There?s no home field and only two scholarships. Equipment budgets in the past have barely covered the purchase of baseballs, let alone catcher?s equipment.
The Coppin State baseball team ? 0-41 after Wednesday?s 8-3 loss at Georgetown ? has to contend with more than just the opposition.
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“I have two scholarships, where the average baseball team has 11.4 or 11.7,” first-year coach Harvey Lee said. “But I?m not complaining. I?m happy to be at Coppin. I think God put me here for a reason.”
Lee is expecting anywhere from 15 to 25 new players to join the program for the 2008 season, and he?s planning to spread the wealth, divvying his two scholarships among his players.
Total tuition and fees for Maryland residents this year are $4,910, and out-of-state residents will pay $11,933 at Coppin State. Per credit hour, Coppin students pay a $23 fee for athletics.
Coppin State administrator of athletics Dr. Mary Wanza could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Former coach Guy Robertson, who left in July, said it?s tough to imagine the baseball program is being overlooked since the school carries just 13 athletic programs. He said one of the main reasons he left was that he wasn?t getting the proper help, which includes building a baseball facility on or near campus.
“To me, it?s difficult to consistently improve and help your players get better when you don?t have a baseball field at your disposal,” Robertson said. “Whether it?s off campus or on campus ? that?s probably the minimum requirement to have a baseball program.”
According to Robertson, the program had reached its ceiling last year.
“There wasn?t a whole lot of help to take it further,” Robertson said. “There were budget cuts that made me think I wasn?t going to be able to go any further than we were going to take it.”
The financial constraints for recruiting players would lead one to believe that paying to play somewhere would be out of the question. But it?s not.
The Eagles fork over $400 per practice or game at Joe Cannon Stadium in northern Anne Arundel County. Lee is looking into other options, from getting a facility closer to campus to volunteering his time to do camps for the county?s parks and rec program to help offset fees.
“I would love to do that,” Lee said. “In Florida, when they say parks and rec, it means community.”
At least Joe Cannon is a nice park. According to the Anne Arundel County Recreation and Parks Web site, the stadium measures 310 feet down the lines, 380 feet to the power alleys and 410 feet to center. Dugouts, locker rooms and batting cages are on-site and available. The field is used by a handful of local high school teams, as well.
Ruffin Bell, a former Coppin State player who served as an assistant coach for parts of five seasons, including last year, said that not having a home field makes recruiting tough. But he says recruiting is like marketing ? all about how you “sell the program.”
“Do you dwell on that or do you dwell on what?s going to make the program better?” Bell said.
