Fresno City College has a new neighbor and potential rival as Clovis Community College makes moves to develop its athletic program.

The new college has hired Susan Yates, former athletic director at FCC for 28 years, as the athletic director to help develop the athletic program. No stranger to running an athletic department, Yates is determined to build the Clovis College program into one of the premiere junior college sports programs in the state.

“It’s exciting. I’ve never started a program before I had been involved in Fresno City College athletics for years,” Yates said. “We have established new teams before but never an entire athletic program. It is both challenging and exciting.”

One of the first athletic sport that Yates will try to implement during her time will be the swimming programs for both the men’s and women’s teams, starting next year. Yates has already named Mark Bennett, former coach at the Clovis Swimming Club, as head coach of both the men’s and women’s swimming teams. Fresno City College has recently announced the start of a swimming program.

Before being appointed at Clovis, Bennett was in charge of swimming club for three years. This will be Bennett’s first time being the head coach of a junior college sport as well as being a part of a brand new program.

“It’s going to be fun and new. It’s a brand new situation for a head coach,” Bennett said. ”I am looking forward to being a part of a school that doesn’t have an athletic program; it gives you leeway to test out your ideas and strategies without changing the culture.”

Bennett has started the recruiting process for the program by contacting swimmers fresh from high school who are enrolled into Clovis Community College. They have also posted flyers online and all over campus to reach anyone who is interested in joining the team.

“We have already begun off season practices where we meet in the swimming pool area four times a week,” Bennett said. “We already have a handful of students that look good, so it will be interesting to see how many we get and how they will progress over the course of the season.”

Like anything that is new, there are questions about how well the team will do once the season gets underway. Bennett has his own goals and plans for this program and where he sees it going in the near future.

“It’s going to be an interesting year as we are a new program with no history or culture to rely on, but I feel we will be a good team, we just have to see how it goes,” Bennett said. “ I want a team that works hard and is willing to compete, as well as compete for a state championship, the highest prize that you can reach in junior college.”