Dealing With Program Cancellation - Kendall Brooks

The worst professional news a college coach could ever receive is to be told that their program has been cancelled. Too many coaches have had to deal with this terrible news over the last few months. Kendall Brooks, the former head women’s coach at St. Edwards, discusses her experience of losing her program earlier this summer. In 2018 she led the team to their highest national ranking in school history and were runners-up in their conference. However, all her efforts in bringing the team to national prominence were not considered when the program was canceled in May. In 2018, Brooks brought the Hilltoppers to their highest national ranking in school history at #17 and was named the Wilson ITA South Central Coach of the year Kendall takes listeners through this unexpected experience and provides coaches with some advice should they face a similar fate. Key parts of this conversation have been minute-marked for your listening convenience: 01:45 - When you accepted the position at St. Edwards, were you aware of any possibility that the program would be in jeopardy? 02:50 - Did you ever feel any concerns in the last few years of the program being in jeopardy? 04:35 - Did you experience any budget cuts or were you asked to increase roster size? 05:00 - Were you involved in any fundraising projects or asked to help? 06:40 - Did the decision to cut the program make sense in hindsight or are you still confused? 07:23 - Do you believe any of your great accomplishments were considered when they cut the program and does winning matter at all? 08:30 - How did you hear about the program cut and how did you share the news about the cut with your players? 10:14 - Do you think the program cut was in the works beforehand? 10:45 - Who was on the call when you received the news of the program cut? 11:23 - What are the emotions following the news & how do you communicate that news? 14:10 - Was assistance or information did the athletic department provide to you? 15:27 - If you had received more time about the news of a program cut, what would you have done? 18:18 - What were the reasons provided to you for the cut? Why tennis? 19:24 - Is there anything that you would have done differently in years gone by? What advice do you have? 22:17 - Do you plan to return to college tennis? 24:04 - What was your relationship like with your sport supervisor? Who did you report to? 25:10 - If you did go back to college coaching - would you go to your Athletic Director and have the conversation about program sustainability? 26:10 - Is there any advice for coaches who may be concerned about cuts or for coaches that have experienced cuts? 28:14 - Do you have any advice on how to handle program cancellation from a mental perspective? 29:30 - Do you think St. Edward's University will reinstate tennis in the future?