A panel discussion about athletics at Fresno City College that had three accomplished coaches happened on Tuesday, April 21. The conversation ranged from funding-related concerns, facility maintenance and the experiences of coaching at a community college level.
Jamenson Henkle, an instructor at FCC, said the event was set up by the Fresno City College Cross Campus Colloquium. The Colloquium is made to inform and get students involved in events happening in and around campus, according to Henkle.
The moderator of the panel, Scott Bemis, has been a member of KSEE24 and CBS47 since 2014. There was a recurring topic around the quality of the sports facilities and how there needs to be renovations done to venues like the soccer fields and Ratcliffe stadium, where the Rams play football.
Bemis asked Oliver Gremond, the head coach of the women’s soccer team, about renovations and if there is an arms race within junior college when it comes to more funding towards stadiums and facilities.
“It is frustrating at times because we put in so much time and effort to be successful, and I think we have been successful as an athletic program,” Germond said.
Germond wishes FCC would pay attention to its athletic needs.
“And you hope that your school institution notices that and rewards you by constantly upgrading facilities to promote the success of the school. Unfortunately, as coaches, we are a little frustrated at that part,” Gremond said.
“This most recent bond, had athletics, fields, for all the colleges in the district,” Caviglia said.
State Center Vision 2035 is a planned project to update and develop buildings across the community college district. The schools include Madera Community College, Reedley College, Clovis Community College and Fresno City College. Projected start and end dates are not exact.
But Caviglia believes that Ratcliffe Stadium is in dire need of a renovation now.
“We have a stadium on our campus that is a historic community venue. They have had The Rolling Stones, West Coast Relays, Martin Luther King did a talk there. To me, Ratcliffe Stadium is a community venue,” Caviglia said.
Caviglia shared that his mother, who is handicapped, could not sit on the home side of the stadium if she attended a football game.
“I’ve been in front of the board before, five or 10 years ago, and told them that we got to get railings on the steps. Every football game there is a mother or some kid falling down the bleachers cause there’s no where to hold [on]. Especially if it’s cold or a little bit wet. They said ‘we can’t do anything because if we do one thing to Ratcliffe Stadium, we have to do it all because of the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements’,“ Caviglia said.
Caviliga thinks that fixing facilities starts on campus.
“But what [will] really hit us is the support we need, facility wise, on this campus and being able to be more attractive to our community,” Caviglia said.
Paul Keysaw, the head coach for wrestling at FCC, believes that the dynamic between athletics and education is important and beneficial for students.
“I wouldn’t be sitting here if I didn’t wrestle. I wouldn’t have gone to college if I didn’t wrestle, I wouldn’t have gotten a masters degree,” Keysaw said.
Keysaw thinks that people separate sports from education but feels that shouldn’t be the case.
“Atheletics is huge. It’s so much part of our community, so much part of our everyday lives, so much part of what a lot of what people do. And I don’t think people understand the peripheral jobs related to athletics. Sports reporters, equipment guys, people who work in the stadium, ticket takers, all these people are all associated through athletics,” Keysaw said.
Keysaw also believes in pushing athletes and helping them grow as young adults.
“It’s my goal to prepare you to go out into society and be successful. We want our kids to come here and get degrees, and grow up, and when they leave here, to go and be successful,” Keysaw said.
Part of the development that Keysaw helps athletes work on is getting students to understand what they are capable of.
“I have 315 pound dudes that run down to Shaw and back. We do a time mile every year, we have 125 pound guys and we have 300 pound guys and they all run the timed mile. So I’m old school to be honest and wrestling is tough. I believe you have to kind of be tough. Toughness comes in different shapes and sizes but all of it is just discipline, getting up and doing what you need to do,” Keysaw said.
There is a correlation between learning in a classroom and learning in an athletic environment according to Keysaw.
“If you’re gonna be a doctor you religiously study and you’re obsessive about it, and it overwhelms you. Athletics is no different than that. I just wish we had more kids overwhelmed with that [sports] and would come to Fresno City College and wrestle,” Keysaw said.
