Recent speculation due to the budget crisis considers community college athletics as a hindrance of the school’s ability to carry out the best possible educational plan for students during hard economic times.
When you look at the California community colleges, or at athletic participation in college in general, the need for athletics is substantial. According to one community college athletic director, the most important, life-long lasting lessons learned are difficult and nearly impossible to attain in any academic environment provided by the college or institution: reaction to adversity, teamwork, leadership, sacrifice of oneself for the betterment of the group, and above all, perseverance.
You might argue these can be taught, but the fact of the matter is, athletics provide the focal point for these valuable lessons.
According to Moorpark College Raiders basketball player Spenser Schulte, community college sports are needed because they offer athletes a chance to continue their athletic careers when it might have otherwise have ended after high school.
“For athletes that can’t afford to go to a bigger school if they don’t have a scholarship and still want to continue their athletic career, community college sports give them another 2-3 years of being able to play,” Schulte said in an e-mail.
Many students, particularly in the Ventura County area, receive no scholarship offers out of high school, but after their two-year tenure at Ventura, Oxnard, or Moorpark, they received four-year scholarships.
And according to Schulte, most of the student-athletes at community colleges would never have attended college, let alone earn a degree had they not been given an opportunity to participate in community college sports.
“Like most athletes and students, school is very entertaining and you obviously can’t continue playing the sport you love unless you not only go to school and attend classes but maintain a 2.0 GPA,” he said.
“So it motivates the athletes because they have to succeed in the classes in order to be able to showcase their skills.”
Some scholarships awarded to community college athletes include: Julie Hurtado and Michelle Santizo from Ventura College basketball who are at Cal State Monterey Bay, and Moorpark baseball players Paul Olsen (Mississippi Valley State) and Steve Domescus (Virginia Tech) will graduate this year after accepting scholarships to respective schools.
Whether administrators would like to admit it or not, many people in the community judge colleges and universities by the success and demeanor of the athletic programs the schools have.
Athletics will continue to play a valuable role in the path to success that otherwise would not be provided to these athletes who are given a second chance.
Cutting community college sports would take away the many scholarships community college athletes might have otherwise received, as well as a second chance to continue to participate in sports.
Taking away sports is like depriving a child of nourishment, nourishment that feeds into the future of all potential athletes that are given the opportunity to continue their education through the participation in sports.
