Athletic department budget improves, scholarships rise

By Daniel Frias
On-line Forty-Niner

What a difference a few hundred thousand dollars make. In the case of Long Beach State athletics it has made a significant difference-- more than $1 million worth of difference. This is how much more money the LSBU athletic department now receives thanks in large part to the students at the university.

In 2000 the student body voted and passed The BeachPride referendum. The referendum provides additional funds for each of the 16 LBSU collegiate teams. Students pay $44 each semester to Associated Students Inc. as part of their tuition fees. Part of that fee goes to the BeachPride referendum, which then goes to the athletic department for scholarship and general sports operations.

Beach Pride allocates $800,000 to the department every year. That along with $750,000 from an Instructionally Related Activities fund.

"We could not afford more scholarships before the referendum," LBSU Associate Athletic Director and CFO Ted Kadowaki said. "BeachPride gave us more money and now that we are there it's crucial to compete."

Women's sports have benefited the most by the funds. Several teams can now afford to give the maximum scholarship amount allowed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association for the sport. Women's soccer at LBSU can now count on the maximum 12 scholarships. Triple what it had before the referendum. Women's tennis doubled its scholarships from four to eight. Women's water polo also gained six scholarships to a total of eight. The track/cross country teams saw the most improvement. It went from five to the NCAA maximum 18.

The total number of scholarships women's sports can now spend is 91 compared to 59 before the referendum.

Only two men's sports teams saw benefits from the referendum. Men's track and cross country were given seven and a half more scholarships to bring its total scholarships from five to 12 and a half. The other sport that now gets more scholarship is water polo. It went from one to four and a half giving men's sports a total of 51 scholarships. Up 11 from the 40 it had before the referendum.

LBSU now spends more scholarship money on its women's sports than on men's sports. Women's sports get $742,742 and men's sports receive $414,630 in scholarship monies.

"It's been big," said Mike Mulryan, LBSU associate athletics director of external relations about the referendum. "Obviously it has allowed more operating dollars for track, women's water polo and soccer and some of the other spots that didn't get much money to go from what we were funding them to the full amount. It has allowed those teams to be more competitive."

There is no doubt that this scholarship money has allowed women's sports at Cal State Long Beach to be one of top teams in the Big West Conference. The LBSU women's tennis team has finished higher than it ever has in the Big West Conference. It finished in second place last year and in 2002 finished in first and captured its first Big West title in school history.

Its highest ranking came this year when the team was ranked No. 49 in the country for a brief period during the season. 49ers tennis finished ranked No. 63 this season and was ranked No. 58 last year.

LBSU women's soccer which was recently added along with water polo to be in compliance with Title IX of the 1972 Educational Act, has also enjoyed more success.

"You can't compete with out them [scholarships] plain and simple," said recently resigned women's soccer head coach Peter Reynaud. "Everything is in the recruiting. When you're competing with a school with the same academics, recruits will usually go to whomever can offer than more money."

49ers women's water polo head coach Ricardo Azevedo also knows the importance of having money to offer to athletes to play on his team.

"It helps a lot," Azevedo said. "Especially during these tough financial times when the cost of going to school is so high. It definitely makes a big difference having the ability to help with the cost of their tuition, books and stipends."

"Before we had the scholarship money we couldn't compete with some of the other schools like a Stanford or USC. Now that we have more money we can compete."

Not only has the LBSU women's water polo team been able to compete they have also become one of the top water polo teams in the country.

The 49ers have been nationally ranked the past several years with the help of several all American players on its team including all-Americans Angelica Garcia and Roberta Stewart.

Last season the 49ers women's water polo had its best season yet. The team was nationally ranked No. 4 for the second straight year and finished with a 24-6, 8-2 MPSF record. Its eight conference wins in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and 24 over all wins are school records.

"Now that I have the money I've been able to get some of the upper tier players that three or four years ago I wouldn't have been able to get," Azevedo said.

