As the Virginia men's baseball team finishes up the regular season and prepares for the ACC tournament, its supporters have begun a campaign of a different sort close to home.
A consortium of players' parents operating in alliance with baseball-friendly Cavalier alumni responded to the Strategic Planning Task Force on Athletics' report by forming the Committee To Save U.Va. Baseball. The committee seeks to raise public awareness about both the task force's recommendations and the value of the baseball team at the University.
"Our goals are to raise the level of consciousness and to realistically rethink the classification [system] to be sure that it is actually fair to all the sports," committee member Alan Word said.
If the Board of Visitors accepts the task force's recommendations for a tier system, baseball likely would be placed in Tier Four. This move would strip the team of all athletic scholarships and allow only minimal operational and personnel budgets.
The situation at Virginia already has garnered national attention. A story that criticized the proposals for destroying the team's competitiveness ran in Baseball America on April 13th.
"The University will say that they are not killing the program," Word said. "But over a period of time, due to making the program less competitive, it will virtually kill the program."
Carolyn Callahan, the head of the task force, said in the past that she does not think the recommendations sound a death-knell for any of the Tier Four programs.
Committee member Jud Starr emphasized the value of the team to the University.
"We are beginning with the proposition that our sons work too hard to represent that institution and its finest traditions to let the institution turn around and treat their sport in a bottom-tiered fashion," Starr said.
In the face of these obstacles, the committee began its campaign Sunday. Sporting T-shirts emblazoned with "10 Reasons to Save U.Va. Baseball," the largest home crowd of the year rallied at the U.Va. Baseball Field to watch the Cavaliers play their final home game of the season.
The Cavaliers close out their regular season with a series of road trips, and they appreciate the efforts that the committee is giving to their cause at home.
"We're all trying to look for a solution," Virginia coach Dennis Womack said. "I just want what is best for our baseball club now and for the future."
"I think that it is great that these parents are stepping up and doing something," Cavalier sophomore outfielder Doug Vroman said.
At a University that showcases tradition, the debate over the reshuffling takes on added weight when addressing the sport still known as America's Pastime.
"Baseball has a long tradition in this country," Starr said. "There's no greater sport in America than baseball to define America's values."
As the Board considers the report and makes its judgment, the committee members hope their efforts will make a difference not only for the baseball team, but also for the student athletes at the University.
"If we don't raise our hands and say that this is unfair to these student athletes, what values are they going to take away from this, when their University will not support them?" Word said.
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