In early December, Lindenwood, a public university located in St. Charles Missouri, made the controversial decision to cut nine of its D1 athletic programs at the end of the 2024 season. These nine sports include: Men’s Lacrosse, Men and Womens swim & dive, Men’s tennis, Men’s indoor and outdoor track, Mens wrestling, Women’s field hockey, and Womens gymnastics. Women’s field hockey however ended the day of the announcement, a decision that sources say left the team utterly shocked. “Our coaches told us they didn’t know what it [the assembly] was about,” said freshman Audrey Woods. “But then over the next 24 hours, we started talking with other teams, and they started to get scared, and athletic trainers, advisers and coaches had no idea what it was about. And so the rumor was just kind of that they were cutting teams, but a lot of people didn’t think it was going to happen, because there were teams like gymnastics and lacrosse who were in it” says Woods. According to the University, these nine sports were cut in order to ‘better integrate athletics with peer institutions’. Lindenwood first became a D1 program prior to the 2022-2023 school year; they were previously D2 in all athletic programs. What made the decision extra disadvantageous was the fact that most teams had significant success. The Women’s Gymnastics team for example, won the USA Gymnastics Women’s Collegiate National Championship four times out of their ten year history and are current reigning champs. Ever since switching to D1 in 2022, Lindenwood has competed in the Ohio Valley Conference which includes 11 colleges such as SEMO and Tennessee state.
Along with the 300 or so student athletes losing their scholarshipped sport, nine staff members also lost their jobs. Coaches and athletes alike say that they were completely blindsided by the decision.
Although this decision poses a devastating blow for athletes and staff alike, the University claims to be offering assistance to everyone who is considering transferring schools. However, many student athletes have spoken out about making the decision to quit their collegiate sport altogether because of the verdict.
