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Women's Gymnastics
University of Rhode Island Athletics Changes Sports Sponsorship
Jan. 31, 2008 KINGSTON, R.I. -- The University of Rhode Island has announced that upon completion of this season, it will no long sponsor a women's gymnastics program and will replace it with a women's lacrosse program, beginning Division I intercollegiate competition in the 2009-10 academic year. The University also announced that, as part of this reorganization, it will elevate three women's sports assistant coaching positions to full-time employment status. Director of Athletics Thorr Bjorn said, "Evaluation of intercollegiate sports programming at URI has been ongoing for many years. In each of the last two NCAA Certification cycles (1995 and 2005) adding and dropping sports have been central to the discussions. This has been a high priority since I was hired but I wanted to get as many facts and hear as many arguments from our senior staff as I could before we came to a conclusion. We wanted to make an announcement before the new signing period for gymnastics so that any of our student-athletes who would like to transfer next semester might be able to get grant-in-aid support at their new school. The women's gymnastics program has a roster of 21 student-athletes and competes under the umbrella of the ECAC. A women's lacrosse program will have a roster of 28 women and will compete in the Atlantic 10. The addition of lacrosse will allow URI to compete in every sport sponsored by the Atlantic 10. Bjorn added: "There is no question that adding lacrosse, which has enjoyed explosive growth in high school and intercollegiate athletics over the past 15 years, is a wonderful opportunity for us. We have an active club program now so there is demonstrated interest. We're thrilled to be able to add seven more opportunities to our women's athletics programs too. That doesn't make it any less painful for the 21 women on our gymnastics team. All present gymnastics scholarships and those committed to those student-athletes who have signed a National Letter of Intent to attend the University of Rhode Island will be honored. Obviously, we will do everything possible to help our student-athletes find a competitive place for their talents should they wish to transfer." University President Dr. Robert L. Carothers said, "These changes will create more opportunities for URI's female student-athletes to participate in intercollegiate competition, align us better with the programs of the Atlantic 10 conference, and provide more coaching staff to several of our existing women's teams." The University will begin a search for a lacrosse coach July 1, 2008 and will begin varsity competition in Meade Stadium the following academic year.
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