As the only public institution in the Northeast Conference, Central Connecticut State University’s Athletics Department faces challenges in all areas of the program that the NEC’s private colleges and universities are more financially equipped to handle, or sometimes not even faced with.

While other schools within the conference field 30 or more varsity sports, Central stands at just 16 after the recent subtraction of men’s and women’s golf. Athletics Director Tom Pincince said the drop from 18 to 16 sports was for financial reasons.

“We can better distribute the resources that we have to the programs that we have,” Pincince said. “We invest more in those sports so that we can try to be as competitive in those sports as we can be.”

In his third year as CCSU’s Athletics Director, Pincince has faced the competitiveness of his programs from a different point of view. While many programs within the NEC look to compete in the conference’s annual Commissioner’s Cup contest, a battle between the schools in the conference to come out on top as the most successful program, Pincince is not concerned with Central’s showings on that front.

“If the goal was to win the Commissioner’s Cup every year, we would have lots and lots of sports,” he said. “If you look at last year’s numbers for the Commissioner’s Cup, we finished middle of the pack when it came to overall points. We had more points-per-program than any school in the conference.” 

In the 2022-2023 academic year, Central took home six NEC championships, tied for the most in the NEC. The university also paced the conference in percentage of championships won, at 27%, and points-per-team, both for women’s sports and overall sports. Pincince said that the success of the department is not dependent on the amount of money that the program has allotted.

While many bigger schools with more funding and higher tuition find more funding for scholarships through many different avenues, Assistant Athletics Director Amy Strickland said that Central is not hurting for scholarships, partially due to the department’s fundraising efforts.

“I don’t think [state funding] impacts the scholarships,” Strickland said. “If we have to make cuts, we don’t make cuts in scholarships. We make cuts in other areas and use our fundraising to take care of those areas. We don’t want to take the money away from the kids.”

Fifth-year graduate student and baseball player Hunter Pasqualini, from South Windsor, said that, while student-athletes do have to spend a little more on extra equipment outside of the team shirts, cleats and bats that his squad receives, Central takes good care of the student-athletes in larger financial areas, like tuition. 

“Playing against a lot of private schools, a lot of the time you can tell they get a lot more stuff,” Pasqualini said. “But that also comes with higher tuition. As a public university, we get a lot of help, with tuition being what it is. When it comes to sports, they do a good job with getting us what we need.”

Central softball recruiting coordinator Pat Holden said what Central lacks in some areas, it makes up for in others when it comes to recruiting battles with other NEC schools.

“Central has a few things to offer,” Holden said. “One is the number of majors that we have. Secondly, I think that we’re more competitively priced, so the starting block is lower than private or religious schools. I think that puts us a little bit ahead of the game.”

Pasqualini said that the comradery of Central athletics is a positive on its own, and gives CCSU a leg up on its competition.

“It’s a lot on guys to just band together and work hard,” Pasqualini said. “Nobody should feel like they’re better than anybody.”