University of Idaho could cut women’s soccer, swimming and diving, and men’s golf

MOSCOW, Idaho – The University of Idaho is facing a budget dilemma that could result in cutting three of its athletic programs.

Vandals soccer captain and senior defender Kelly Dopke, who also is the student-athlete advisory committee president, was in a meeting last Wednesday with President Chuck Staben when she learned the potential for the school to cut the programs: women’s soccer, swimming and diving, and men’s golf.

Swimming and diving and men’s golf were likely targets for elimination because they aren’t among the 13 core sports required by the Big Sky Conference.

The university asked the Big Sky for a waiver from its sports requirements in March and that was denied, Staben said, which left soccer as the only other sport that could be cut. It’s not a core sport because Montana State doesn’t have it.

The Vandals soccer program won back-to-back Big Sky championships in 2015-16. The University of Idaho does not have a men’s soccer program.