MANKATO — Last spring, Kevin Buisman predicted that eliminating sports from the Minnesota State athletic department was a real possibility, but as he announced a proposal to do that Tuesday, he said it was an emotional day.

“These decisions are never easy,” he said. “As director of athletics, it’s my job to be an advocate for every sport, every student-athlete and every coach. Sometimes, budgetary pressures force you into these decisions.”

Buisman, the Minnesota State athletic director, said he has submitted a plan that will cut up to $275,000 from his department’s budget, and the majority of that amount will come through eliminating men’s swimming, men’s and women’s tennis and women’s bowling. Dropping those programs will cut 50 participation opportunities and $193,000.

The rest of the budget cuts will come through restructuring and reorganizing the department and could include reductions in scholarships for some programs.

Last year, Buisman said that $350,000 was cut from the budget in preparation of lean times ahead.

“In fairness to the programs (that might be eliminated), we didn’t want that to be wholly the solution. The last round of cuts was aimed at administration, and it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot of room to do more of that. But we’ll certainly look at all the possibilities.”

Buisman said that five criteria were used to determine which programs would be eliminated: Gender equity, revenue-generating potential, alignment with the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, competitive history of the program and quality and availability of practice and competition facilities.

Buisman said he met with all the coaches two weeks ago, then met specifically with the coaches of the programs that may be eliminated.

Phil Brauer, coach of the men’s and women’s tennis teams, said that he has 25 to 30 players in his programs, and he’ll try to meet with those athletes today to discuss the future.

“Obviously, this was not exciting news,” he said. “The way I’m taking it is they’re trying to do their job to make the budget work. It’s unfortunate for any sport, but hopefully, the outlook is better in a couple months.

“We need to figure out a game plan for this season. There’s going to be a lot of emotions, and some of the players might look at the opportunity to change schools.”

Brauer said he was most surprised by the proposal to eliminate women’s tennis, since that sport is sponsored by several Northern Sun Programs.

Nate Owens, who coaches the men’s and women’s programs, also said he’s disappointed by the decision.

“I don’t agree with it 100 percent, but I can see where they’re coming from,” he said. “I know they’re trying to do the right thing for the department and the university, but it’s a no-win situation.”

Owens said he’ll wait until the students, generally 15 to 20 in men’s swimming, arrive on campus in about a week to have a meeting about the future.

“They’re not just going to come to me, they’re going to go to Kevin and the administration,” he said. “I don’t have any answers. They do.”

Women’s bowling has only been offered since 2004, which was part of a plan to comply with gender-equity concerns. Shane Drahota, who also serves as Minnesota State’s compliance director, has been the coach for only one year. He couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday night.

Buisman said that this proposal will be discussed at university meetings, offering opportunities for feedback, and a final decision will be made in the spring.

He acknowledged that the upcoming seasons for the four affected programs will be fully supported, but the lame-duck status is bound to have a negative impact.

“People are trying to be optimistic that we’ll have better news in the spring,” Buisman said. “Rick Straka (vice president for finance and administration) has said this is a worst-case scenario so I think at some point, there will also be a plan of what could be retained if we don’t face the worst case.

“There’s going to be a lot of wait and see. We have (a state) election coming up, and we don’t know what impact that may have on the budget.”