Source: Vancouver Sun
Jan 28 2014
Page: A11
Section: Letters
Byline: Ashley Howard
Re: UBC sports review ‘rigged from the start’, Letters, Jan 25.
UBC’s sport review was long overdue, and only partly because the large 29-sport varsity program is financially unsustainable. Even with the increased budget just announced and a boost to donor support, UBC will be hard pressed to support adequately the reduced number of varsity teams we will finalize in late February.
Our definition of sustainability has always included a sharpened focus on high-performance sport development, an expansion of opportunities for more students to compete in competitive sport, as well as community support and partnerships. Many of our teams fall short on a number of these critical fronts. UBCsimply cannot afford to ignore reality. The University of Washington supports only 19 varsity teams on larger budgets, athletic endowments and TV revenues, and selling out massive venues for almost every game. Other major Canadian universities are way ahead of UBC with their varsity reviews – Queen’s went from 24 to 13 in 2010, while the University of Toronto dropped from 44 to 17 last year.
UBC has been remarkably open about the review, laying out a rational way to sort among very different sport teams. Critics can nitpick the methodology because the community-defined criteria and weightings are on our website, for everyone to see.
Once the review is complete, I have committed to making public the findings of the sport review and the composition of the advisory assessment team. For now, I believe team members should be allowed to deliberate without undue pressure. This review is vital for the future health of UBC Athletics. It’s about taking varsity sports to a new level of excellence, and providing both student athletes and our community an enriched competitive sport experience.
Ashley Howard Managing director, UBC Athletics and Recreation
Learn more about UBC’s Sports Review here.