Central Washington Discontinues Rugby as a Varsity Sport
Central Washington Discontinues Rugby as a Varsity Sport
Three days after their rugby teams lost in the playoffs, Central Washington University has decided to discontinue varsity support for its two rugby programs.
Both the Men's and Women's rugby teams were varsity level. Both had enjoyed very good seasons this year. However, the decision had little to do with performance on the field and much, much more to do with financial issues.
In a letter to faculty and staff sign by both Dennis Francois, CWU's Director of Athletics, and University President A. James Wohlpart, the University said:
"After carefully weighing all of our options in recent months, CWU Athletics has decided to discontinue varsity sponsorship of our men’s and women’s rugby programs at the end of the current academic year. Given the budget challenges that we face in the next biennium due to decreased enrollment and state-level reductions, we determined that foregoing varsity status for rugby would provide the department with more financial flexibility to cover rising operational expenses for our remaining 13 varsity sports programs."
Facing decreasing enrollment is an issue many universities will encounter in the coming years. A reduction in the interest in college, combined with a smaller population of college-age students has had many calling it the "Enrollment Cliff."
According to InsideHigherEd.com, 2025 is supposed to be the peak of the population of 18-year-olds in the USA (3.9 million), and the next 15 years will see that number drop by about a percentage point a year.
This has many colleges concerned that they won't get enough students to pay the bills.
The University internal announcement also said:
"Needless to say, this was an extremely difficult decision, and we know this news is incredibly disappointing for our student-athletes, coaches, and the entire CWU community. We care deeply about our coaches and student-athletes, and we understand that this announcement has had a tremendous impact on their lives.
As our coaches and student-athletes begin to consider new opportunities, CWU is doing everything we can to help them land on their feet. Most notably, we will honor current rugby athletic scholarships for one additional year. We will also provide resources to help the athletes navigate the transfer process.
With the varsity rugby era at CWU coming to a close, we want everyone in the Wildcat community to know that this decision is by no means a reflection on our student-athletes or coaching staffs. Everyone connected with the CWU rugby programs over the past 10 years has performed at an extremely high level, and their success in competition and in the classroom speaks for itself."
CWU Women's Rugby is coached by Matt Ramirez and just two years ago crowned Keia Mae Sagapolu as its first MA Sorensen Award winner as the top female collegiate rugby player. CWU Men's Rugby is coached by Todd Thornley and wing Oscar Treacy is a Rugby Scholz Award finalist.
Central Washington University also said it will honor scholarships for the 2025-26 academic year.
