Dick Stucky. “We would have had to reject the budget period. At this point that’s not something you would do.”
More than 10 people, including former players and current players, signed up for the comment period to express support for the tennis program.
“We had a great conversation at the meeting,” Palmer said. “I understand where they’re coming from and they understood where I’m coming from. It’s actually a very positive thing not a negative thing.
Palmer proposed cutting tennis and adding cross country to save on travel costs and add more full-time students to the college in March. The budget for men’s tennis is $8,163 plus $2,250 in scholarships. The budget for women’s tennis is $8,163 with $3,500 in scholarships. A third of the tennis budget goes to travel. In the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges, only five schools have men’s tennis and six school’s have women’s tennis.
Stucky said he received several e-mails in support of the tennis program through the office of president Lee Lambert but Palmer said he had not received any e-mails for or against keeping tennis.
“It stirred up some interest in tennis we hadn’t had going,” Palmer said of the proposal to cut tennis.
Shoreline has the only community college tennis program in the vicinity of north King County or Snohomish County. The next closest programs are at Auburn Community College and Skagit Valley College, Stucky noted.
“Tennis has been a popular program at Shoreline Community College,” he said.
This likely not be the last time that the issue of keeping the tennis program will be raised.
“With enrollments in the area going down and all those kind of things, community colleges are not in the best financial shape right now,” Stucky said. “Savings are always a concern.”
Palmer said raising money through a Shoreline Community College Booster Club to support all programs including tennis is one of his priorities. The booster club money’s main goal would be to raise money for scholarships and travel expenses.
“We’ll have a booster club up and running by Sept. 1,” he said. “I’m working on a brochure right now.”
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