Record breaking year for the men's team

We not only saved the program, but the men's team is in the hunt for a bid to the NCAA tournament.  We will find out next week if we qualified, but no matter what, the team had one of it's best seasons ever.  We set a school record for wins with 18, and had several players with outstanding individual seasons.  Stay tuned. 

-Bill Hehli

Message from Chancellor Joe Gow (posted 8/11/2009):

Dear students and colleagues:

I'm delighted to report that we've just learned that UW-L baseball and men's  tennis have both raised enough funding to be continued for the 2009-2010  season. Thanks to the generosity of so many donors who want to be sure these  programs continue at UW-L both sports now have in hand the monies needed to  compensate their coaches and pay minimal expenses for the coming year.

As of this afternoon, the UW-L baseball program has raised $38,927 and the  men's tennis program has raised $16,850. We can all be grateful to the many  donors who've given gifts of all sizes in support of these two programs.  What's more, I encourage you to join me in thanking head Baseball Coach  Chris Schwarz and head Tennis Coach Bill Hehli for their outstanding  leadership of the fundraising efforts. And we can be particularly grateful  to former UW-L head Baseball Coach Bill Terry for bringing his passion and  life-long commitment to UW-L baseball to the campaign to continue his sport.

While we wish economic conditions had not forced us to end university  funding for baseball and men's tennis, I'm sure you'll agree that it is  inspiring to see just what can be done by the people so committed to these  two sports. Thanks to their determination and generosity baseball and men's tennis will live on in 2009-2010 here at UW-L!

Updated Message from UW-La Crosse Chancellor Gow Regarding Baseball and Men's Tennis

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 - 1:05 p.m.

La Crosse, Wis. – The following is an updated message from University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow regarding the Eagles' baseball and men's tennis programs:

As you know, the State's extraordinary budget reductions to UW-L have forced us to make a wide range of difficult cuts, including ending our baseball and men's tennis programs. We had planned today to formally notify the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Association (WIAC) about the elimination of these two programs; however, at the request of numerous alumni, parents and friends of the University we are delaying notifying WIAC officials about our plans so that our coaches and potential donors can determine whether it is feasible for these two sports to be supported entirely through private funding for the coming year, and possibly on into the future. We have indicated that we can wait until September 1st to learn the donors' intentions for the coming 2009-2010 season, because at that point the baseball and men's tennis coaches will need to have contracts and begin being compensated for their work.

Although fundraising for sports activities at UW-L is a longstanding tradition, we have never thought it possible or desirable to fund an entire program or programs through private donations. However, in light of the unique situation we're currently facing, we don't want to deny the coaches and the many enthusiastic supporters of our baseball and men's tennis teams the opportunity to see what might be possible. Our athletic department has determined that, based on last year's budgets and input from the coaches overseeing them, maintaining baseball for the coming 2009-2010 season will require $50,000 and continuing men's tennis for another year will require $40,000. As I've said, these funds will need to be in hand by September 1st.

Provided adequate monies can be raised to fund the two programs for 2009-2010, donors then will need to make more challenging decisions about whether they are able to sustain baseball and men's tennis over the long term. Based on discussions with our coaches and athletic department leadership, we have determined that five years of advance funding will need to be raised before we can tell potential UW-L students these programs are stable. Because privately funded programs will not draw the student fees they now receive (a decision approved by our coaches and athletic department leadership), the annual costs of baseball and men's tennis will rise over the 2010-2015 period; thus several hundred thousand dollars will need to be raised to sustain each program for these five years. And these large funding pools would need to be raised by May 1, 2010 so that coaches, players and prospective recruits could have a realistic sense of the viability of the baseball and men's tennis programs beyond the 2009-2010 season and be able to make informed decisions about their future personal plans.

In the days since we made the very painful announcement that UW-L is no longer able to maintain financial support for baseball and men's tennis Athletic Director Joe Baker and I have been struck by the outpouring of concern we've received via e-mail messages, telephone calls and personal conversations. But our current budget crisis gives us no choice but to ask for sacrifices from our athletic department, just as we have asked for sacrifices from every other area of the University. So it is very heartening to see so many members of the UW-L community come forward to offer their very generous support to keep Eagle baseball and men's tennis alive. To be honest, I'm not sure whether this is feasible over the long term; but the messages I've received this week suggest that it is entirely possible to sustain these programs for an additional year with private funds. Toward that end I am personally donating $1,000 to be divided between the baseball and men's tennis fundraising efforts for 2009-2010. While this is but a small contribution, I hope it inspires others to think about making similar gifts in support of these extraordinary campaigns. Should you wish to make your own donation please contact Pat Stephens at the L Club/UW-L Foundation (785-8153 or stephens.patr@uwlax.edu) and ask about the funds established by Baseball Coach Chris Schwarz and Men¹s Tennis Coach Bill Hehli.

I look forward to providing you with an update about baseball and men's tennis once we hear the results of the fundraising now being done in support of them. As I've indicated, we'll know definitive information about the coming season by September 1st. In the meantime, thanks for your patience and continuing dedication to UW-L.