Above photo: Figuring out who should pay for the coed sailing team’s operating expenses has re-emerged as a topic of debate, as neither university administration or Student Government want to pick up the full bill. Devin Rodriguez | The Crow’s Nest
By Jeffrey Waitkevich and Jonah Hinebaugh
It’s not a club. It’s not a varsity sport. The USF coed sailing team is somewhere in the middle, and now there’s a debate on who should pay for it.
For the last two years, the university administration has paid most of the freight, but now administrators want Student Government to take on a big chunk of the cost.
Student body president David Thompson, who contends the coed team is a “really important part” of the campus culture, favors the administration’s proposal.
But Albert Moreno, chair of Student Government’s appropriations committee, argues that the team is so small and exclusive that it does not deserve such a big appropriation at the expense of other student activities.
That is one of the issues Student Government is debating now as it decides how to appropriate the approximately $3.3 million raised from students’ activities and service fees in its budget for 2018-2019.
Two sailing teams operate along the USF St. Petersburg waterfront, and both do well in national rankings. Team members come from both the St. Petersburg and Tampa campuses.
As a so-called varsity sport, the women’s team gets its funding from the USF system in Tampa. But money for the coed team – which has 16 men and around 30 women who also compete on the women’s team this year – has been an issue since the team was created in 1997.
Steve Lang, the founding coach of the USF sailing program, says the university intended to make coed sailing a varsity sport eventually, but that has not happened.
As a result, the team has lurched along amid uncertainty.
What the university administration is seeking involves a complicated trade-off in funding for the coed team in exchange for salaries in the university’s Student Life and Engagement Department.
In that trade-off, Student Government – which covered 70 percent of those salaries in its 2017-2018 budget – would pay 50 percent next year. But SG would have to spend 18 percent more – or $41,169 – than they did last year to cover the team’s operating expenses, while the university is only taking on an additional 15 percent – or $27,911.
Those who side with the coed sailing team argue that the prestige and success of the team justify the additional expense to Student Government.
“We’re not swimming in money, but I think the sailing team contributes to a huge part of campus,” said Cameron Smith, co-captain of the coed sailing team. “A lot of people know this campus by the sailing team.”
In the final 2017 rankings of the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association, the USF women’s team finished second, and the coed team, fourth.
The coed team also qualified for world championship competition in France last year, but did not have enough money to make the trip.
Lang described the program as a “coaching factory” and said that half a dozen former sailing team members now work as coaches and others work in the sailing industry.
Associate director of Campus Recreation Al Gentilini said the team’s success and consistent ranking on a national level is reason enough to fund the team, adding that they are more than just a sport club.
At an appropriations committee meeting Wednesday Thompson said, “It’s a sports club, so anyone can do it.”
According to the Campus Rec tab of the USF St. Petersburg website “all full-time undergraduate students at USF St. Petersburg are welcome to join the team.” The link to fill out the recruitment form leads to an invalid page.
Moreno disputed Thompson’s statement saying the team is incredibly exclusive and that the only time he hears about the team is “when it comes time to budget.”
Moreno is a proponent of using the budget to pay for conferences and other learning opportunities for students.
“What we go to school for is academics – to get a degree, not in sailing, in soccer or flag football, but in journalism, or English, or whatever you go to school for. We’re going to limit that very, very small number while instead promoting a recreational activity,” Moreno said.
Anyone who says it’s exclusive has not tried to join or was simply too insecure and uncomfortable to put themselves out there and ask to join. I walked over to the sailing center mid-semester (fall of my freshman year) and told Allison Jolly I wanted to join the team, she told me to show up the next day ready to go. They taught me the fundamentals both on the water and in a classroom setting. They coached me to the point that I was able to compete. They sent me to competitions (south points and inter sectionals). All of this happened without ever having been on a sailboat before I asked Jolly to join. I was wildly uncomfortable the entire first year (both in the boat and socially on the team), but it paid huge dividends. Incredible learning experience, not just how to sail, but I learned a ton about myself, perservearance, relationships and team work. Anyone who puts forth the effort that I did will have a similar experience. But don’t fill out a form online or show up to practices for one week and say “I tried to join the sailing team”. Anything worth while takes time and commitment.
Great comment, Dean Nixon. I don’t know what the writer’s agenda is, or that of the Crows Nest, and certain members of Student Govrnment, but hopefully by sharing experiences such as yours, we can shed new light and perceptions regarding USF’s excellent sailing program.