From The Desk Of Terry Holland
December 09, 2005 | Men's Soccer
Dec. 9, 2005
East Carolina University Director of Athletics Terry Holland responds openly to a letter sent by Bill Sypawka, President of the Pitt-Greenville Soccer Association, which was published in the "Opinions" section of the Greenville Daily Reflector, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2005. Mr. Sypawka's letter appears in full below Holland's reply.
Re: Bill Sypawka's Letter of Dec. 7, 2005
Mr. Sypawka and I agree on most of the important points in his letter:
1. The loss of the Men's Soccer program at ECU is a loss for the whole community.
2. ECU's varsity soccer team members and coaches from both the men's and women's teams are highly involved contributors to the local community and particularly to the soccer community in Greenville and Pitt County.
3. Soccer's popularity in this area has increased significantly in the last decade and the soccer community has expanded exponentially.
In fact, the only thing we might disagree on would be "where to send the bill for the cost of making men's soccer competitive?"
I know where to send the bill to make our football program competitive - Skip Holtz, the Pirate Club and I ask the football community to pay for practice fields and the other things needed so desperately by our program. And they have responded by contributing another $1 million per year in addition to the $4 million they and other Pirate Club members are already providing annually to support ALL sports at ECU.
The other major source of revenue controlled by our department comes from football and basketball ticket sales. And we literally spend 75% of our time "begging" the local community to support ALL sports by buying football and basketball tickets and by contributing to the Pirate Club.
While I have received many e-mails from people who are concerned about the decision regarding men's soccer and what it means, most have requested (and received) constructive dialogue about what may happen in the future.
However, there have also been a disturbing number of divisive e-mails attacking me personally and also attacking and making derogatory comments about other sports here at ECU.
It is my hope that the soccer community will recognize the contributions made by our teams by accepting the challenge of creating a great soccer environment here at ECU. The athletic department simply can not do that on our own. One way to do so that has zero cost is to come to cheer for the players and coaches who make so many personal contributions to the larger soccer community.
While I do not know what the future holds, I am more convinced than ever that, as Einstein noted, "problems can not be solved in the context in which they were created." The decision to clear the air and put all options on the table is the right long term decision, in spite of the short term consequences.
Terry Holland
Letter: Community loses with ECU soccer decision
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
As a leader in youth soccer for Greenville, I can't comprehend why ECU has terminated its men's soccer program. Soccer has seen the largest growth in player development than any other sport in the greater Greenville area. As president of the Pitt-Greenville Soccer Association, I've seen soccer grow in the area steadily over the past 10 years; we now have soccer programs in all high schools and most middle schools.
I have been associated with the ECU men's soccer program for the past 14 years and have never seen much in the way of support for the program by ECU. The ECU soccer field has been situated most recently in the obscurity of the new baseball stadium and before that, it was located literally in the shadow of the football stadium. The practice field also doubles as a tailgating parking lot for the football games. The relatively small chunk of money that this program survived on was money well invested and has helped promote soccer throughout Greenville and Pitt County. The coaches of both the men's and women's ECU soccer teams have volunteered many hours in support of the local soccer community by way of soccer camps, coaching clinics and expertise. Many soccer teams at PGSA relied on players from ECU to act as coaches and mentors for both the boys' and girls' teams and will be missed by the parents and kids alike.
Instead of cutting the men's soccer program, ECU should consider fully supporting this relatively inexpensive sport as other universities in this area have. UNC, Duke and N.C. State all enjoy nationally ranked programs and benefit from their success in this exponentially growing sport. The local high school soccer programs are now seasoned with quality players who have grown through the PGSA soccer program and travel teams.
These high school players would like to play soccer at ECU if there was any comparison in facilities and support. Instead, these players will be forced to leave the area, as many already have, to attend other schools such as UNC. Apparently "Tomorrow starts here" at ECU but not for men's soccer.
BILL SYPAWKA
President
Pitt-Greenville Soccer Association
