Through
the partnership, the University along with the Loggers are attempting to raise
$600,000 for the necessary improvements to Copeland Field. As of this point,
due in large part to a $300,000 donation from Festival Foods, the Loggers,
along with UW-La Crosse, are well on their way to their goal. Josh Whitman, UWL a.d.,
has stated that none of the financial responsibilities of this partnership will
at any time fall on the students.
In
2012, the Athletic Department announced a partnership with the local
semiprofessional baseball team. The Loggers approached UW-La Crosse with an
idea for a sponsorship deal. The idea was centered around a fund raising effort
by the Loggers to be able to pay for a new video scoreboard, new batting cages,
and new dugouts.
The
partnership stemmed from 2010, when the University of Wisconsin La Crosse athletic
department was faced with some difficult financial decisions surrounding its
baseball team. With little funding, and a list of needs, the program was forced
to cut the part of the budget that paid the $35-40,000 of salary owed to the
head coach. This cut made the head coach’s salary come entirely from fund
raising. “I didn’t think it was fair to ask our coach to go out and raise money
for his own salary,” said Whitman.
