Despite their financial burdens, UCLA still a hardworking crew

Thursday, May 16, 1996

By Scott Yabroff

Daily Bruin Contributor

Some people might think that UCLA athletics have every comfort
and convenience at their fingertips. The basketball teams play in a
beautiful, modern arena that seats thousands of people right down
Bruin Walk. The football team gets the opportunity to fly out to
Hawaii for an all-expenses paid vacation with a little game thrown
in for good measure. And, of course, those Power Bar shirts.

The women’s crew team, however, receives none of these perks
that come with competing in a multi-million dollar sports
machine.

Officially cut from UCLA athletic funding in 1991, the Bruins
have persisted through tremendous financial burdens placed upon its
members. The rowers pay for their own equipment and
transportation.

Last weekend the Bruins paid for themselves to fly up and
compete at the prestigious Pacific Coast Rowing Championships at
Lake Matomo near Sacramento. And, in a trend consistent with the
rest of the season, the Bruins’ Varsity Eight was successful,
finishing third out of 18 behind national powers Western Washington
and Gonzaga.

The Bruins won one of three heats to qualify for the grand
final, posting a season-best 6:54 in the 2,000-meter race. In the
process, they demolished rival UC Davis by an astounding 42
seconds.

"Winning the bronze up there was great," second-year rower
Melanie Shornick said. "Beating all the other schools that receive
all this funding is great."

The Bruins are one of the few teams nationally and the only team
in the Pacific 10 that doesn’t receive funding to buy equipment and
provide transportation. Even more frustrating, the Bruins practice
and compete at the UCLA Marina Aquatic Center in Marina Del Rey.
Thus, they don’t receive the exposure that most other teams on
campus would. The football team, for example, practices on
Spaulding Field, an on-campus location highly visible to the
students.

"It’s tough when you don’t have funding," Shornick said. "And
when the only exposure you get is from the school newspaper it
doesn’t help either."

In accordance with Title IX, UCLA will have to add another
women’s sport to its athletic funding next year, but according to
Shornick, it will probably be lacrosse.

"If it is lacrosse, then we’ll just continue to work hard and
pay for ourselves," she said.

Despite the financial difficulties, women’s crew still fields
strong teams each year, as the Bruins annually begin training in
September and maintain a constant level of intensity. They practice
nine or 10 times per week during the fall and winter quarters in
preparation for the season which revolves around the spring
quarter.

Thus far this season, the Bruins have competed and been
successful in several multi-team competitions in addition to dual
meets. The Bruins will travel to Stanford to finish the season on
the weekend of May 25 and 26 to compete in the Pac-10
championships.

Considering the lack of funding, coupled with the lack of
student support, the Bruins have managed to put together another
successful year. Still, the Pac-10 championships offer a great
opportunity to finish off the season on a high note.

"We’re thrilled with the season so far," Shornick said. "But
we’re really looking forward to going up to Northern California
again and doing some good things."

… cut from UCLA athletic funding in 1991 … rowers pay for
their own equipment and transportation.