After 40 years without athletics, Montcalm Community College is preparing to return to competition.
Anticipation is building in Montcalm County; however, the community college Centurions won’t return to play until the fall of 2023.
During the upcoming school year, MCC will participate in a “zero-year,” to help build its programs.
MCC is currently working on designing its uniforms and updating its logo. It is also looking for coaches and an athletic director, positions which will be posted soon.
Stacy Young, President of MCC, said adding sports is a key part of her goals as president.
“We have four big goals, increasing enrollment, improving student access and success, enhancing our facilities, and community engagement,” Young said. “Sports hits every one of those.”
According to Young, the addition will allow students to continue playing sports while saving on their education. She added that bringing sports back to campus will bring excitement, but academics will remain the focus.
“What we intend to do is wrap services around them to make sure that they're doing well on their courses,” Young said. “So not only are they retained at higher levels, they're graduating at increased levels.
Although MCC didn’t experience a large drop in enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic, Young said adding sports is expected to help boost enrollment numbers.
MCC is applying to field 10 sports programs to start, which include:
• Mens and womens cross country
• Mens golf
• Womens volleyball
• Mens and womens basketball
• Mens and womens soccer
• Baseball
• Softball
The school is also working on adding an athletic scholarship endowment to help mitigate the cost of college.
