Hometown, Alaska Alaska Public Media

Back in late August, UAA’s chancellor Cathy Sandeen announced a difficult financial decision: university funding for women’s gymnastics, men’s hockey and men’s and women’s skiing would be eliminated. A campus town hall to discuss, and UA regents’ action at their Sept.10 meeting gave the athletic teams the opportunity to try and support themselves. The ski team managed to save Nordic, but lost alpine, and half of its funding.Here we are four months later, still in the throes of a spreading pandemic and an oil-price and pandemic-induced economic decline in the state. How are the state university teams’ survival efforts going?On the next Hometown Alaska, we’ll feature the coaches for gymnastics, hockey and skiing to share how they plan to survive. If their fundraising is successful, what’s the next step? Are they folded back into the university athletic family once again?As always, your questions and comments are welcome throughout the program. Join us!HOST: Kathleen McCoyGUESTS:Sparky Anderson, UAA NCAA men’s a