Short-sighted cuts will have huge impact

I am writing to express my frustration and deep disappointment over the news that the University of Regina is dropping the men’s volleyball program and the men’s and women’s wrestling programs.

Volleyball is a sport that is very popular in this province, and men’s volleyball continues to quickly grow in popularity.

I am the president of Regina Volleyball Club, a club program for 12- to 18-year-old athletes to play competitive volleyball. In the last few years, our club has been working closely with the head coach of the U of R men’s volleyball program, Greg Barthel, along with his coaching staff and athletes to develop men’s volleyball in Regina.

For the 2018 season, we grew the number of teams in RVC from six to nine and we look to continue growing because of the demand in the sport. A large majority of our coaches are either current or former Cougars players who are happy to step up and give their time to provide their leadership and expertise by coaching the kids.

This short-sighted decision by the university will have a huge impact on our program going forward and to the sport in the province as a whole.

Both of the current U of R assistant coaches are head coaches with the RVC program, and many other coaches in the RVC club are former Cougar athletes. Our club will no longer be able to rely on the Cougars developing quality coaches that are needed to work with the young athletes.

In 2018, we had the majority of the RVC players attend the final U of R matches to watch and support men’s volleyball.

The Cougar players ran a tournament at the U of R for club players to fill the facility and promote the game at the youth level, and we have been working together to develop Saskatchewan-born athletes and help them earn scholarships into university programs.

Now the best male volleyball athletes will be forced to leave the city and likely the province to be able to continue to play volleyball. This decision comes at a time when our relationship with the Cougar program has started to show very promising results in both the numbers and results at the club level.

Volleyball and wrestling are two of the longest-running sports at the U of R. At one time, volleyball, basketball, wrestling and men’s hockey were the only sports in the program. Other sports were added later at the university level. In my opinion, this history of volleyball at the university should mean something to the U of R.

I fear that it may be too late to reverse this short-sighted decision, but I felt the need to communicate some of the effects this decision will have on the current Cougars volleyball athletes as well as many others in the city and community.

It’s a very sad day for the University of Regina and for the sport of volleyball in Saskatchewan.