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THE TORCH / THURSDAY, JAN. 16, 2014
SPORTS EDITOR
JARRID DENNEY SPORTS
Keoni Conlu
Reporter
Lane is unlikely to add a
football team to its athletic
program anytime soon.
During the mid- to late
‘90s, Walla Walla Commu-nity
College and Wenatchee
Valley College were the only
schools in the NWAACC that
had football programs.
While California has two
conferences with at least 30
teams at the junior college
football level, Oregon has
none. The closest community
college football program to
Lane is in Weed, Calif., at the
College of the Siskiyous.
“Establishing a league
would be extremely dif-ficult
since you would need
the NWAACC to have other
member schools add the
sport,” said Robert Strickland,
who has taught flag football at
Lane for 10 years.
NWAACC Executive
Director Marco Azurdia said
state budgets dictate how
much money community
colleges receive for programs
and activities.
“(Football) is just so cost
prohibitive for community
colleges to try and maintain
it,” Lane Athletic Director
Greg Sheley said.
Sheley said that the biggest
difference between starting up
a football team, as opposed to
a small sport, would be insur-ance
cost and liability cost.
“I know that with football,
there is maintaining the integ-rity
of the helmet, the pads,
the protective gear,” Sheley
said. “There is always refur-bishing
and I know that is an
expensive cost.”
Strickland said that after
costs, checking to see if the
facilities are more than ad-equate
would be the next step.
The last step would be to find
a coaching staff.
Title IX is a federal law
that requires schools with
athletic programs to offer the
same number of opportuni-ties
to women and men. If
schools do not abide by this
law, they could face serious
repercussions.
“It goes as far as the college’s
financial aid, and stuff like that
can be affected if we are not
compliant,” Sheley said.
He said there’s a move-ment
to exclude football from
Title IX because of the number
of male players on a football
team. No female-oriented
sports come close to offering
the same opportunities.
“I think any time you talk
about athletics, we always
want to be or looking to bring
in sports. You want to ad-dress
the needs of the par-ticular
community you are
serving, whether it’s football
or other sports. I think people
really do understand the
benefit of having athletics
for students and the commu-nity,”
Strickland said.
Before Sheley became
the athletic director, he also
taught a flag football class.
He said the students who
have played some high school
football locally seem to be the
majority that are still inter-ested
in that class.
“I often times just think
to myself, ‘can we do it on a
smaller scale, like eight-man
football?’” Azurdia said.
“Then again, how would
that help someone that
wants to transfer to Oregon
or OSU, or even Linfield if
they only play eight-man
football?”
Approximately one to
three players in Strickland’s
class have the physical po-tential
to participate if Lane
was to get a football pro-gram,
he said. The coaches
would have to recruit hard
to get more talent.
“They would go out to
watch games, watch practic-es,
watch combines — those
types of things they have for
high school kids to evaluate
talent — gauge interest and
then try to build a team,”
Sheley said.
Four-year flag football
veteran Zach Boeger would
be eager to join if Lane had a
football team.
“It would allow me the
chance to play the sport I
love at the school I go to.
People I know could play
since they attend Lane as
well,” Boeger said.
Sean MonDragon’s teaches his flag football teams Dec. 3, 2013. While Lane offers flag football, it’s unlikely to field a true football team any time soon, with start-up costs high and
no funding available.
Lane junior college football team fails to find funding
“Establishing a league
would be extremely
difficult since you
would need the
NWACC to have other
member schools add
the sport.”
-Robert Strickland
instructor
Facilities, players and Title IX requirements also factor
Lane instructor Sean MonDragon teaches his flag football students Dec.
3, 2013. While Lane offers flag football, it’s unlikely to field a true football
team any time soon, with startup costs high and no funding available.
MATTHEW EDWARDS / THE TORCH
MAT EDWARDS / THE TORCH