BY JANET L. METZNER and BOB HERTZEL
The Dominion Post
Funding for the WVU rifle team is official again this year.
On Monday, the state Legislature's Joint Budget Conference Committee put a $100,000 line item into the state budget earmarked for use by the rifle team.
"I'm very happy to see that was fulfilled and that the rifle team will have that $100,000 for the upcoming year," said Delegate Bob Beach, DMonongalia.
Bill Nevin, spokesman for WVU, said it was WVU's intent to give the team the $100,000 all along, as President David C. Hardesty Jr. indicated earlier this year.
"My understanding is that the $100,000 for the rifle team was contained in our main state budget appropriation for fiscal year 2006 that began July 1," he said. "While the line item language (was) taken out by the governor, the funding is still there. And it is definitely our intention to fund the team again. That was never in doubt."
Still, Delegate Cindy Frich, R- Monongalia, said the mandate is a relief, and shows the state's support for the team.
"I think it's difficult to recruit team members when the future of the rifle team is uncertain."
Two years ago, WVU cut its funding to the team along with men's tennis, cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field to cut expenses and help comply with Title DC regulations.
In 2004 the Legislature allocated $100,000 to save the team that has won 13 NCAA championship titles.
Morgantown Mayor Ron Justice said the team is grateful for the monetary support.
"The money is crucial to the survival of the team. It helps put into motion a realistic goal that the endowment group can continue to raise $65,000 plus a year to restore the financing to the level it was at when the sport was dropped," Justice said.
Justice is WVU assistant dean of students and advisor to the team.
He said recruiting efforts are continuing to go well.
"We are very pleased that a lot of the top kids in the country are looking at us," he said.
The team has between eight and 12 members and during recruiting last week, three of the top five athletes said they are considering WVU, he revealed.
According to Justice, the team needs $163,000 each year to operate. The goal is to create a $3.5 million endowment that will be used to fund the annual costs.
Toward that end, the team is holding a fund raising Gun Bash this Saturday at Mylan Park as part of the MountainFest motorcycle rally. The funds raised from that go toward helping pay expenses for the team.
Tickets for the event, which includes three grand prizes — a Chevy Silverado, four-door pickup truck, a Fleetwood Gearbox Camper and a Soft-tail Deluxe Harley Davidson motorcycle — and more than 200 prizes overall, are at sale at 200 locations statewide.