The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Fundraising efforts underway to support future of UConn program
College athletic departments are buckling under the financial stress of the coronavirus pandemic. Programs everywhere are being cut amid an economic slowdown and rising uncertainty.
Understandably, Eric Dietrich, a 2017 UConn graduate, is worried about what it all means for the future of men’s golf at his alma mater.
“Looking at the programs that are there, accounting for Title IX, the golf program’s definitely at risk by basic process of elimination,” said Dietrich, who competed in the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and plays on the Mackenzie Tour in Canada. “That’s kind of where we’ve stood.”
Longtime coach Dave Pezzino has apparently hinted at this as well. The cold, hard reality is that changes are coming. UConn must slash a whopping $10 million from its annual budget over the next three years, and athletic director Dave Benedict is leaving no stone unturned.
With the sustainability of the program in question, some alumni are rallying to raise money to help keep it afloat.
“We want to show the university not only is there a tremendous amount of support and passion for the golf program, but that we’re going to do everything in our power to raise money initially and moving forward to make it sustainable,” said former Husky John Bierkan. “That’s what it’s about. It’s about supporting the program, keeping it going, and giving more men over the next several decades the same opportunity we had.”
Bierkan — a 2000 graduate and a nationally recognized instructor at Aroni
mink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania — said they’ve received tremendous support, raising approximately $150,000 of their $200,000 goal in the first four days. (To be clear, the money hasn’t been collected yet.) Launched this past week, the fundraising project is seeking pledges of one, three or five years.
“This was us going to Coach and saying, ‘Coach, what can we do to help?’ I know he’s been very touched by the outpouring of support for the program,” Bierkan said. “I think he’s blown away, quite candidly.”
Pezzino declined to speak about his program. Right now, there are too many questions and too few answers about what, if anything, will soon happen to it. The athletic department will submit its proposal on June 12, with the Board of Trustees scheduled to meet 12 days later.
Through their conversations with Pezzino, alumni said they haven’t heard anything definitive about the program’s fate. Pezzino is expected to meet with Benedict again in the coming days for an update on fundraising efforts.
The financial picture, of course, is tenuous throughout the NCAA, especially for non-revenue sports like golf, which cost UConn north of $700,000 to run in 2019. Akron already eliminated its golf program, as did Brown. And there’s no telling what’s next.
“There’s a level of concern,” said Notre DameWest Haven alum and rising senior Finn Boynton. “There’s definitely a level of concern.”
Boynton can’t imagine UConn without it. Growing up in Milford, Boynton always dreamed of representing his state school on the links. The thought of taking away the program, one that’s excelled both academically and competitively for so long under Pezzino’s watch, is sobering to him and many others.
“Even talks of the possibility of the elimination of the program, it’s heartbreaking,” he said.
“To see that kind of just stop, that would be just devastating. It would be devastating for me, it would be devastating for all the past athletes, especially the ones currently there, and mostly for (Pezzino) because he’s spent so much time there,” added Dietrich, a Cheshire native. “He literally bleeds blue. This dude is just all about UConn, all about UConn golf, all about his players.”