Santa Barbara City College announced today that the suspension of the Men’s Tennis program will be delayed until after spring semester 2013.
“The majority of the student-athletes participating in Men’s Tennis are from out of the area,” said Ryan Byrne, SBCC Athletics Department Director. “We are sensitive to the impact of the timing of this suspension on these team members’ academic pathways and financial commitments, and Men’s Tennis will move forward with its regularly scheduled season through May 2013.”
The decision to suspend the Men’s Tennis program is due to dwindling local interest and declining retention rates in Intercollegiate Men’s Tennis over the past decade. The college is evaluating its slate of intercollegiate offerings in order to effectively meet emerging interests and abilities expressed by the student population.
“While we will continue to explore other options, we are committed to proceeding with Men’s Tennis this spring,” said Mr. Byrne. “We have a passionate group of young men, many of whom have come a long way to play tennis at SBCC, and we will provide them with that opportunity.”
He added, “The academic success of SBCC student-athletes remains the college’s highest priority.”
SBCC Intercollegiate Athletics is a model student success program as demonstrated by increased retention, degree completion, grade point average and transfer rates by student-athletes when compared to other full-time students.
“We will continue to keep the community up-to-date on our progress and thank everyone for their support of the Vaqueros,” said Mr. Byrne.
