University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: March 1, 2007

By MARY COCHRANE
and SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Staff

Dale Freier is the kind of student who causes college admissions officers to drool.

Walt Stefani pleads the case for establishing a men’s volleyball team during the open forum held Feb. 22 at the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County.
PHOTO: MARY COCHRANE

The 17-year-old senior from Lancaster High School carries a 96.45 average and ranks 40th out of a class of 469. He's interested in studying engineering and says he was "blown away" by the academics and facilities offered by the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences during visits to the school.

But Freier plays volleyball. He's the captain of the Lancaster team that won the state championship this past fall. He also plays for the Eden club volleyball team, one of the top club programs in Western New York.

Freier has signed a letter of intent to play volleyball next year at The Ohio State University. However, he told members of the Corrigan Committee on Tuesday, if UB fielded a varsity men's volleyball team, he "would be there in a heartbeat" because of the academics.

Freier was one of numerous speakers who attended meetings held on Feb. 22 at the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County, and on Tuesday in the Center for the Arts to encourage the university to add particular sports to its program.

The meetings were convened by the Corrigan Committee, a 13-member panel formed by President John B. Simpson and chaired by Nils Olsen, dean of the UB Law School, to respond to issues raised in the June 2005 report evaluating UB's athletics programs by Gene Corrigan, intercollegiate athletics consultant.

Men's volleyball was perhaps the most well-represented sport at the meetings.

Mike Norton was one of numerous speakers at both meetings who asked the university to consider creating a men's volleyball team.

"Western New York has produced many great volleyball players who have left the area for college because there is no affordable Division I school in New York State," Norton said. "Last year, we watched senior Dan O'Dell from Rochester and freshman Matt Anderson from West Seneca play for Penn State in the national championship game on ESPN. You can go to schools around the country right now and from Erie County, you can find a good starting lineup playing Division I volleyball," he said.

Although Olsen pointed out that only one institution in the Mid-American Conference fields a men's volleyball team, Norton and others maintained that several teams in the Northeast would welcome a UB team.

"We've been told, for example, that Ohio State would put us on the schedule tomorrow," Norton said. "You've got Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, Ball State and IPFW (Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne) coming through this area all the time. The interest is here and it seems like a natural fit."

Western New York also has a growing talent pool to draw upon, including high school teams and amateur players, according to Norton. "There's a strong club program. I can't even tell you how many club teams we have developing kids in this area right now," he said.

He also said that the NCAA only allows 4.5 scholarships for men's volleyball. "Call that a salary cap, if you will. Volleyball is affordable, we have the local talent and we can be successful soon," he said.

Robert Pierce, director of the Eden club volleyball team, echoed Norton's remarks. With the wealth of talented players in Western New York, "I can almost guarantee that you'll get national exposure and will be competing at the highest level within three to five years," he said.

Walt R. Stefani, coach of the boys' volleyball team at Orchard Park High School, pointed out that in the 1993 NCAA finals, "out of the 48 boys that were playing, 12 of them came from Western New York."

Committee member Wesley Hicks, noting that supporters of lacrosse have made some of the same arguments about the abundance of talented players in Western New York, asked how many of those student-athletes would "be compelled to come to UB to play in what would be a fledgling sport with no history and no record.

"How could we be guaranteed that those young men and women who can compete at a national level would, in fact, choose UB? Yes, one or two may do so for financial reasons, but one or two alone doesn't make for a national championship team," Hicks said.

Stefani answered that there are no guarantees, but said, "it's a compelling thing to keep young men home, who then become part of your community."

Vince Schiffert, lacrosse coach at Niagara-Wheatfield High School and a member of the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team, led the argument for establishing a men's lacrosse team. He pointed out that there are many talented lacrosse players in Western New York, Ontario and Quebec, and the Native American Studies program in the College of Arts and Sciences would provide a wonderful academic complement.

Olsen agreed, saying that lacrosse "offers opportunities to strengthen ties between UB and its neighbors."

Olsen opened both forums by outlining the responsibilities of the committee.

"Our role is to gather information, try to understand the situation as it exists today and make recommendations of possible issues for the athletics director and the president to consider," he told those attending the meetings.

"The charge of this committee is not to make recommendations as to which sports to drop or add. It's to look at the program overall and to assess the university's current ability to mount competitive teams across all the sports.

"The president is, I think, committed to having an athletics program that also reflects the academic aspirations of the university," he said. "UB aspires and insists on excellence in academics and it also wishes to have an athletics program that is highly competitive in the MAC."

Other speakers asked the university to add sports they believe would help UB reach its goals.

Thomas W. Schratz, a 1974 UB graduate and player on the university's varsity hockey teams during the 1972-73 and 1973-74 seasons, wants UB to revitalize its hockey program.

"I'll never forget skating on the ice at the Holiday Twin Rinks before thousands of fans and thousands of students back in 1973 and 1974," he said. "Our season at that time consisted of 30 games, against the likes of Vermont, St. Lawrence, Bowling Green, Ohio State and Kent State. They were exciting times, not only for the hockey program, but also for the University at Buffalo."

Noting the frequent sell-outs for area college hockey games, as well as the general enthusiasm for the sport at the high school level, Schratz said UB could draw on local talent and put together "a very successful hockey program."

Patty Jordan lobbied for golf teams at UB. An LPGA professional who attended Wake Forest University on a golf scholarship, Jordan said that golf provides "an excellent opportunity for personal self-growth." She called golf "a life sport" that one can continue playing well beyond the college years.

Thomas Frank pleaded "for the creation of a new intercollegiate gender-parity cycling program," noting that cycling is an Olympic sport and that the Niagara River Basin Greenway from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario "is the crown jewel of places on planet earth to ride a bicycle.

"This would create a program that ties in not only outdoor athletic and recreational activity and cultural tourism, but also ties in health and fitness," Frank said.

It also would provide another outlet for student athletes in their off-seasons. "A lot of cyclists cross-train as hockey players, figure skaters and speed skaters," Frank said.

Viqar Hussain, president of the undergraduate Student Association, asked if there is any plan to convert the university club sports teams—including volleyball, rugby, lacrosse and cycling, "some of which compete with nationally ranked teams such as Harvard"—to varsity programs.

Olsen replied that the club sports program is "one of the areas we're looking at.

"It's certainly a relevant factor to consider when you are talking about adding sports to look at existing student participation and performance," he said.

Several members of club sports, including the men's crew, asked for better facilities and more support, both from the divisions of Athletics and Student Affairs.