The recent economic crisis is taking its toll on people and institutions, and Loyola University athletics is no exception. While the athletics department hasn’t felt the sting yet, it could in the future, according to Michael Giorlando, athletic director and men’s basketball coach.

Loyola’s endowment fund took a hit in the recent stock market collapse. On top of the financial crisis, Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav dented the school’s budget and contributed to its current $5.4 million annual deficit, according to Jay Calamia, vice president for finance and administration.

The school’s economic woes won’t directly and immediately effect Loyola’s athletic department because school sports are funded outside of the annual budget, Giorlando said.

“The current situation won’t directly effect us because our money is generated by student fees and donations,” he said.

In budget parlance, Loyola’s sports teams are “student funded,” meaning they rely on donations made by alumni, mostly former athletes and parents of current players, through the “Packbackers Club.” This fundraising tool gathers donations from different people to support the athletic programs, Giorlando said. The money the club raises pays the coaches and all other aspects of the sports program.

Giorlando said the school distributes the money to ensure that areas of need are covered. There hasn’t been a decrease in donations yet, but with the recent economic developments Giorlando is closely watching contributions.

“We haven’t seen a decrease in the donations, but this economic situation is only weeks old, and we just sent out this year’s ‘Packbackers’ brochure, so we’ll see how the response will be,” Giorlando said.

In addition to the equipment and the coaches, student athletes might personally be affected by the financial crisis. However, Giorlando is confident this won’t be a distraction on the court. “I have always had a couple of guys who have outside jobs and worked around our practices and time schedule, so that’s not unusual,” Giorlando said.

The league has also addressed the economic difficulties. At the Gulf Coast Athletics Conference meeting, the coaches from different universities shared their concern with budgets and enrollment and how it might effect the teams, Giorlando said. “Money is always an issue. The conference is always very concerned and understands that travel is expensive,” Giorlando said.

Loyola is also seeking sponsors willing to represent the Loyola sports teams, Giorlando said.

“Brett Simpson does a great job going out and securing sponsorships for the sports complex, media guides and game day sponsorships,” he said.

In addition, some sports have supplemental ways of raising money.

“Baseball, for example, has ‘hit-a-thons’ and ‘home run-a-thons’ where they can raise money to go along with the other programs,” Giorlando said.

As a part of the “Packbackers Club,” the athletic department created a brochure to send people with information about honors the athletics teams have earned and how people can contribute to the athletics program. The brochure contains a list with information about how much money is needed for specific items like volleyballs, uniforms, transportation and officials, among other things.

The school has done a good job supporting the athletics department, according to Giorlando. “We’ve gotten great support from the administration. They understand that for us it’s difficult. We have to prognosticate how many students are going to be here for the fall and spring, and I have to distribute a budget based on those numbers,” Giorlando said.

Eduardo Gonzalez can be reached at [email protected].