Spring Break
Baseball finally returning to Drexel University
Shawn Gauby
Issue date: 4/6/07 Section: Sports
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Many students cannot remember the last time the University fielded a baseball team. Only fifth-year seniors have the luxury of being able to witness Division-I baseball on campus. The Department of Athletics cut the baseball program in May 2003 due to financial problems, and there have been no substantial attempts to bring back the team.
The absence of baseball has left a void in Drexel Athletics. Baseball is a popular spring sport in Philadelphia, and not fielding a baseball team at Drexel would seem wrong and downright un-American. While University administration has turned a blind-eye to the prospects of bringing back the baseball program, two students took the initiative to bring America's pastime back to campus.
Shishir Bankapur and Nicholas Simmons began a grassroots effort to begin a club team to compete in the 2007 season. They filed the initial paperwork, recruited players by displaying flyers across campus, and landed a head coach. Sean Joyce is an alumnus who was an infielder for two seasons of varsity baseball, graduating in 1998. Joyce works in the Athletic Department as the Corporate Sales Manager. He jumped at the opportunity to bring baseball back to the University after witnessing the elimination of the varsity team in 2003.
"It didn't go over that well at all when both baseball and volleyball were dropped," Joyce said. "There was no warning or anything. That was the biggest issue. All of a sudden, the season was over and they told them the program was done. It definitely was not seen well on campus by the teams or the student body as a whole."
With many of the administrative positions filled, the team began practicing in the spring of 2006, and a series of exhibition games were scheduled for the following fall. The club team joined the National Club Baseball Association (NCBA) and will play a full league schedule this spring. The roster swelled to over 30 by the end of the exhibition season last November. However, the true test to see who was committed to playing baseball came when winter practices began.
The absence of baseball has left a void in Drexel Athletics. Baseball is a popular spring sport in Philadelphia, and not fielding a baseball team at Drexel would seem wrong and downright un-American. While University administration has turned a blind-eye to the prospects of bringing back the baseball program, two students took the initiative to bring America's pastime back to campus.
Shishir Bankapur and Nicholas Simmons began a grassroots effort to begin a club team to compete in the 2007 season. They filed the initial paperwork, recruited players by displaying flyers across campus, and landed a head coach. Sean Joyce is an alumnus who was an infielder for two seasons of varsity baseball, graduating in 1998. Joyce works in the Athletic Department as the Corporate Sales Manager. He jumped at the opportunity to bring baseball back to the University after witnessing the elimination of the varsity team in 2003.
"It didn't go over that well at all when both baseball and volleyball were dropped," Joyce said. "There was no warning or anything. That was the biggest issue. All of a sudden, the season was over and they told them the program was done. It definitely was not seen well on campus by the teams or the student body as a whole."
With many of the administrative positions filled, the team began practicing in the spring of 2006, and a series of exhibition games were scheduled for the following fall. The club team joined the National Club Baseball Association (NCBA) and will play a full league schedule this spring. The roster swelled to over 30 by the end of the exhibition season last November. However, the true test to see who was committed to playing baseball came when winter practices began.
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