‘ ‘ ‘ Last week Ed Matz, long-time girls soccer coach, abruptly resigned, leaving for UMass. Hot on the heels of two of the programs most successful season, right after Matz was named CAA coach of the year, Matz leaves, for what is in all likelihood a lesser-quality program. Why would he do that? Why, after two successful seasons that saw a CAA Championship and a CAA regular season title, would our coach leave? According to Matz, the same person charged with terminating football caused Matz to make his decision: Athletic Director Peter Roby.
‘ ‘ ‘ When Roby buried the football program last semester, at some point he said it was for the best. All that money going into football would be redistributed. Well it was. Seven sports at Northeastern, men and women’s, received these redistributed funds ‘- but not women’s soccer. Seven teams at Northeastern that didn’t win a conference championship in 2008 apparently take precedence over our red-hot women’s soccer program. This didn’t sit well with Matz, who promptly submitted his resignation letter.
‘ ‘ ‘ Perhaps Roby doesn’t like sports that involve the term foot, or its use in general play. But after two and half years as Northeastern’s athletic director, Roby has recently sent NU’s sports programs through tumult,, provoking the ire from a large percentage of the student population paying attention, and become the figure-head for a wave of transparency issues that students are tired of.
‘ ‘ ‘ When contacted Tuesday to speak on Matz’s resignation, Roby declined to speak with The News. We strive to be the paper of record for Northeastern University, and this being an important event, the students have some right to know why the dominos are falling this way.
‘ ‘ ‘ Roby instead decided he had no need to explain what happened when our coach of the year left. Or that the students didn’t have a right to know why our emerging soccer dynasty had its legs cut out from under it. Either way, Roby in essence told the student body he didn’t care about their questions.
‘ ‘ ‘ It’s been a hectic year at Northeastern, as the administration has made announcement after announcement that will have lasting implications here at Northeastern. And as we jump up the college rankings by leaps and bounds, its starting to become clear that these announcements that Roby and the administration don’t care about sports here at Northeastern. Twice this year now they’ve committed actions which at the end of the day weaken our sports community.
‘ ‘ ‘ It’s unfortunate that Roby’s name and reputation keep being thrown about as if he were solely responsible for the behind-the-scenes turmoil over in the athletic department. He almost certainly isn’t ‘- this is the result a lot of people in the administration, probably higher than Roby. Northeastern is an academic institution. And the administrators have said time and again that their goal is to turn Northeastern into a top tier academic institution. It seems along the way sports is clearly getting shafted and left with little consideration about success and the future of Husky Athletics.
‘ ‘ ‘ It seems worthless to continue bantering and complaining about Roby’s actions, whether they are good or bad. Northeastern has a proven track record of making unilateral decisions with no input or feedback from the student body. And why shouldn’t they? It’s a private university. The administrators know better.
Or do they?