MOUNT PLEASANT – The remainder of the Iowa Wesleyan College football program’s spring practice season, including the spring scrimmage scheduled for this Friday, April 16th, has been cancelled.
Head Coach Kent Anderson announced the decision on Tuesday in response to what he and the Tiger coaching staff felt was unsatisfactory progress in the classroom by several members of the team this spring.
“Our team’s number one priority is academics, and we have not been doing the job academically,” Anderson said. “We felt we needed to send a message to the team that they need to be accountable in the classroom.
“This decision may strike a sour cord with some, but academics is our priority…we cannot and will not accept sub-par performance and attendance in the classroom.”
Anderson’s decision was backed by IWC Athletic Director Mike Hampton. “Coach Anderson has been consistent from the time he took over in making academics the number one priority in the IWC football program,” Hampton said. “I fully support him and the message he is sending in making this difficult decision.”
Coach Anderson emphasized that it has not been all members of the team who have not been fulfilling their obligations. He also noted that there were a number of positives in the spring practice season, his first as head coach of the Tigers after taking over the position in December.
“Our spring practices have been outstanding,” Anderson said. “We’ve been upbeat on the field, our practices were really good, we got a lot done, and we had the best participation numbers we’ve had in a long time. But our effort on the field has to be congruent with our effort in the classroom.”
In place of the scrimmage Friday night, the IWC coaching staff will be hosting an informal conversation with fans and alumni on Friday night at 6 p.m. at Little Mexico Restaurant. The evening will include a review of the football program, including a clinic on offense, defense and the entire program under Coach Anderson.
The cancellation of the spring scrimmage also does not affect the IWC Football Alumni and Friends golf outing, which will go on as planned Saturday. The annual golf outing will take place Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Mt. Pleasant Golf and Country Club. More information on the tourney is available at http://www.iwcfootballalumniandfriends.org/index.htm.
The Tigers open their 2010 season on Aug. 28 at Trinity International (Ill.) University in Deerfield, Ill. IWC will open the home portion of its schedule against Coe College on Sept. 4 at 6 p.m. at Evans Field at the Mapleleaf Athletic Complex.
For more information regarding the IWC football program or any of the Tiger athletic teams, contact sports information director Adam Glatczak (319-385-6306 phone; 319-385-6384 FAX; aglatczak@iwc.edu e-mail) or log on to IWC's athletics Web site at www.iwc.edu/athletics.
