Columnist Dean Juipe: Don’t dismiss CCSN sports as crazy idea

Dean Juipe

Friday, May 8, 1998 | 7:05 a.m.

AN INITIAL impression: These people are crazy. They've lost touch with reality.

Start a handful of athletic programs at the Community College of Southern Nevada? The hurdles include financing and, no small consideration, a complete lack of competition within the state.

Any CCSN team playing a road game would have to travel to Utah, Arizona or California. Where is the cash going to come from not only for trips, but for uniforms, facilities and coaches' salaries?

When the item proposing CCSN athletics appeared on the Board of Regents' agenda last week in Fallon, it seemed as if it would quickly be shot down.

Instead, a committee will study the options and file a report by August.

CCSN athletics still seemed a far-fetched notion as school president Richard Moore came on the line.

"Not a week goes by that a number of members of the community don't approach me and ask when we're going to get started in athletics," he said. "It's across the board and, in my opinion, there's a very broad interest in having a handful of sports at the school or at least doing something more than we're currently doing."

Officially, Moore is neutral and noncommittal. Yet, after talking to him, it's apparent he favors athletics at the school and is an enthusiastic proponent of them. Suddenly, this once-crazy idea was shown in a different light.

"This is a changing and evolving state," Moore said. "I'd guess something (positive) is going to happen."

But why?

"We've got twenty-some high schools in the valley and there's no place for those kids to go if they want to stay in sports yet they don't have the kind of (Division I) ability you need to play at UNLV," he said. "It's a dilemma for them. Do they just quit sports or do they go out of state to a junior college that can accommodate them?

"People attend college for different reasons, and one of those assets is playing sports."

Moore, who came to CCSN from Santa Monica 3 1/2 years ago and said "I was surprised to find they didn't have sports" at the school, insists the endeavor would be privately funded.

"It would have to be," he said. "The regents aren't going to give us this money. But I'm led to believe this is something the town wants and will pay for."

Sports like softball, basketball, golf, soccer and tennis could be added. Perhaps high-school facilities could be utilized. But the devil's advocate might wonder if the business community and the private sector -- particularly those who don't have college-age children -- will continue sponsoring these sports on a long-term basis.

"I don't know the answer," Moore said. "That's why we're forming a committee and that's why the people interested in softball have already formed their own committee. We'll know in a few weeks what the costs are and what the town wants. If they don't want sports here, I'll kill the idea in a minute."

Already taking sides are the school's faculty senate -- for -- and state senator and Senate majority leader William Raggio -- against. "This is not the role of a community college," he said, still counting himself among the skeptical in spite of this groundswell of support.