Beach Pride, however, can only do so much for a sports team. If it wants to continue to stay competitive in the world of college sports it must seek money elsewhere. That is where the Booster Clubs come in. Almost every single college team at universities nationwide has one. Since staying within an operating sports budget is difficult in collegiate athletics booster clubs provide a way for a sports team to raise money and pay for extra expenses its needs to be competitive.

"We don't have a big enough budget to take care of everything," said Reynaud. "It [booster money] allows for extra expenditures like backpacks for the team and a lot of it supplements our travel."

"You need to use booster club money to buy extra equipment and to make travel more comforting," Kadowaki said.

One sport that seems to being doing well when it comes to raising monies for its booster club is the LBSU men's baseball team. In 2000 when its booster club had almost $64,000. The team raised more than $104,000 in 2003. Most of that money came from different special events the team hosts including their annual leadoff dinner where former Dirtbag players show their appreciation of LBSU baseball by donating money.

Last season former Dirtbag Jeremy Reed (2000-02), who plays for the Chicago White Sox triple-A team donated $8,000 to the Dirtbags baseball. This year MLB New York Yankee Jason Giambi, a former Dirtbag (1990-92), donated a whopping $50,000 to the program.

"It's a huge gesture," said LBSU men's baseball head coach Mike Weathers about Giambi's gift. "It's the biggest one we have got from an ex-athlete I think. It speaks that they enjoyed their time here and that they want to give back and are able to give back in money."

The LBSU men's basketball booster clubs does not seem to have any trouble raising money either. In the past few years its booster clubs have netted an average of $65,000 a year. Far below that of baseball, but $40,000 more than the women's volleyball booster club which raise the third highest amount of all the sports teams at LBSU.

Most of the booster club money comes in the form of a membership. The different athletic teams have their own fundraisers to raise money. The athletic program hosts a Hall of Fame golf tournament to raise money for scholarships. Men's baseball and golf also have their own golf tournaments to get funding for their sports.

Coaches are allowed to use booster money any way they see fit, but their requests have to be approved by the booster club president.

Most coaches only use a portion of their booster club money for items like travel, equipment or other necessities.

One of those things is working with a sports psychologist to mentally prepare the athletes said Weathers.

"We work with a sports psychologist. Mental training is very important in baseball. Most programs, baseball wise are, doing that. So it [booster money] covers that. We also spend a lot of that money on coach advising, academic tutoring, and study hours."

"Almost all booster clubs use a portion of their money towards academic services and special assistance," said Mulryan. "It's a way to provide academic services so that these kids can perform better academically."

The LBSU athletic department also raises money from corporate sponsorships and its annual Jewels of the Night auction fundraiser. The athletic department received more than $315,000 in corporate sponsorships last year. Some of the corporations that sponsor LBSU athletics are Coca-Cola, UPS, Bank of America, and Inter New Zealand, an airline company.

The Jewels of the Night Auction and dinner brought in more than $150,000 for student-athlete scholarships.

A new deal has been reached with Adidas that will provide LBSU athletics with $450,000 worth of equipment and apparel over the next five years.

The 49ers Athletic Association also raised $300,000 with its annual fund drive. The Director's Circle where people donate money to help out LBSU athletics brought in $195,000. Members of the Director's Circle receive game tickets, free parking and other benefits.

In 2002-03 LBSU received $288,000 in gift-in-kind donations from the local Long Beach business community. These gifts include hotel rooms, restaurant meals and equipment. In exchange the LBSU Athletic program puts its signs in The Pyramid, mentions them during the game and calls them a sponsor of LBSU athletics.

"For them it's good visibility and publicity. For us its saves us money by giving us free meals and hotel rooms," Kadowaki said.

Most of the gift-in-kind donations are used for recruiting visits, added Kadowaki.

LBSU has been able to raise its athletic budget over the years from 5 to 9 million due in large part to its fundraising and the referendum which has allowed the 49ers to compete in the Big West Conference and should keep them competing for years to come.

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