Ball State battling to keep program afloat

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

The "final notice" was in the mail, and the lights were scheduled to go out on the Ball State men's volleyball program.

Walton

But 22 months after a Ball State advisory committee recommended cutting six sports for a savings of $1.2 million at the Muncie, Ind., school, the men's volleyball program is alive and enjoying paradise, preparing for matches against host Hawai'i tomorrow and Saturday.

"Basically, we're treading water," said Shondell, who serves as a coach emeritus. "We're constantly fighting to keep our program."

Ball State head coach Joel Walton said: "It's almost like a hand tied behind our back and being told to go out and fight a giant."

In the summer of 2003, Ball State officials, moved by an online petition, voted to sustain the volleyball program through the 2004 season. Walton and Shondell then crafted a financial plan that would allow the program to continue as long as a significant amount of money was raised from outside sources.

According to NCAA rules, each men's volleyball team is limited to offering the financial equivalent of 4.5 scholarships. The money then can be split in any portion among the players.

With the athletic department also reducing its contribution to the volleyball program by $11,000, to $15,000 this season, Walton and Shondell have scrambled to make up the difference.

They raised $53,000 last year to offset this season's expenses, and need to raise at least $77,000 to pay for next season's costs.

Some of the money comes from proceeds from Walton's summer camp. "Instead of pocketing all of those dollars for ourselves," Walton said of the common practice in college sports, "we would reinvest those dollars to meet our budget."

Many of the 225 volleyball alumni have donated money, responding to Shondell's hand-written pleas. Shondell will take about 30 minutes to write each personalized, three-page letter.

"That has made a big impact on our donations," Walton said.

The program also has staged a golf tournament and coaches clinic.

Walton said his players "do some fund-raising activities, selling T-shirts, hats and sweatshirts on campus. Our guys — who are paying the majority of their college expenses — and their family and friends are making donations to our program."

With a tight budget, Walton said: "We have to be extremely frugal. There's not a carte blanche when it comes to our program. We know how hard we have to work for the dollars we spend throughout the course of the season. I have to look at everything we spend on, whether it's our season schedule, the meals, the hotels, all the way down to how much we spend on recruiting."

Ball State is receiving a $7,000 appearance fee for this weekend's matches. "It's actually either right at the same cost to come here as it would be to go to the West Coast or East Coast, or it might be, in some cases, a little bit less," Walton said.

Walton also negotiated a significant discount with a hotel chain.

Despite the wear of serving the dual role of coach and fund-raiser, Walton understands that Ball State's survival is central to the future of men's volleyball.

As an NCAA charter member in the 1960s, Ball State helped spawn the growth of college volleyball in the Midwest. Ohio State started its program at the urging of Shondell.

"I wanted to get other people to start volleyball programs because it would give us people to play," Shondell recalled. "It was a little selfish on my part, but that was our mission, to spread the game of volleyball."

In the past two decades, schools have dropped men's volleyball to save money and meet gender-equity requirements. If Ball State had dropped the sport, Shondell predicted, "Ohio State (eventually) would have dropped it. That's why I told (Ball State officials), 'You cannot do that to men's volleyball. That is tantamount to crucifying volleyball in the United States.' "

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8051.