So the newly revamped IVCC baseball field was used for its main purpose on March 17 for the first time in three years. It was used to play baseball, not as the brunt of a joke.

Granted, it wasn’t a field of dreams, but it wasn’t the embarrassment it used to be.

Lately, it seems as if it takes an embarrassment to get something changed for the better in the athletic department at IVCC. While most sports at IVCC are thriving, it wasn’t long ago when sports were on the border of extinction.

Just one year ago, the women’s basketball squad, led by Joe Conroy, was an embarrassment to the school as only six players were on the roster. The team went 0-14 and forfeited the season. When the dust had cleared, Joe Conroy was fired as coach.

The women’s tennis program was also disbanded last season, as much to the school’s embarrassment, not enough players tried out.

Basketball wasn’t immune from the lackluster play. The squad won just five games, and struggled to stay in close competition in most of its games.

The only sport that IVCC didn’t seem to struggle in was golf, a sport very few fans come out to watch.

But all of the embarrassment was cured this season when IVCC was upgraded to a Division II school, and had the new advantage of tuition waivers that could be offered for athletes on campus.

It’s once again a great time to be a student-athlete at IVCC, but why did it take several public embarrassments to bring the athletic program back to that point.

It is probably more than just a coincidence that the same year IVCC’s athletic teams have successful seasons, the enrollment is at an all-time high.

Why did it take an embarrassment to make such changes at the school? I hope that this isn’t the case in every aspect of the college. I hope the education level at IVCC never drops to the point of embarrassment.

For the outsider, the high school student, or potential part-time student, the athletic program is all that they can see. Typically, the average high school senior doesn’t know or care about the college’s newest academic program it is offering, or the increased budget for financial aid. He or she doesn’t know and probably doesn’t care about the school’s latest tax levy.

But what that potential student does see and hear about are the athletic programs to be offered at IVCC. Even if that student never did as much as try out for a high school team, chances are, the potential student is aware of Apache athletics.

Prospective students are looking to attend a school with a solid reputation, as well as one that is cost-efficient, and provides a solid education. IVCC has all of this.