Scholarships for out-state students should be used to support County Community College students

The two East Region Community College Representatives on the Governing Board, Paul Chevalier and Deb McCasland, urged President Dr. Lisa Rhine to consider focusing the current athletic program on students from Yavapai County.  (According to Blog analysis, in 2018-19 all but one athlete on the four College teams came from outside Yavapai County.)  Chevalier said he had no difficulty with supporting an athletic program, however, more athletes should be chosen from Yavapai County because the Community College is a County facility and heavily supported by County property taxpayers. 

Representative McCasland commented that she was uneasy with tuition payments going to out-state athletes in order to persuade them to join Yavapai College rather than use the tuition  for residents of the County. She also surmised that Maricopa County may have restricted out-state recruiting, however, a Blog check on several baseball rosters in that County indicated that there is still out-state recruiting occurring in that District.

The comments by Mr. Chevalier and Ms. McCasland following in the video below.

48 student-athletes are repeat honorees from the fall semester

58 Yavapai Community College student-athletes earned the Yavapai Community College Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for their performance in the classroom, the most student-athletes on the list since the inception of the award in 2012. (The Blog counted a total of 81 athletes on the 2019 athletic rosters, the College reported that number at 74.)  A student-athlete must earn a 3.0 grade point average or higher to be named to the high academic list.

According to the College, the honor roll features 18 student-athletes with a 4.0 or higher and 48 student-athletes are repeat honorees from the Fall semester.

Ten sophomore student-athletes have been on the honor roll list for four consecutive semesters (Meredith Clark, Victoria McCarty, Neenah Pangilinan, Nynke de Vries, Kylie Brown, Brianna Griffiths, Gianni Tomasi, Tommy Sacco, Angel Lujan, Makenna Busse).

As a whole, the Yavapai College Roughrider athletic teams earned a combined GPA of 3.26, with softball leading the way with a 3.56 team grade point average.

Spring 2019 Athletic Director’s Honor Roll

* Krystal Blair -Volleyball
*# Meredith Clarkp-Softball
*# Lexi Cole-Volleyball
*# Dalton Daily-Baseball
*# Pilar Daugherty-Volleyball
*# Brianna Griffiths-Softball
*# Victoria McCarty-Volleyball
*# Neenah Pangilinan-Softball
*# Kamryn Perry-Volleyball
*# Shaye Pinner-Softball
*# Skylar Redd-Volleyball
*# Jacob Robson-Baseball
*# McKenzie Ryan-Softball
* Sasha Sneider-Baseball
*# Brendan Stansfield-Soccer
*# Isaiah Strong-Soccer
*# Stela Velinova-Volleyball
*# Alayah Villegas-Volleyball
# Nick Adams-Baseball
# Shaylee Alani-Softball
# Jalen Atkinson-Soccer
# Rocky Botello-Baseball
# Kylie Brown-Softball
# Makenna Busse-Volleyball
# Gabriel Claudio-Soccer
# Nynke de Vries-Volleyball
Jacob Downey-Soccer
# Kendra Duran-Softball
# Brandon Fischer-Soccer
Christian Encarnacion-Strand-Baseball
Jose Perez Flores-Soccer
# Esteban Franco-Soccer
# Alexis Garayzar-Softball
# Alexus Garza-Softball
# Jessica Giacoma-Softball
# Brenda Gomez-Volleyball
# Vanessa Gomez-Softball
Dominic Hamel-Baseball
# Annie Harte-Volleyball
# Drew Healy-Baseball
Cody Holtz-Baseball
# Gabie Krueger-Softball
# Kevyn Lo-Soccer
Will Long-Baseball
# Zeleya Loop-Volleyball
# Angel Lujan-Soccer
Emme Maciel-Softball
# Mikayla Marquez-Softball
# Matt Novis-Baseball
# Andrew Rivera-Soccer
# Sherrelle Rodriguez-Softball
# Tommy Sacco-Baseball
# Jack Silverman-Baseball
# Lacie Tenney-Volleyball
# Gianni Tomasi-Baseball
# Tyler Trump-Soccer
# Logan Williams-Baseball
Zoe Zoellner-Softball

* Denotes 4.0
# Fall and Spring Honoree

21 members from outside Arizona, one from New Zealand, three from Phoenix, two from Yuma, and one from Tucson; no matches scheduled for east side of County

Yavapai Community College has announced the roster of the 29 member male soccer team for 2018.  Only one member of the team comes from Yavapai County.  Three members come from Phoenix, two from Yuma, and one from Tucson.  The 22 athletes remaining come from outside Arizona with at least one of them coming from as far away as Wellington, New Zealand.

This is the 30th season for the Yavapai community College soccer team.  It will begin its season on Thursday, August 23 at Phoenix College. Not including the August 18th match versus the Alumni, the Roughriders official home opener will take place at Ken Lindley Field in Prescott on Saturday, August 25 against Irvine Valley College.  The home opener is a part of the Community College’s 50th anniversary activities.  The match begins at 2:00 p.m.

There are no soccer matches or other soccer events scheduled for the east side of the County.

