Editorial: Football doesn't fit at UWS
11/18/2009
The latest issue of The Stinger magazine told the story of the final days of UWS football and whether the sport should be returned to campus. The Stinger editors think not.
From 1897-1992, the University of Wisconsin-Superior had a strong culture and tradition in football. 1n 1992, the program was abruptly ended as there were not enough players to continue. This broke people’s hearts.
Many alumni and current students would like to see football make a comeback at UWS, but with the school being such a small public university, it wouldn’t make much sense.
If you look at the other teams in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) – the conference in which UWS would compete – Superior is the smallest school by far with just under 3,000 students currently enrolled. No other school in the conference has less than 6,000 students, and more than half of them top 9,000 students.
With the competing teams having a higher enrollment base and not being in the dreary northwest tip of the state like Superior, they have a distinct advantage in recruiting and getting more and better players to commit.
The WIAC teams have also built up very strong traditions, and they have earned respect nation-wide. In the last 18 years since UWS cut football, there have been three Division III National Championships and three National Runner Ups by the WIAC. Not only that, but every year there are always WIAC teams that are ranked in the Regional Top 10.
This may foreshadow that if UWS were to bring back a football team, they would more than likely get slaughtered playing in this conference, and waste money that the school could use to fund their more successful and upcoming sports.
Some people argue that not having football hurts the school spirit and student involvement, but have you seen hockey at UWS? Superior has always been a hockey town with both high school and college hockey, and both of UWS’s hockey teams dominate the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) and are perennially in the Top 15 National Poll.
The men’s team won the Division III National Championship in 2002 and was one game away from going to the Frozen Four last season. The women’s team went to the Frozen Four themselves in 2008, and was close to getting back last year. If this doesn’t get people associated with UWS excited, nothing will. UWS is known for its hockey, and they should keep it that way.
There has been an increased outcry for UWS football since other local colleges, St. Scholastica and Fond Du Lac, have recently added the sport. People need to understand that these situations do not relate to the situation UWS would be in.
Private donations aside, neither St. Scholastica nor Fon Du Lac are public colleges and are not publicly funded like UWS would be. St. Scholastica is private, while Fon Du Lac is a tribal college. Since these situations are not comparable, people should not argue this point. There is no way UWS could or should try to add and fund a football team, as the current budget simply would not allow it.
UWS students and alumni that want to bring football back should just let the dream go because the tradition is dead and gone. Instead, the alumni should support and build up some of the other teams that UWS has, including basketball, baseball, and softball, which have all shown promise and improvement in the last couple of years.
It has been almost 20 years since the demise of the football program, and by now there should be acceptance that UW-Superior will probably not see a football team again.
From 1897-1992, the University of Wisconsin-Superior had a strong culture and tradition in football. 1n 1992, the program was abruptly ended as there were not enough players to continue. This broke people’s hearts.
Many alumni and current students would like to see football make a comeback at UWS, but with the school being such a small public university, it wouldn’t make much sense.
If you look at the other teams in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) – the conference in which UWS would compete – Superior is the smallest school by far with just under 3,000 students currently enrolled. No other school in the conference has less than 6,000 students, and more than half of them top 9,000 students.
With the competing teams having a higher enrollment base and not being in the dreary northwest tip of the state like Superior, they have a distinct advantage in recruiting and getting more and better players to commit.
The WIAC teams have also built up very strong traditions, and they have earned respect nation-wide. In the last 18 years since UWS cut football, there have been three Division III National Championships and three National Runner Ups by the WIAC. Not only that, but every year there are always WIAC teams that are ranked in the Regional Top 10.
This may foreshadow that if UWS were to bring back a football team, they would more than likely get slaughtered playing in this conference, and waste money that the school could use to fund their more successful and upcoming sports.
Some people argue that not having football hurts the school spirit and student involvement, but have you seen hockey at UWS? Superior has always been a hockey town with both high school and college hockey, and both of UWS’s hockey teams dominate the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA) and are perennially in the Top 15 National Poll.
The men’s team won the Division III National Championship in 2002 and was one game away from going to the Frozen Four last season. The women’s team went to the Frozen Four themselves in 2008, and was close to getting back last year. If this doesn’t get people associated with UWS excited, nothing will. UWS is known for its hockey, and they should keep it that way.
There has been an increased outcry for UWS football since other local colleges, St. Scholastica and Fond Du Lac, have recently added the sport. People need to understand that these situations do not relate to the situation UWS would be in.
Private donations aside, neither St. Scholastica nor Fon Du Lac are public colleges and are not publicly funded like UWS would be. St. Scholastica is private, while Fon Du Lac is a tribal college. Since these situations are not comparable, people should not argue this point. There is no way UWS could or should try to add and fund a football team, as the current budget simply would not allow it.
UWS students and alumni that want to bring football back should just let the dream go because the tradition is dead and gone. Instead, the alumni should support and build up some of the other teams that UWS has, including basketball, baseball, and softball, which have all shown promise and improvement in the last couple of years.
It has been almost 20 years since the demise of the football program, and by now there should be acceptance that UW-Superior will probably not see a football team again.