Thorr Bjorn will always remember his first year as athletics director at the University of Rhode Island.

Budget cuts, program cuts and coaching cuts were among the challenges the former University of Massachusetts administrator faced.

“It has been an exciting year. Obviously, there have been some wonderful parts of the year and some difficult parts. Dealing with a change in the football staff is never fun and easy. And then there was the cutting of sports. But I keep telling people I’m so excited about the coming year. I feel very excited about the direction we’re going in. I’m far more excited about being at URI than when I got here. ... I have learned so much. I learned more in 11 months here than I did in my previous 15 years of college athletics,” he said.

A people person and team builder, Bjorn learned that managing people at this level is a challenge and that “not everyone is going to love what you’re doing, and that’s okay.”

Bjorn’s first challenge was firing Tim Stowers, the affable football coach who produced only one winning team in his eight seasons in Kingston. He gave the program an immediate jump start by hiring Darren Rizzi, the former URI star and at the time associate head coach at Rutgers. Rizzi spent the winter and spring rekindling enthusiasm for URI football; now all he has to do is win a few games.

Bjorn faced another challenge last winter, when he decided to drop women’s gymnastics, an expensive sport, and add women’s lacrosse for the 2010 season. URI has a long gymnastics tradition, and the announcement didn’t make Bjorn many friends in the gymnastics community.

He also had to watch the men’s basketball team, which got off to a tremendous 19-3 start, collapse down the stretch and lose 9 of its last 11 games.

But the temporary outcry from the gymnastics crowd and howls from basketball loyalists were nothing compared to the challenge of cutting 10 percent from his budget as a result of the state budget crisis. Bjorn had to whack $800,000, which resulted in the elimination of men’s swimming and tennis and women’s field hockey, plus abandoning the plan to add of women’s lacrosse.

Athletes and supporters of those teams were upset.

“Not everybody agreed with the decision or the sports we cut, but if there’s a right way to do it, I believe we did it the right way. The process was transparent, and the decision was made without any hidden agenda behind it,” Bjorn said.

While these controversies swirled, the athletics boss continued to spread the word about URI sports and to solicit support for the all-important and long-awaited Student-Athlete Development Center. The department’s goal for the [project is $3.5 million, and the pledge total to date is $1.5 million, an increase of $1 million in the last year. Bjorn hopes to reach the goal and break ground by the spring of 2010.

“If we get the money quicker, we’ll start faster,” he said.

Despite the sour economy in Rhode Island, fundraising for URI athletics is 25 percent ahead of last year, he added.

Renovations to the baseball field, made possible by an anonymous $1 million gift, were postponed until Oct. 1 so URI could re-open the bidding process. Only one contractor submitted a bid the first time around. If works starts on time, the field should be ready for the spring campaign.

Bjorn said URI supporters continue to be “very warm to me and very welcoming” and that he enjoys “knowing who people are personally and not just by name.”

“People are very passionate about URI,” he said.

Bjorn is optimistic that ticket revenue will increase this academic year because Global Spectrum, the company that operates the Ryan Center, has agreed to hire a sales agent who will market URI sports as well as the arena.

The new year for URI sports will occur Labor Day weekend, when the football team will kick off the Rizzi era Aug. 30 against Monmouth.

“I’m very excited for that first football game,” Bjorn said.

The summary:

BASEBALL (31-27-1, 15-11-1 Atlantic 10): Rams qualified for the A-10 Tournament and split four games; catcher Zach Zaneski hit .355, the best on the team, and signed with the Texas Rangers; reliever Tim Boyce (Swansea) was named second-team All-New England.

SOFTBALL (14-38, 4-16): Head coach Deb Smith resigned after three seasons and a 44-99 record.

MEN’S BASKETBALL (21-12, 7-9): Late-season meltdown (2-9, 0-4 at the Ryan Center) spoiled a fast start (19-3, 11-0); a 77-60 blowout over Providence College at the Ryan Center was a season highlight; Will Daniels was first-team All-A-10.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL (13-18, 5-9): Upset St. Bonaventure in the first round and lost to George Washington in the Atlantic 10 Tournament quarterfinals; Safi Mojidi was the URI female athlete of the year.

MEN’S CROSS-COUNTRY: Finished 13th at the A-10 meet and 29th at the NCAA Regional.

WOMEN’S CROSS-COUNTRY: Finished 12th at A-10 meet and 32nd at NCAA Regional.

FOOTBALL (3-8, 2-6 CAA): Sixth consecutive losing season resulted in the firing of coach Tim Stowers and the hiring of former Ram star Darren Rizzi; fullback Joe Casey rushed for 782 yards in eight games and was All-CAA.

GOLF: Finished third in A-10 Championships; Mark Stevens and Brad Valois (Warwick) were All-New England.

WOMEN’S ROWING: Won first Atlantic 10championship; Shelagh Donohoe was coach of the year for the second consecutive year.

MEN’S SOCCER (9-8-2, 7-1-1): Lost to UMass, 1-0, in A-10 semifinals; Lukasz Tumicz scored 12 goals and assisted on three for 27 points; Geoff Cameron was drafted by the Houston Dynamo.

WOMEN’S SOCCER (12-6-2, 6-4-1): Lost to Richmond in A-10 tournament; Dora Larusdottir had 10 goals and 8 assists for 28 points; Deb Nelson (Chepachet/Ponaganset) scored 11 goals and assisted on 3 for 25 points.

MEN’S INDOOR TRACK: Finished second at A-10 Championships; Yudehwheh Gbaa (Providence/Hope) won the triple jump and was the outstanding field performer; Michael Bernardo (Attleboro) won the weight throw, and Sean Strizzi led a sweep in the pole vault.

WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK: Finished third in the A-10 and second at the New Englands; Sarah Thornton won the weight throw and set a Mackal Field House record (61-11) and was the outstanding field performer.

MEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK: Won Atlantic 10 and New England championships; Ryan McCarthy won the shot and javelin and finished second in the discus; he was the most outstanding field performer for the third time, an A-10 first; Gbaa won the triple jump.

WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK: Tied for second at the A-10 and finished fifth at the New Englands; Thornton won the discus for the fourth time, a conference record; Jasmine Jennings (Warwick/Veterans) won the hammer at the NCAA Regional and competed at the NCAA Championships; Thornton also threw at the nationals; neither scored.

WOMEN’S SWIMMING: Finished eighth at the A-10 Championships; Haley Johnson was ninth in three-meter diving.

MEN’S SWIMMING: Finished seventh at A-10m Championships; set six school record at the meet; sophomore Gerard Donlevy broke three records and swam legs on two record-breaking relay teams’ program dropped in the spring.

MEN’S TENNIS (17-6, 7th A-10 Championships): One of the best seasons in URI tennis history; Jared Dorfman (Providence/La Salle) and Jeff Cote (Warwick/Veterans) played No. 1 and No. 2 singles and teamed at No. 1 doubles; program cut at the end of the season.

WOMEN’S TENNIS (16-8): Tied for seventh at the A-10 Tournament; Nyssa Peele was second-team all-conference.

VOLLEYBALL (13-15, 5-8): Kayla Newberg made the A-10 all-rookie team.

GYMNASTICS: Finished second at ECAC Championships; Chelle Kassabian and named coach and assistant coach of the year; program dropped at end of season.

FIELD HOCKEY (7-9, 1-6): Ninth consecutive losing season; program eliminated in the spring.

mszostak@projo.com