Keeps Community College athletic staff at total of 16 full-time employees on West side of County; no home athletic games scheduled for the east side of Yavapai County; 11 of 14 players on softball team from outside Arizona

The Yavapai Community College  softball team has announced the hiring of Erika Bennett as the new pitching coach/recruiting coordinator. Bennett replaces former pitching coach, Jennifer Stalter.

In 2010, Bennett pitched for the National Champion Miami -Dade Community College and beat the Community College, 11-1 in the 2010 NJCAA National Tournament winner’s bracket. She was named the NJCAA Tournament MVP with a 4-0 record and a 0.54 earned-run average, striking out 32 batters in 26 innings.

Bennett is a standing member of the Mexican National Softball team. Bennett has coached at Lake Erie College, Dodge City Community College, Florida Gulf Coast University and the University of Texas at El Paso.

The Blog notes that the softball team only plays its home games on the west side of the County. It also notes that eleven of the 14 players on the 2018 roster are from outside Arizona.  There are no players from Yavapai County listed. You may view the 2018 softball team roster by clicking here. 

Urges Board to halt conversation about athletic drug investigation at May meeting stating it should move on to discuss “something productive”

Yavapai Community College Governing Board representative Pat McCarver appeared upset at the May 2018 Board meeting when the discussion turned to athletic drug use on the campus.  When the issue was raised by Representative Deb McCasland and there was an exchange between President Penelope Wills and McCasland, McCarver, in an effort to close down discussion, said: “You are creating a public forum for something that should be a private conversation.”

McCarver continued in her effort to prevent any further public exposure of the issue saying that she would “appreciate it” if McCasland would stop and deal with it in a “professional manner” by having a private conversation with Wills.  Also, in an effort to apparently belittle the issue, she urged the Board to halt the conversation so “we can move on to something productive.”

McCaslin pointed out at the issue was appropriate for discussion because the Board was being asked to evaluate an ends provision that is a part of the current  governing process model used by the Board and relates to information coming to the Board.

The statements by McCarver were captured on video which appears below.

No similar free or fee-based summer athletic camps provided to youngsters and young adults on the east side of the County

The eight boys and girls summer camps sponsored by Yavapai Community College are going strong on the West side of the County.   Since June 4, the Community College has held two Volley Ball camps (Grades 1-8; June 4 – June 6, 2018; Roughrider All Skills Camp, Grades 3-12, June 7-9, 2018), and two baseball camps (June 4-6, 2018 Baseball Day Camp for ages between 5-12; June 24-27, 2018 Baseball Overnight Camp).

There were two additional Nike All Skills Volleyball Camps sponsored by Yavapai Community College.  The first of these  expensive camps was held July 13-16 for grades 5-8.   Individual fees included a charge of $360 for a “commuter” and $460 for a “resident,” which the Blog believes refers to someone living in a residence hall. 

The second College sponsored Nike Advanced Volleyball Camp was held July 20-22 for grades 9-12.  Fees for seven sessions for that camp were advertised as $250 for a “commuter” and $350 for a “resident.”

There are two more soccer clinics scheduled for August 2018.  There will be a free soccer clinic on Saturday, August 11, 2018 at Mountain Valley Park in Prescott Valley.  No registration is required.  There will be a second free soccer clinic at Ken Lindley Field in Prescott on Saturday August 18 from 9-10:30. Boys and girls ages 5-15 are eligible to participate.

The Community College did not hold any athletic clinics during the summer on the east side of the County on either the Verde Campus or at the Sedona Center (or anywhere else).

Considering removing tennis and golf; follows decision by community colleges in Maricopa County to end football

Pima Community College in Tucson will eliminate its football program after next season so it can reach mandated budget cuts.  This will save at least $500,000 in the College’ s budget. 

The College’s Governing Board met Wednesday, June 13 and officials approved the budget cuts that resulted in elimination of football.  It was also suggested that the golf and tennis programs could be eliminated at some time in the future. 

Pima College athletic director Edgar Soto had reportedly been ordered to cut more than $500,000 from the budget.  The decision was  accepted by Chancellor Lee Lambert. Pima Community College announced budget cuts in mid-April that included eliminating about six percent of its staff, equal to roughly 51 full-time positions, in addition to 10 instructional faculty and three administrative office positions. 

The Maricopa Community College District announced in February 2018 it would be cutting football after the 2018 season. It is said that this decision may have forced Pima’s administration to take a hard look at its own athletic program.

For more information, please read the online story from Tucson News NOW by clicking here.

Claim improper recruiting, improper scholarship award, heavy drug usage, plus video shows players smoking in warm-up area while game in session

Concerned parents of a student athlete, Geoff and Heather Tippit, spoke to the Yavapai Community College Governing Board at its May meeting about what their son has “endured” while a member of the College baseball team.  Mr. Tippit laid blame on the Community College coach who had recruited an athlete that Mr. Tippit alleged “had no business being here.”  Mr. Tippit also alleged the athlete stole from the team and was  involved in “heavy drug usage.”

Tippit and his wife, Heather, videotaped three Yavapai Community College baseball pitchers smoking in a warm-up area during a baseball game.

The incidents have apparently resulted in the College disciplining at least two members of the staff. The nature of the discipline or the names of the staff involved were not released to the public by the College.

You may view Mr. Tippit’s speech  in its entirety to the Governing Board made Tuesday, April 8, 2018 on the video below.