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The other day in my English class, I overheard a student talking about University of Maine athletics. The student believed the athletic budget was far too high to have so many losing teams. The student’s thoughts about UMaine athletics got me thinking and prompted me to do a little research.
I stumbled across a study by “The Indianapolis Star” from 2004-2005. In that study, the athletics budgets for 166 schools were examined. For the total expenses, UMaine placed 90th among those schools with $13,327,987 spent per year on athletics. I know most of you are going to say that $13,327,987 is too much and we should allocate the money elsewhere. Ranking 90th in this study does not reveal a big factor in the rankings: The schools ranked below UMaine do not even have a hockey program, Maine’s biggest and most expensive sport.
Next, the budgets and facilities at UMaine are below average compared to other schools in the conference. In the Atlantic 10 football conference – now the Colonial Athletic Association – UMaine is ranked fifth in terms of total operating costs among the examined schools. The two schools below UMaine were Towson University and William & Mary College. Those two schools do not have hockey programs and spent some $400,000 less than UMaine. In the America East Conference, where most UMaine sports are affiliated, UMaine ranked second in spending out of five schools. Once again, the schools ranked below Maine do not have hockey. The conference is led by New Hampshire, which spent nearly $7 million more, and they don’t even have a baseball team.
I digress about the schools not having hockey programs, but that is a key portion of UMaine’s athletic budget. Further, the facilities at UMaine are below average. If it were not for Harold Alfond, UMaine athletics would probably not even exist. The football field was finally upgraded to a FieldTurf surface thanks to a donation from Phil and Susan Morse. Nearly every other school has had a FieldTurf surface for years. Alfond Arena has a great atmosphere, but there is no comparison to new arenas like Boston University’s Agganis Arena. Mahaney Diamond, the baseball field for UMaine – before the ongoing turf upgrade – had been one of the worst surfaces in the Northeast. When you are forced to move to a Division III school’s field or even a high school field because your facility is not fit to play on, it is an embarrassment.
Strides are being taken at UMaine to fix these problems, but we must face reality: There are many obstacles. UMaine is not located in a big city; Maine is not an athletic hotbed, and coaches must go out of state and sometimes out of country to recruit student-athletes. Football coach Jack Cosgrove pointed out in a recent interview that UMaine cannot even get the creaky, poorly lit football offices fixed, but CAA rival James Madison University is getting a $52 million addition to their football field. For the record, it already has one of the top facilities in the mid-Atlantic.
Lastly, people point to success or the apparent lack thereof, of UMaine sports. With limited resources and exceptional coaching, since 1999, the university has two conference championships in men’s ice hockey – along with a national title – three championships in baseball, two in softball and football, along with one each in men’s cross country and women’s basketball.
So, before you criticize UMaine athletics and the budget or lack thereof, know the facts and realize the circumstances that UMaine athletes and coaches are faced with every day. UMaine athletics and its coaches are top-notch and deserve the respect and support of every member of the family we call the University of Maine.
Adam Clark is a junior journalism student and sports editor for The Maine Campus.
