Dorfman

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Jared Dorfman, an All-State tennis player from La Salle, transferred to the University of Rhode Island because his coach at Assumption College was leaving, he could earn a degree in business, he knew coach Val Villucci, and he knew the tennis team could be good.

Jeff Cote, an All-Stater from Warwick Veterans, transferred to URI from Hartford because, as he put it, the team wasn’t that great and the school was mediocre.

“I kind of wanted to go to URI. I’m a Rhode Island kid, I guess,” he said with a grin.

Dorfman and Cote, playing No. 1 and No. 2 singles and teaming at No. 1 doubles, helped the Rams to a 17-6 record in dual matches and a seventh-place finish at the Atlantic 10 Championships, one of the best years in URI tennis history. And, as they learned yesterday, the last.

Facing an $800,000 budget cut for the fiscal year starting on July 1, URI yesterday eliminated men’s tennis, men’s swimming and field hockey from its varsity lineup. URI had already dropped gymnastics and will not add women’s lacrosse in 2009-10, as previously planned, leaving the school with 18 sports for 2008-09.

The four sports eliminated will affect 75 athletes and five coaches, according to current rosters. Swimming coach Mick Westkott and his two assistants will remain with the women’s swimming program.

Thorr Bjorn, director of athletics, delivered the bad news to each team yesterday. By the time he finished with the field hockey team in the early evening, he looked beat.

“I hope and pray we don’t have to go through this type of thing again,” he said. “It’s damaging to the athletic program, the athletic family. It’s damaging to kids. I hope we can rebuild the family unit. It’s divisive. We have to work very hard to build that trust back.”

Athletes were crushed.

“I’m very upset. There are two weeks left of school. They’ve known about the deficit for a while,” said Cote, a sophomore studying kinesiology.

“Our team is the cheapest to uphold. All we need are balls and gas money. We buy our own equipment. We leave at 6 a.m. and get back at 2 a.m. because we don’t want to spend the money to stay over,” Dorfman added.

Bjorn said he and his staff studied about 20 different possibilities before making the cuts. In addition to budgets, they weighed factors such as gender equity, facilities and results. The tennis team, with only 12 members, did not have a major impact on the overall gender equation, as track would have. The field hockey team has endured at least nine consecutive losing seasons — 7-9, 1-6 in the Atlantic 10 last fall — and is at a competitive disadvantage because its home field is grass and most college teams play on faster artificial surfaces. The swimming team’s best finish at the Atlantic 10 Championships in the last nine years was sixth in 2001 and 2002.

Bjorn targeted $425,000 in program cuts. Operating budgets were $35,000 for tennis, $40,000 for swimming, $150,000 for gymnastics and $125,000 for field hockey, a total of $350,000. Scholarships accounted for $146,000. URI will sacrifice approximately $80,000 from the NCAA for sponsoring those teams, so the program cuts will amount to about $416,000. Bjorn said that golf will lose $25,000 from its budget.

He will squeeze $200,000 in retirements and layoffs, if necessary, and will direct his development staff to generate an additional $100,000.

All figures are approximate.

URI is eliminating specific sports because cutting across the board “would jeopardize our ability to compete in our remaining sports.”

Football, the most expensive sport at URI, was not cut because it generates revenue through guarantees from Football Bowl Division opponents. URI will play Boston College in 2008, and has signed contracts to play Connecticut, Buffalo and Maryland.

URI would also have to pay $3 million in salaries and penalties to 2008 opponents and future opponents if it dropped football.

The state, facing massive budget deficits for the current fiscal year as well as FY 2009, is reducing its allocation to URI by $12 million, necessitating campus-wide cuts. The state currently contributes 14 percent of the university’s budget.

URI will honor its scholarship commitments and will assist those athletes who wish to transfer. Dorfman, a junior, said he will stay and receive his degree in 2009. Cote isn’t sure he wants to attend a third college in as many years but can’t envision college without tennis.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he said, shaking his head. “I just found out an hour ago.”

mszostak@projo.com