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1 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Medford City Council agrees to allow marijuana gardens ... Washington man dies after fall at Mill Creek Falls ... Alleged thief said, 'Drive it like you stole it,' then crashed ... Medford City Council agrees to allow marijuana gardens ... Washington man dies after fall at Mill Creek Falls ... Alleged thief said, 'Drive it like you stole it,' then crashed ... Opportunity knocks at SWOCC By GREG STILES MailTribune.com By GREG STILES Posted Feb. 9, 1999 at 2:00 AM Updated Feb 16, 2011 at 7:45 AM By GREG STILES Posted Feb. 9, 1999 at 2:00 AM Updated Feb 16, 2011 at 7:45 AM » Social News Photo from SWOCC — — — It scarcely survived, now college thrives COOS BAY -- Not long ago, Southwestern Oregon Community College was in desperate shape. Its athletic department was a virtual nonentity and few people really cared if the institution survived. Unlike established four-year colleges, whose athletic programs became the focal point for their cities, Oregon's community colleges rarely fanned passionate flames among the populous. But thanks to tenacious advocacy on the athletic director's part and a visionary president, SWOCC today boasts 12 athletic teams -- making it the largest community college athletic program in Oregon. The school provides full tuition waivers for its athletes, several of whom are from the Rogue Valley. The two-year institution is gearing up to increase by more than twofold its on-campus housing, where many athletes stay, to a capacity nearing 500. A new gym that would seat 2,500 is on the drawing board, and a high-tech baseball diamond, built to handle South Coast deluges, is a real gem. Where the college once depended on voters to approve operating levies, state funding -- based on full-time equivalencies -- now provides steady revenue. Our president (Steve Kridelbaugh) wants this place to be spectacular, says SWOCC athletic director John Speasl. A lot of people say that it's just athletics he's interested in, but it's not just jocks. He wants this to be a place where kids will want to come and a place where they will have something to do and be active. To wit, the college is well on its way to building a new performing arts center. Nonetheless, SWOCC's present vitality cuts across the grain of its history. The tidy little campus in the woods surrounding Empire Lakes was built in the 1960s. Local high school students referred to it derisively as Tidewater Tech. Few athletes from nearby Marshfield and North Bend high schools chose to continue their careers in SWOCC's Navy and Scarlet uniforms. Its student body was older than typical four-year college enrollments. People used to ask, `Why do you want to go to school with your mom's friends,' Speasl recalls. You could've shot off a canon at — o'clock in the afternoon and no one would've known. Now, there are ponytails and baseball caps -- lots of young kids. It's not like going to school with Mom's friends anymore. It's a lot more appealing to younger kids now, and our enrollment is at its historic high. For much of its almost four decades of existence, SWOCC's athletic program barely held its head above the tide line. When times got hard, the athletic budget was easy pickings for the budget committee. That helps explain why Speasl, who joined the faculty in 1974 as a wrestling coach, now is the volleyball coach. When top administrators suggested slicing volleyball in 1979, Speasl doggedly objected. They told me, `If you want to keep it, then you coach it' Speasl recalls. I got the job because of my big mouth. The next year, Speasl was asked to fill the gap again. I did my two years and it was time for them to find someone else, or to send me to clinics and camps. The school chose the latter. That was in 1980 when the school offered basketball, track and wrestling for men and basketball, track and volleyball for women. The area's timber-based economy hit bottom in 1981 and funding was dropped for everything but basketball for two years. We had to fund-raise to keep everything alive, Speasl recalls. We had walkathons, jogathons, everything you could think of.'' In 1987, wrestling was dropped as were things like the student newspaper under then-president Bob Barber. The report I saw said we had about 75 students under the age of 20 on campus nine years ago, Kridelbaugh says. Now, there are about 600 students under 20. They're the ones interested in the student newspaper and so forth. Most rural community colleges face the fact that people come to campus and leave and campus life is nonexistent after hours. If you want a campus where things are going on, you have to have activities. We started adding on the different programs. Thankfully, we haven't had severe problems in the past nine years. But it's not been a bed of roses. He would like to see the present equivalency of 3,000 students go up by another 400 and between 500 and 700 students living on campus. If we were up in Portland, you could blink your eyes and we'd grow, Kridelbaugh says. We had to do different things. We had to go through intercollegiate athletics and all the other things. The area is beautiful and people respond to that. Parents who come with their children who haven't made up their minds in the summer, walk around campus and sign on the line. That's in response to the environment here. — — Rogue Valley players find way to Coos — Bay — COOS BAY -- Southwestern Oregon Community College now has the largest athletic program — among the state's two-year institutions of higher learning. — However, attracting players from east of the Coast Range hasn't always been easy. — A series of community colleges along the I-5 corridor often nab athletes the Lakers — hoped to land. Rogue Community College doesn't have an intercollegiate athletic program, — but many Southern Oregon athletes find their way to the nearest two-year school, College — of the Siskiyous in Weed, Calif., or other junior colleges. — I've recruited the Rogue Valley hard for a long time, says John Speasl, the — SWOCC athletic director and brother of Crater athletic director Dan Speasl. I don't — know if it's because of the Siskiyous, but it's been hard to get them to come over — here. — This year has been an exception, with four soccer players and three men's basketball — players from the Rogue Valley dotting the SWOCC rosters. Speasl hopes more will follow. — Two ex-South Medford basketball standouts, James Wightman and Adam Decker, played key — roles last week when the Lakers ended Lane Community College's 21-game win streak. — Unlike four-year schools that can keep players in the program for five years with a — redshirt season, community college rosters turn over quickly. — Men's soccer coach Cengiz Yakut needed to fill out his roster when he arrived last — August. He heard there might be some good players available in Medford and got on the — phone. — Bobby Potter called me about it, and I kind of got excited, said Shane — Neville, a member of South Medford's 1997 state championship team. I wasn't going to — go to school this year and then I was going to go to Ricks College over in (Rexburg) — