Says it will save money by purchasing a bus for its teams as recent charges have increased tremendously. | Claims flooding has made soil so challenging at baseball field that it must move toward laying down artificial turf
At its April 2025 meeting, Yavapai Community College (YCC) leadership informed the District Governing Board that the College expects to spend between $800,000 and $1 million on athletic department improvements. The improvements include the purchase of a new bus and the repurposing of the baseball field—potentially with the installation of artificial turf.
Rodney Jenkins, Vice President of Community Relations and Student Development, told the Board that the soil conditions at the baseball park have deteriorated to the point that maintaining field quality is now “difficult to impossible.” As a result, the field apparently no longer meets the standards required for continued athletic use.
Dr. Clint Ewell, Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services, noted that funding for improvements to the baseball field were found in the College’s draft budget for Planned and Unplanned maintenance. Although the precise cost of installing artificial turf remains unclear, the project appears under a $580,000 line item within that maintenance budget, and grouped with other, more routine facility projects. The baseball field was not discussed at the March meeting where the Planned and Unplanned maintenance budget was presented.
There was initial confusion at the April meeting over whether a separate $400,000 allocation in the draft Capital Equipment Budget was intended for the baseball field. However, Dr. Ewell clarified that the $400,000 in that budget is designated for the purchase of a new athletic bus. He explained that the College has faced “tremendous increases” in costs from its current bus service provider and believes that purchasing its own vehicle will help “control costs” and improve long-term budget stability.
It is anticipated that these proposals will be given final approval at the May meeting of the Board.
You may view the discussion about these two projects in the video clip below by clicking on the following link.
DRONE PROGRAM’S NEW LAB AT CTEC/PUSH CERTAIN PARTS OUT TO VERDE VALLEY HIGH SCHOOLS. The Community College Drone program took advantage of the newly finished Fab Lab at CTEC by having students design and construct their own drones using 3D printing technologies and electronics integration. The goal is to push certain parts of the drone program out to local high schools in the Verde Valley and Quad City areas.
THE HAPPY SPIRIT AT VERDE CAMPUS LIBRARY. The Verde Valley Campus Library shared the Holiday Spirit with patrons.
GROWING SWISS CHARD AND HYDROPONICS. Yavapai Community College grows superb swiss chard in its Hydroponic raft system at the Chino Valley Center.
Yavapai Community College continues to highly recruit outside Arizona for its four athletic teams: baseball, softball, soccer and volleyball. In 2019 there were a total of 81 athletes that made up the rosters. Of that number, 40 were from states outside Arizona. (Data gathered May 2019.)
The deaths the two Yavapai Community College students, Gunner Bundrick and Jake Morales, have been ruled as caused by an accidental overdose of illicit drugs and fentanyl intoxication. The decision was made by the Yavapai County Medical Examiner. The information was obtained by the Prescott Courier and published November 17.
It was a surprise to some in attendance at the November 2018 Governing Board meeting that President Penelope Wills failed to comment on the recent deaths of two Yavapai Community College students and the shuttering of the RESA project at the Career and Technical Education Center during her report to the Governing Board. 
The ABCA, founded in 1945, is the primary professional organization for baseball coaches at the amateur level. Its more than 6,600 members represent all 50 states and 23 countries.