Columnist Dean Juipe: CCSN sports programs in danger

Dean Juipe

Monday, Jan. 6, 2003 | 9:48 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

Seeing the team only confirmed the obvious: CCSN isn't very good.

But there was more to watching the Lady Coyotes lose yet again, as they did Saturday night vs. Salt Lake Community College in a game played in the South Gym at UNLV. Much more, in fact.

As in, the girls basketball program at the high-school level in Las Vegas simply isn't providing UNLV or the Community College of Southern Nevada with sufficiently talented material.

And, perhaps more importantly in the long run, the entire CCSN sports program -- which includes not only women's basketball but men's basketball, baseball and women's softball -- is in grave financial difficulty and it's easy to imagine the whole thing tearing apart at the seams.

Tim Chambers knows all about the latter, firsthand.

Asked at what point he would become concerned about the lack of community support and funding for his programs, he didn't hesitate to speak up.

"Right now ... a long time ago, in fact," he said.

Chambers, who doubles as CCSN's baseball coach and athletic director, is aware of what he's up against. When his school, which now has an enrollment of 33,000 spread over its three campuses, initiated its involvement in organized sports in 1999 it was promised (by then-president Richard Moore and then-A.D. Mike Meyer) that no public monies would be needed and that each and every CCSN sports program would be funded by private contributions.

The Board of Regents approved CCSN's sports plans but only after specifying that state monies (via the State of Nevada's annual budget) would not be used for any of the sports.

Four years later, Chambers has his hat figuratively in his hand.

"I know it was promised that we would never ask for state money, but now we have to," he said. "We're probably the only college in the country with no state funding or student contributions (for sports), and it just isn't working."

With Nevada's 17 school districts looking for significant financial upgrades -- lobbyists will ask for a staggering $905 million increase when the legislature reconvenes later this month -- and with the state in an alleged budget crunch, it was only fitting to ask Chambers what he thought the reaction to CCSN's plea in Carson City might be.

"I'm sure it's going to be a negative one," he said.

He added that CCSN's own lobbyists will work the legislators and that local connections to assorted regents might come in handy as CCSN attempts to save its sports portfolio.

"Eventually, there's going to have to be some state money to help us," Chambers said, perhaps wishfully.

What he has encountered is this: It was realistic to raise $1 million or so to get these programs off the ground, but it is unrealistic to continue raising that much each and every year to keep them fully funded. Adding to the difficulty is the fact most, if not all, of the community colleges in the league in which CCSN plays allow for tuition waivers, which can mean as much as $500,000 per year to a school's athletic budget.

I've seen enough of CCSN's teams to know the young men and women involved enjoy the competition and that they're gaining from the additional experience. But it's going to be a tough call for the Board of Regents or the legislature or the governor to bail these programs out, given how little money the programs generate and how few people seem to take an interest in them.

For the women's game Saturday, the visiting team had as many cheerleaders at the game -- 25 -- as CCSN did fans. In fact, most of the people in the bleachers were parents and friends of the visiting Salt Lake team, making the Lady Bruins something of a home team as they pummeled the Lady Coyotes 79-45.

This is CCSN's first women's team and it is in the capable hands of former UNLV star Robert Smith, who played with the Rebels from 1974 through '77 and who has since coached at various levels around town. I've known him a long time (and played some casual ball against him) and he's a great and friendly guy, but he's almost embarrassingly shorthanded.

His nine-woman squad produced only 10 field goals in losing for the 13th time in 14 games. In fact, Meghann Hackstaff shared high-scoring honors for the Lady Coyotes with Michal Gordon (with 10 points) even though she didn't have a single field goal.

"We just lost three girls to grades, too," Smith lamented. "We were hurting before then, but now it's really tough.

"I mean, I'm happy with the girls I have and I know we can play better, but I don't know how competitive we can be. The Scenic West (Athletic Conference) is very strong and almost like a Division-I league."

The Lady Coyotes were out of this game early and handled with ease by an opponent that is now 14-4. Equally telling: With the exception of Gordon, who is from Israel and who landed at CCSN via the maneuverings of former UNLV assistant coach Howie Landa, those who suited up for CCSN were all Nevada residents, including three from Las Vegas.

With the Lady Rebels of UNLV devoid of local players, it's fairly obvious the local high-school girls teams just aren't producing much in the way of quality, college-ready talent. This is nothing new, yet it remains perplexing and it stands in contrast to the very strong collective boys program in the Clark County School District.

"As big as this city is, there's not a lot of (girls) talent," Smith said. "You would think there would be enough for me and UNLV, but obviously there's not.

"So it's tough on us. There's not a lot of local talent to choose from and some of the better girls either mistakenly think they're D-I or just want to get out of the city to go to college no matter what."

What it leaves, and what Smith has to deal with this season, are young ladies on his team who just happened to be going to CCSN this semester. No disrespect to them, but that's hardly ideal.

As a tangent factor, consider that CCSN recently eliminated its women's soccer program and replaced it with softball as a concession to joining the Scenic West. Beyond the ill will of those players who had their soccer program taken out from under them is another item that impacts the bottom line: Softball will cost a few dollars more to fund than soccer did.

But Smith, for one, can at least temporarily isolate his focus. Asked how long he thought it might be before he could field a competitive women's basketball team, he replied "two or three years."

Yet the reality of the financial situation is such that there's no guarantee he will get so much as a second chance at CCSN.

Unless someone with deep pockets within the community wants to step forward and write out a seven-figure check, CCSN will have all of its athletic eggs riding on its lobbyists' efforts in Carson City. And given not only that philanthropists are in short supply but that clashes are expected as what state money is available is parceled out, CCSN might just find its affair with sports is going to be surprisingly and disappointingly short-lived.