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Looks like MIT cut the pistol team
- Thread starter William Wallace
- Start date
That sucks, looks like they're cutting gymnastics too. Too bad, they had an amazing facility over there.
JackO
Instructor
Not so fast.
The coach Will Hart is a full time MIT employee and stays at MIT. He teaches physical education pistol classes on a regular bases. MIT is pulling financial support from MIT varsity team, but coach hopes to find some other sources of funding. MIT pistol and rifle club is looking for sources to support varsity team too.
The coach Will Hart is a full time MIT employee and stays at MIT. He teaches physical education pistol classes on a regular bases. MIT is pulling financial support from MIT varsity team, but coach hopes to find some other sources of funding. MIT pistol and rifle club is looking for sources to support varsity team too.
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That does suck. My strategy to get my son in was with golf and pistol. They're cutting both.
My sister is on the MIT Pistol team. Even though she's a senior and is graduating in 2 months... she's very sad at the news.
It's definitely too bad.
As my brother aptly put it, "it's the most important thing they teach there."![[sad]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/004.gif "Sad [sad]")
It's definitely too bad.
As my brother aptly put it, "it's the most important thing they teach there."
Here's an update on the team from my sister.
Two emails sent to the pistol team... one from Coach Will Hart, and one from an MIT Pistol team alumnus.
------------------------------------------------
Team -
Here is an email sent out by an team alumnus (a former National Champion and current range record holder) to a pistol alumni group. After writing to and speaking with many alumni, I know there is a very optimistic attitude toward our team, and we will be able to count on them for support. They are, in fact, eager to meet with Julie (AD) and try to work out a sound financial plan to kick off pistol in Sept.. We are certainly not alone. They really want to support us.
in trying to make this work. We focused on a challenge, worked to improve it, and the results will make us stronger in the end - pistol sports psych applied to real life. You guys are good!
Special thanks to those attending the meeting last night. We showed up with about half the team and that is more than most varsity teams! Lihua, excellent job with your organization, questions, and follow-ups (and self control, too).
We showed spirit, class, and focus - no surprise at all.
If we need to have meetings to discuss anything, let me know in advance and I can stay after classes.
Will
---------------------------------------------------
Hello all,
I just finished a long conversation with Will Hart about the status of the
shooting sports at MIT. Here are my notes. Will, please feel free to
correct anything I've misunderstood.
--------
Will and the team had a productive and informative meeting last
night with Julie Soriero, MIT's Athletic Director, about the future of
intercollegiate pistol at the Institute.
First, as has been amply reported in the past few days, Pistol was
cut as a varsity sport. Phys Ed Pistol was not cut. The Varsity
Rifle Team was not cut. Will Hart was not cut. The range will
continue to exist and be supported by the Athletic Department for
PE and Rifle use.
Pistol was the only sport cut that had a full-time coach. But as
mentioned above, Will's position still exists.
There had been a moratorium on the formation of new club sports
at the Institute, but this has been lifted by Ms. Soriero because of
the program cuts. She is hoping for and encouraging formation
of new club sports arising from the cut programs.
So what would being a club sport mean?
Club sports get minimal, if any, funding from the administration.
They are, however, allowed to get money pretty much wherever they
can find it. Sponsorship is possible. Alumni donations are allowed,
and are still tax-deductible. Because club sport finances are not
administered by MIT, nothing gets skimmed or accidentally funneled
to other accounts; all monies can go directly to the sport (more below).
Club sport coaches get a minimal stipend from the Institute, sometimes
"as much as $1000". There's nothing to stop contributions from being
allocated for coaching fees. [According to AD Soriero, "There may
be some opportunity for Will to continue coaching the club team."
Will agreed that he would be willing to coach a club team, and AD
Soriero hinted that there would be some discussion about this in the
near future.] Since funding is not under MIT's control, funds can't
easily be "repurposed" (think van Schaick Fund).
Cycling is a club sport at MIT. Their annual budget is about $50k,
more than that of the Varsity Pistol Team, all coming from outside the
Athletic Department budget. Army's pistol team is also a club sport,
and has been for a few years. Their budget about doubled after
their change of status. Quite a few other sports at the academies
have switched to club status in the past few years.
