Dinos Field Hockey is on the brink of extinction - and we need your help.

On April 15, 2009, the University of Calgary Athletic Department announced that it would be cutting funding women's field hockey and men's soccer in order to use those funds to further the core 8 sports in which it believes it has the best chance of winning.

In the press release the Athletic Department described the rationale used to select these teams to no longer receive funding:

"Men’s soccer and women’s field hockey have traditionally been the Dinos’ least successful programs both on and off the field. During the review, each of the 15 Dinos varsity programs were evaluated on 13 criteria ranging from historical program success and number of participating schools to stakeholder support and annual scholarships provided to student-athletes."

We are proud of the field hockey team's tradition as one of the strongest academic teams at the university, where it has over the years consistently provided more Academic All-Canadians by percentage than any other group. We are proud of the community involvement of the current players and all the alumni who go out into the community and make high school, junior and high-performance programs possible as coordinators, coaches and umpires, not just in field hockey but other sports as well. We are proud of the doctors, lawyers, medical researchers, mothers, health care practitioners, teachers, entrepreneurs and so much more who all learned the value of commitment, determination and sacrifice with their Dino teammates.

We have been and will continue to be a successful program because we learn that although our journey as athletes may not take us to the national championship, we gain something far more important along the way.

The challenge before our Dinos Field Hockey program is that we must become self-funded in order to continue to compete in the CIS. To meet this challenge, the Dino Women's Field Hockey Alumni Association ("DWFHAA") has launched the "Preserve The Species" Campaign to save the program and continue our tradition of excellence.

It's easy to help. Simply make a monthly donation via PayPal using the handy buttons below. With PayPal you can use a credit card, debit your chequing account or use your PayPal balance to make a contribution. If you don't see the option you want or would rather send cheques, please contact the .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and we'd be happy to help. Donations can also be made via the Athletic Department's Adopt-A-Dino Program if you'd prefer a tax receipt.

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