Do i need to make an LRA category for squash now??
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The guy who gave $120 mil to start the School of Data Science also loves squash: Story of Us - UVa School of Data Science - Story of Us
Another passion of Woodriffâs is squash, and he wanted UVA to field a team. But, Teresa Sullivan recalls, as with many aspects of higher education, there were resource limitations.
âI sat down with Jaffray and basically said, âLook, if this is what you want, youâre pretty much going to have to endow it because weâre just not going to have the resources in athletics to stretch it to another team,ââ Sullivan says she told Woodriff.
Woodriff would end up supporting the establishment of menâs and womenâs varsity squash teams and construction of the McArthur Squash Center.
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I knew it was a single donor (almost immediately made us one of the top squash programs in the country), but didnât realize it was the same donor as data science.
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Hey! The squash teams are actually good! Mark and Grant have done a fantastic job. The womenâs team was nationally ranked when they were still just a club!
Iâve probably told this story before, but the squash center getting built and the clubs becoming NCAA teams was really intelligently done (and deep pockets helped enormously).
Jaffray loves squash (and he at least used to be pretty good. I played him once and he absolutely murdered me) and he initially wanted UVA to promote the club teams to NCAA teams but UVA said no.
So, he donated enough money to build the squash center. And on top of that, my understanding is he donated additional money to create an endowment the income stream from which paid for Mark to be director of the squash center (but really to be coach of the club teams) and cover maintaining the squash center. That way the squash center is its own thing, and its connected to the Boars Head Sports Club, but theyâre legally distinct. That way if the sports club had issues it couldnât just neglect the squash center.
Once that was built, they started hosting national-level events (because it was both beautiful and brand new) and the club teams rapidly got genuinely good and occasionally top 25 (Markâs a great coach and was a worldwide top 20 player when he was younger). This all got UVA on the map for squash.
Then, Mark and Jaffray went to UVA and said âThe womenâs team is ranked and the menâs is close, and we have one of, if not the, nicest squash facility in the ACC. NOW can you make squash an NCAA sport?â
UVA was like âSigh. FINE⌠if you pay for half of it.â Jaffray raised the money (I have no idea what role VAF played), they hired Grant, Mark got to drop the illusion that running the squash center was his real job instead of coaching (he hated running it), and everyone lived happily every after.
And thatâs how, despite its best efforts, UVA ended up with perennial top-10 mens and womenâs squash teams.
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https://x.com/mikerodak/status/1922650068554809559
thatâs the stupidest thing Iâve ever heard." -rest of the quote that was cut off.
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Parking passes for the lots right outside Scott Stadium now require a minimum VAF donation of $7,500. Theyâre squeezing the remaining season ticket-holders of perhaps the worst sports program at UVa.
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Absolute absurdity there
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I guess they thought that the Groh-era reseating exercise was such a roaring success, what could possibly go wrong?
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Having flashbacks of 2005-2006 being a townie living directly across the street from the stadium on Stadium rd and selling spots in the yard for $40 to help pay my bills
Oh yeah, and for the Rolling Stones concert that year too
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When I did my seat selection a couple weeks ago, I noticed there were a lot more empty parking spots around the stadium compared to last year. When I was clicking around, I didnât realize I would have had to up my donation. I ended up passing anyway, since I prefer parking over near the Corner and walking over for most games.
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Why doesnât Scott stadium host more events during the year?
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Thatâs going to go super poorly. Casual fans I know donât even realize we probably upgraded at QB. If you werenât following the portal incoming, things are pretty dire.
Donât think I told this story here. I noticed an open parking spot in the West lot 8 spaces from mine, but right next to our friends we tailgate with. Never expected it to be available when I picked, but there it was. I grabbed it and went to checkout and saw that I still owed $4000. Immediately halted and called ticket office to tell them of the glitch in their software. A young lady informed me parking places in that lot required $7500 annual donation. I assumed she was an intern who didnât know what she was talking about. I said, âfor moving 8 spaces?â. Turns out she was correct, but told me that I was grandfathered to my $3500 donation as long as I didnât move. Guess what, didnât move.
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And thatâs where Iâm unsure, too â how long folks are grandfathered.
Section 125 also requires a minimum $7,500 gift, too.
Right, I have a couple seats there. But, I am happy with what I have so not moving. This may well be my last year for season tickets, anyway.
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This was a good read, will pull some quotes later:
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