There seem to be other benefits to "demotion" to club sport status.
Aside from the apparent financial benefits, adherence to NCAA rules
would no longer be required, as these apply only to varsity sports.
This means more flexibility for scheduling important activities like
training and the Alumni Match (goodbye February). Since the range
would still be intact, and Will would still be Rangemaster and PE
Instructor, he would be able to tap into the Range Fund for PE
purposes and Rifle Team needs, which are by remarkable coincidence
similar to what a club team would require.
Will said this year's travel and material goods budget, including the
National Championships, was in the $25k-$30k range. The goods
budget needs to be $10k-$12k annually to allow for replacement of
1-2 guns per year, as well as buying parts, targets, ammunition, etc.
This year's trip to Nationals was around $8k. The above are all
exclusive of any coaching costs.
What would it take administratively for this to happen? We would
need an Alumni Oversight Board, or at least 3 alums, to handle the
flood of incoming money, keep records thereof, handle disbursements,
schedule the alumni match, etc. There are undoubtedly other things
that would need to be done, along with some paperwork, but it's too
soon to know the entire scope of it.
Then there's the actual mechanism. In the short term, donations and
sponsorships could sustain the program, but for longer-term viability
there would need to be some sort of endowment to assure a stable
cash flow.
There are a host of details to be worked out here, but in summary
the news is not all bad, nor is it as dire as we've all believed. There
is still a lot of scrambling to be done, but if all the above turns out to
be true, intercollegiate pistol shooting at MIT _could_ actually end
up in better shape than it is now. It just couldn't call itself a varsity
sport.
I will pass on further news as I hear it.
Steve Goldstein '76
Two emails sent to the pistol team... one from Coach Will Hart, and one from an MIT Pistol team alumnus.
------------------------------------------------
Team -
Here is an email sent out by an team alumnus (a former National Champion and current range record holder) to a pistol alumni group. After writing to and speaking with many alumni, I know there is a very optimistic attitude toward our team, and we will be able to count on them for support. They are, in fact, eager to meet with Julie (AD) and try to work out a sound financial plan to kick off pistol in Sept.. We are certainly not alone. They really want to support us.
in trying to make this work. We focused on a challenge, worked to improve it, and the results will make us stronger in the end - pistol sports psych applied to real life. You guys are good!
Special thanks to those attending the meeting last night. We showed up with about half the team and that is more than most varsity teams! Lihua, excellent job with your organization, questions, and follow-ups (and self control, too).
We showed spirit, class, and focus - no surprise at all.
If we need to have meetings to discuss anything, let me know in advance and I can stay after classes.
Will
---------------------------------------------------
Hello all,
I just finished a long conversation with Will Hart about the status of the
shooting sports at MIT. Here are my notes. Will, please feel free to
correct anything I've misunderstood.
--------
Will and the team had a productive and informative meeting last
night with Julie Soriero, MIT's Athletic Director, about the future of
intercollegiate pistol at the Institute.
First, as has been amply reported in the past few days, Pistol was
cut as a varsity sport. Phys Ed Pistol was not cut. The Varsity
Rifle Team was not cut. Will Hart was not cut. The range will
continue to exist and be supported by the Athletic Department for
PE and Rifle use.
Pistol was the only sport cut that had a full-time coach. But as
mentioned above, Will's position still exists.
There had been a moratorium on the formation of new club sports
at the Institute, but this has been lifted by Ms. Soriero because of
the program cuts. She is hoping for and encouraging formation
of new club sports arising from the cut programs.
So what would being a club sport mean?
Club sports get minimal, if any, funding from the administration.
They are, however, allowed to get money pretty much wherever they
can find it. Sponsorship is possible. Alumni donations are allowed,
and are still tax-deductible. Because club sport finances are not
administered by MIT, nothing gets skimmed or accidentally funneled
to other accounts; all monies can go directly to the sport (more below).
