Football Withdraws From Conference
The Board of Trustees approved the withdrawal at its monthly meeting on Feb. 26 and Head Coach Mike Muehling agreed with this being a direct result of the college’s financial problems.
“I think the financial problems of the school will be felt in every facet of every program on campus, not just the football program, and everyone will have to make sure they are fiscally responsible,” Muehling said.
The college had been in the NE Conference for more than a decade but is in Division III and the rest of the programs in the conference are Division I and are better financially supported than Hudson Valley.
“As far as operating expenses go, the next closest to us was more than double than ours and some of them are 10 times more than us,” Athletic Director Kristan Pelletier said.
“It is tough to compete with schools who can offer students so much more than us,” said Muehling.
Teams in the conference such as ASA and Nassau can offer up to 85 athletic scholarships that include benefits such as room and board. Hudson Valley cannot offer any.
“Our football team was at a competitive disadvantage and we don’t have the same goals as some of the other schools in the conference that have to be in a bowl game every year,” Pelletier said.
However, being an Independent doesn’t mean they cannot reach a bowl game.
“There are so many bowl games I didn’t know about and if we do what we have to do during the year, we will find ourselves in one,” Muehling said.
“We are a lot like Notre Dame as a football program,” Assistant Athletic Director, Justin Hoyt.
Hudson Valley last won the NE Conference Championship in 2004, and has not been to a bowl game since the Graphic Edge Bowl in Cedar Falls, Iowa, in 2003.
Student athletes at Hudson Valley need not be discouraged if they are not winning as a Viking. The goal is for the future.
“It’s great to win national championships and it’s rewarding for us, but if our guys aren’t moving on to four year institutions, then we have absolutely failed,” said Pelletier.
“I don’t think this will affect our main goal of getting guys to move on to four year schools,” said Muehling.
Now that Hudson Valley is an Independent program, it takes on the responsibility of making its own schedule.
“We get to choose the teams we play instead of the teams we are bound to play,” Pelletier said.
Muehling said, “Our seasons and games will have better flow and I think that will help us.”
Instead of taking a trip to Louisburg, North Carolina, they look to schedule opportunities against local NCAA programs to which players could be interested in transferring.
“Now that we can schedule games ourselves, we can get some exposure to schools we couldn’t before,” Muehling said.
“It will give our players a lot more exposure,” said Hoyt.
“We’re hoping Union and RPI JV,” Pelletier said.
Out of all 16 teams Hudson Valley has, the only other Independent team is Ice Hockey, which made it to the National Tournament this season. All of the others compete with other Region III programs.
With two wins in the last two years, this move hopes to bring in success.
“It’s been a very positive decision with everyone involved,” Pelletier said. “I think they will be put in a better situation to be successful.”
“It was the necessary thing to happen and I don’t think it will hurt the program,” Muehling said.
“We’re going to move forward and we’re going to beat the teams on our schedule and that’s all we can do,” he said.