Out of Bounds COLUMN:Let’s play some football
By Nate Bloomquist
As the leaves fall from the trees, and the weather gets colder, one thing comes to my mind ¾ football. Two years ago, the IVCC football program fell from the school like one of those leaves.
After that, IVCC also dropped out of the group of Division III schools and joined the D-II ranks. The Apaches are now part of the Arrowhead Conference, a group of schools without football. Football is a dying sport in the world of Illinois junior colleges, as there are only four in the state that still have gridiron warriors.
The College of DuPage, a member of the N4C conference which IVCC was previously a part of, brought back football this season. As of last week COD was 4-5. Shouldn’t IVCC be amongst the elite junior colleges athletically as well as academically? If College of DuPage can bring back football, why can’t IVCC?
The College of DuPage has a different situation than IVCC has. COD is in a densely populated area, and has more in-district players available to it. It also has the largest enrollment (about 20,000) in the N4C. But that lack of numbers hasn’t stopped IVCC from being successful in the past. IVCC has won 12 conference titles, and has made five Midwest Bowl appearances. Several high school football teams showed promise this season, which means IVCC would have a strong in-district recruiting base.
"It definitely takes a commitment from the community and the college board," said Ralph Miller, the athletic director at College of DuPage. "It takes a lot of money to do it, but I think the (COD) board felt that it would be worth the money spent."
Miller doesn’t mean money spent in ticket sales. If a football program relied on that, it would be sunk before the opening kickoff. Miller said the amount of money made in tuition from students that would attend the college because of the football program would more than pay for the cost to run the football program.
Why won’t that work at IVCC?
Mike Riley said he has no control over bringing back football. He says the power lies in the board of trustees and college president Dr. Jean Goodnow.
Football would also draw more attention to IVCC. It would give the school more exposure. Basically, a successful football program would be like free advertising for the school. Division I four-year schools know about the commercial benefits of football, and it is why football is typically most schools’ biggest sporting event. Typically, football is also the most heavily promoted and funded. While IVCC isn’t close to being a D-I school, nor is it close to having a television contract for sporting events, IVCC could have similar exposure on a smaller scale if it had a football program.
Let’s bring back football. Football is exciting. Without it, the only exciting thing IVCC has to offer in the fall in the area of athletics is flag football. And I’ve never seen any bare-chested screaming guys with the letters I-V-C-C painted on them at any of those games. It is unfortunate, but few people are excited about women’s tennis or volleyball in the fall.
"I personally think (football) is a valuable activity," said Miller. "I’m happy we have it back because I’ve seen both sides of this issue. And I think in general, we’re attracting more students to the campus."