Club sport coaches get a minimal stipend from the Institute, sometimes
"as much as $1000". There's nothing to stop contributions from being
allocated for coaching fees. [According to AD Soriero, "There may
be some opportunity for Will to continue coaching the club team."
Will agreed that he would be willing to coach a club team, and AD
Soriero hinted that there would be some discussion about this in the
near future.] Since funding is not under MIT's control, funds can't
easily be "repurposed" (think van Schaick Fund).
Cycling is a club sport at MIT. Their annual budget is about $50k,
more than that of the Varsity Pistol Team, all coming from outside the
Athletic Department budget. Army's pistol team is also a club sport,
and has been for a few years. Their budget about doubled after
their change of status. Quite a few other sports at the academies
have switched to club status in the past few years.
There seem to be other benefits to "demotion" to club sport status.
Aside from the apparent financial benefits, adherence to NCAA rules
would no longer be required, as these apply only to varsity sports.
This means more flexibility for scheduling important activities like
training and the Alumni Match (goodbye February). Since the range
would still be intact, and Will would still be Rangemaster and PE
Instructor, he would be able to tap into the Range Fund for PE
purposes and Rifle Team needs, which are by remarkable coincidence
similar to what a club team would require.
Will said this year's travel and material goods budget, including the
National Championships, was in the $25k-$30k range. The goods
budget needs to be $10k-$12k annually to allow for replacement of
1-2 guns per year, as well as buying parts, targets, ammunition, etc.
This year's trip to Nationals was around $8k. The above are all
exclusive of any coaching costs.
What would it take administratively for this to happen? We would
need an Alumni Oversight Board, or at least 3 alums, to handle the
flood of incoming money, keep records thereof, handle disbursements,
schedule the alumni match, etc. There are undoubtedly other things
that would need to be done, along with some paperwork, but it's too
soon to know the entire scope of it.
Then there's the actual mechanism. In the short term, donations and
sponsorships could sustain the program, but for longer-term viability
there would need to be some sort of endowment to assure a stable
cash flow.
There are a host of details to be worked out here, but in summary
the news is not all bad, nor is it as dire as we've all believed. There
is still a lot of scrambling to be done, but if all the above turns out to
be true, intercollegiate pistol shooting at MIT _could_ actually end
up in better shape than it is now. It just couldn't call itself a varsity
sport.
I will pass on further news as I hear it.
Steve Goldstein '76
This just occurred to me... but I think it'd be awesome if NES offered to be one of the MIT Pistol Team's sponsors! It'd be a great way for NES to show support... or we could even just donate funds to help get the team up and running for the fall.
Anyway... just a thought![[grin]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/041.gif "Grin [grin]")
Anyway... just a thought
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This just occurred to me... but I think it'd be awesome if NES offered to be one of the MIT Pistol Team's sponsors! It'd be a great way for NES to show support... or we could even just donate funds to help get the team up and running for the fall.
Anyway... just a thought
I could chip in $50...
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This just occurred to me... but I think it'd be awesome if NES offered to be one of the MIT Pistol Team's sponsors! It'd be a great way for NES to show support... or we could even just donate funds to help get the team up and running for the fall.
Anyway... just a thought
What is their budget? Any idea? I bet it is peanuts in comparison to the other seven sports for which MIT discontinued.
Weren't they national champions in 2007? MIT has other reasons for eliminating it.
The hockey team is also successful, very well loved, well attended, and cut. Because they cut Varsity Pistol, kept PE Pistol and are keeping Varsity Rifle I don't think that there are any evil intentions behind this. The MIT athletics department has been very pressed for budgets, even during the flush investment years.
I looked at the distribution of cuts, and overall it seemed reasonable. Sad, but reasonable. There were a good number of higher cost sports that - with the exception of hockey - don't have a big following from people not on the team. Not even for MIT, where I've seen less than 20 home team fans at a football game.
The alum's comments are correct too - as a club the Pistol team could actually end up in a better operating position and the continuation of their coach is great news.
I wonder if the uncertainty over ammunition prices had any impact on this decision.
I doubt it. .22lr is still cheap.
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