The amount of sports programs here at Linn-Benton Community College have been steadily decreasing over the years and this upcoming spring will be the first in the school’s history where there will be no spring sports programs whatsoever.
LBCC once had many extracurricular sports programs to choose from and a multitude of facilities to accommodate them, but over the years many of these programs have been shut down and their facilities have fallen into disrepair. Examples of some programs no longer available to LBCC students are: track and field, wrestling, and most recently baseball.
The reason for the decline in athletic programs over the years is simply due to a lack of funding. The cancellation of the baseball team last year was primarily due to budget cuts. Currently, the baseball program and both men's and women's soccer are the most likely to return because of their popularity. The financial situation however, is currently unsure and there are still some important decisions to be made.
“I'm optimistic, but there are some issues that need to be resolved,“ said Randy Falk, the current athletic director and long time faculty member, when asked about the program's potential return. "We're looking at different financial models."
According to Brad Carman , a member of the LBCC teaching staff and former Track and Field coach, one of the first major programs to go was the Track and Field program in 2002 due to lack of interest and heavy financial costs associated with a botched refurbishment job on the school’s all-weather track. Since then, more and more of the school’s athletic programs have shut down due to the rising financial costs and budget cuts.
“It would take a tremendous amount of effort,” said Brad Carman, when asked how hard it would be to reinstate the team. There would need to be signifigant interest from the student body as well as large amounts of funding to revive many of the old teams.
Unfortunately, the longer these programs are gone, the harder they can be to bring back, this is another reason sports like baseball and soccer are a higher priority. As facilities decay and new equipment needs to be purchased, the costs only rise. Interest in said programs has also became lower and many programs seem to have dropped off the radar completely.
Extracurricular sports can have a very positive effect on academic institutions, offering great opportunites for student bonding, fundraising and school notoriety.
According to the college's athletics page on its public website, the only extracurricular athletic opportunities currently available to students are Men’s Basketball and Women’s Volleyball.
At a glance:
Who: LBCC students and faculty
What: No Springtime Sports, Baseball program cancelled and sports programs generally in decline.
When: This upcoming spring season.
Where: Linn Benton Community College
You can contact Randy Falk, the school's athletic director at: falkr@linnbenton.edu
Online Information
School Athletics Page
Benefits of playing college sports
Online Information
School Athletics Page
Benefits of playing college sports
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