Staten Island, NY | The College of Staten Island will be discontinuing its men's and women's tennis programs effective immediately.
"The decision to no longer sponsor tennis at the College of Staten Island was extremely difficult and was made with the long-term interests of CSI student-athletes in mind," said CSI Director of Athletics Charles Gomes. "As we are in the midst of one of the most challenging periods of our nation's history, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of all sport offerings. Taking into consideration data such as participation numbers and the long-term financial implications of supporting all of CSI student-athletes, ultimately the decision was made to discontinue the men's and women's tennis programs."
CSI's decision was made in line with the profound challenges facing college campuses and athletic sponsorship at this time around the nation. A comprehensive and thorough review of CSI's sport offerings and long-term budget implications of supporting the number of student-athletes currently at CSI has been in effect throughout the 2019-20 academic year, CSI's first as a provisional member of NCAA Division II and the East Coast Conference, and based on the review, CSI Athletics made the decision to no longer sponsor a men's or women's tennis program.
Despite the discontinuation, CSI does still plan to offer the sport as an intramural activity and as a student club with the hopes of garnering enough interest to return to varsity status in the future years.
"We are making this decision now to enable our tennis student-athletes the opportunity to play at another institution if they choose to do so. For student-athletes who elect to remain at CSI we will offer tennis as a club sport as a part of the college's intramural offerings and they will continue to be a part of the Dolphin family."
CSI tennis started play within NCAA Division III during the 1977-78 season, with the men claiming 10 CUNYAC titles and the women five over that span. CSI has plans to enter the 2020-21 academic year, their second as a provisional NCAA Division II institution and their first in the partial-scholarship model with 14 intercollegiate sports.
