SGB revokes allocations cap for Pitt’s club sports

‘ ‘ ‘ Student Government Board revoked the competition cap for club sports groups during… ‘ ‘ ‘ Student Government Board revoked the competition cap for club sports groups during Tuesday night’s meeting. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Starting this fall, club sports organizations will be able to request any dollar amount for items like tournaments, food and traveling and lodging expenses.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ SGB President Kevin Morrison said the decision follows several years of long discussions among board members about the $5,000 cap. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘The allocations committee can’t break the competition cap under any circumstances,’ said Morrison. ‘Doing away with the cap allows the people who know the most about the topic on the table, allocations, to make proper decisions about what these sports groups need.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Catherine Scaccia, a member of Lady Panthers Club Soccer, said she thought the decision was great because it would benefit club sports groups, especially in a competitive sense. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘This will allow us to readjust our plans a lot easier than we can right now,’ said Scaccia. ‘Right now, we’re always worried about whether or not one tournament will hinder us competing in another tournament because of a money issue. This’ll make things a lot easier for all of us.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Bill Egan, president and captain of Men’s Panther Lacrosse, agreed. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘There’s no reason to limit our sports teams over a simple number,’ said Egan. ‘This is definitely a step in the right direction as far as getting recognized by the University for us.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Egan experienced the effects of the competition cap first-hand. Before the board revoked the cap, SGB had to postpone two of the team’s allocations requests to crunch numbers. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘This is evidence of what the cap does,’ said Egan. ‘We aren’t even asking for food or anything, just basic travel and lodging. Hopefully this can be avoided more easily once the cap is officially removed.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Morrison agreed the decision would be good regarding club sports teams, but said he wanted to make sure that groups would not automatically receive funding because of the cap removal.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Under no circumstances does this mean that club sports groups will receive more funding because there’s no cap,’ said Morrison. ‘I just want to make that absolutely clear.’