What is wrong with the administration at local St. Louis Community Colleges?

Over the summer the St. Louis Community College system cut many sports programs at all four campuses, Forest Park, Meramec, Wildwood and Florissant Valley.

Some sports, including programs such as Meramec’s wrestling team, Florissant Valley’s baseball program and Forest Park’s baseball squad, were cut.

An anonymous source contacted The Current this week regarding the sports program cuts. This person said that the powers that be in the St. Louis Community College system did not appreciate the hard work of the coaches, student-athletes and those involved with the athletic programs. The source also stated that administrators at the respective campuses did not discuss the program cuts with any of the axed coaches, including Meramec’s Mens soccer program, which has a long history of success both on and off the field.

Other than the fired coaching staff, there are two main groups of people that will suffer from these cuts.

The first group is the student athletes who had their scholarships dropped and therefore are either playing their sport at a different institution or have dropped out of higher education. It is understandable that athletics is not the only reason why someone should attend college. But if someone can channel those abilities into a strong academic career while balancing duties to his or her team, then the college owes it to that athlete to give him or her every opportunity to succeed on and off the field.

The other group that is losing out is high school students. Imagine for a moment that there is an 18-year-old soccer player who was not recruited or fell under the radar by traditional four-year schools. This student is not quite ready to leave home, but at the same time wants to go to an affordable school where he can balance sports and academics successfully. It seems he will have to quit competing in the game he loves because Meramec no longer has a team.

It is understandable that not everyone is gifted with abilities like throwing a 95 mph fastball, shooting a three pointer or scoring a goal in a soccer game. But if an athlete has any of these abilities and can perform in the classroom, then programs should be set in place for those who choose to participate in athletics to excel both on and off the field.

This may seem unfair to those who do not play a sport. Student-athletes, like general students, are also required to keep grade point average requirements and coaches also have expectations of their athletes in the classroom and beyond.

The St. Louis Community College campuses have failed young people in St. Louis and have limited opportunities for area students to succeed academically.