Salem International is reorganizing its athletics program in an effort to enhance equipment, facilities, coaching and support.

The reorganization includes discontinuing men’s and women’s golf, men’s tennis and women’s volleyball. Those sports were identified after the school conducted a review of its overall program.

The review came after the Division II Committee on Infractions penalized the school with three years of probation and a reduction of scholarships last November for using ineligible players and demonstrating a lack of institutional control. The West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference also declared Salem International ineligible for regular-season and postseason conference team titles in 2009-10.

Athletics Director Keith Bullion told The Associated Press that the review identified the four sports being dropped as “having the least impact on student-athletes.”

“We’ve had trouble with rosters and fielding those squads,” he said. “We fielded the women’s golf team with no one who was a golfer. Our softball team played volleyball, essentially. In fact, a number of them played golf for us as well. A lot of those decisions quite frankly don’t make any sense.”

Salem International will field 10 sports in 2009-10: baseball, softball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s swimming, and men’s and women’s water polo. 

The university also announced plans for a new multi-sports complex on campus that will include
a new athletic training suite. Other capital projects for 2009-10 include renovations to coaches’ offices, team locker rooms, equipment storage and team meeting rooms. The school also is establishing a steering committee to study the feasibility of a new on-campus soccer/softball/football stadium complex. That couples a feasibility study the school is conducting to consider reinstating football, which was dropped in 1989.

“The commitment of resources that affords the opportunity to improve on our foundation of intercollegiate athletics is exciting,” Bullion said in a statement on the school’s athletics Web site. “SIU has a proud tradition of success and we look forward to continuing in that tradition and being committed to competitive teams that are successful in the right way.”

Chancellor J. William Brooks said the athletics upgrades complement extensive renovations to dormitories, classrooms, campus technology, the cafeteria, the swimming pool and entertainment lounges. Salem International experienced a 16 percent increase in enrollment in last fall and expects a 15 to 20 percent increase this coming year.  

“Salem International University seeks to support its athletics teams with quality facilities, excellence in coaching, and the institutional support in terms of scholarship, operating budgets and support personnel that will provide all SIU teams with the means to be successful in the conference and realistic expectation of performing at the highest levels in NCAA Division II,” Brooks said. “By allocating resources in this focused manner, SIU’s sports will be contenders for championship and postseason play within three years.”