The Fairfield University Athletic Department has an easy way of determining which teams it expects to contend for conference titles: if they receive scholarships, they are expected to compete for a national title.
“We are disappointed when the Tier 1 and 2 sports are not playing in the postseason,” said Eugene Doris, the school’s athletic director. “The other sports are not expected to win their conferences, but we do expect them to be competitive.”
This system of Tiers, to categorize the different sports, is the key to understanding sports at this school. Tier 1 is a fully funded program, like Fairfield men’s and woman’s basketball programs, the only Tier 1 sports at Fairfield. The men get 13 full scholarships each year and the woman get 15.
There are also Tier 2 sports, which are programs that are three-fourths funded, meaning most of the team receive athletic grants. Men’s and woman’s soccer, men’s lacrosse, and woman’s volleyball are in this category.
“We expect these teams to compete at a national level,” said Doris. “And the coach’s job can be in jeopardy if the team is not at this level.”
At this level, Fairfield athletes say they feel the pressure placed on them to perform well.
“I think there is added expectation to win for teams with scholarships,” said Lindsey Sampson ’04, student athlete advisory committee president and member of the Tier 2 woman’s soccer team. “It’s never stated that we have to win, but I feel it is implied.”
She added, “I think some athletes feel the pressure because the school has supported them with financial backing and they want to perform their best.”
Other players on teams with scholarships may not feel there are expectations for them.
“I don’t feel there is added pressure to win,” said Keith Griffin’04, member of the men’s lacrosse team. “If anything we feel more confident in our recruiting and that we’ll be able to get the players we want because we have scholarships to give.”
Sports can also move from different levels. In recent years, the athletic department has decided to place an emphasis on men’s lacrosse and woman’s volleyball, and moved these sports up to Tier 2.
But then there are the Tier 3 and 4 sports, who get partial tuition costs covered.
“These teams do not have to win, but we expect them to compete without scholarships,” said Doris. “Even without scholarships, we feel we can bring in good players because of the school, coaches, and great venue of Fairfield,” he added.
Doris also said that the athletic department works well with admissions and financial aid, in order to bring student athletes into the school.
“The Athletic Center does all the awarding of athletic grants,” said Eric Chiaro, interim director of financial aid.
“The athletic department comes to us if they have a prospective student athlete that needs financial aid in order to come to Fairfield,” he said. “Athletes go through same process of other students for financial aid, and we are willing to give any help we can.”
Athletes who are not on scholarship still feel the pressure to win, just like any other team.
“I think that if we at least had one or two scholarships available to us it would level the playing field,” said Andrea Suriano ’04, member of the woman’s tennis team, a Tier 4 sport.
“We are going up against schools that have international players and even though we have proved that we don’t need scholarships to win a championship it would definitely make things easier,” she said.
This past Sunday, the woman’s tennis team captured the MAAC championship and now they will be heading to nationals.
“We all dedicate the same amount of time and energy to the athletics program, regardless of which sport we play,” said Suriano. “And the hard work has paid off, and we can’t wait for NCAA’s.”
Other players say they understand and are willing to make the best of what they have.
“Obviously there is a clear advantage for some teams due to available scholarships,” said John Fernando ’07, a member of the men’s tennis team.
“But at the same time, I’m very proud of the team’s accomplishments this year. We worked hard all season because we wanted to, not because we had to,” he added.
“Scholarships or not, hopefully we can keep making some noise in the MAAC.”
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