In extensive budget cuts, already approved by the UT Executive Board, a reduction in expenses by €800,000 is planned to happen before 2015. Effective in 2012, the board has announced a budget cut of €140,000. The cut affects the budgets of ten UT sport associations.
In a time when the university needs to reduce its overall budget, paying for the rent of external sports facilities, not located on the campus grounds, is considered too costly an exercise. For that reason, freezing or halting the budget of ten sport associations represents the first major budget cut, of many more to come, in an effort to reduce the budget.
The ending of UT support for housing expenses is feared to effectively end the ten sports associations’ existence, which largely rely on student contributions, the amount of which –considering the often meager budgets of the target group- has to be kept relatively low. ‘Don’t get me wrong,’ says Martin Klein Schaarsberg, External Affairs Officer at the UT Sports Council, ‘most sports activities do take place on the campus. But sometimes it is inevitable to rent rooms in other sport accommodations as well. Enschede is, for example, the only student city with an indoor ice skating rink. The ability to use such accommodations can really add to the sports options that students are offered and connect them to the local culture.’
The Sports Council, an umbrella organization for all 37 student sports associations at the UT, has already announced ‘unique’ protest actions, should their final ‘appeal for help’ to the Executive Board remain unheard. Nikki van Herp, secretary of the Sports Council:‘We fully understand the need to reduce the budget, but believe other measures to do so are also possible, such as cutting back the Sports Center’s overhead costs. Now the associations are de facto being eliminated.’
Since Monday, the Sports Council has resumed negotiations with the campus manager, Student Union and the Sports Center. ‘A first and possibly important outcome is the formation of working groups to consider alternative ways to economize, including within the Sports Centre,’ says Klein Schaarsberg. ‘So hopefully, alternative options can be explored. Meanwhile, we’ll try to convince the UT Executive Board that their measure is unacceptable. This remains our top priority.’
The affected associations include the Slapping Studs (ice hockey), Piranha (swimming, water polo, underwater hockey and diving), VV Drienerlo (indoor and outdoor soccer), DHC (hockey), Ludica (tennis), the Skeuvel (ice skating), High Tech Hitters (baseball), Kronos (athletics), Hippocampus (horseback riding) and Hercules (crossfit).
Marloes van Amerom
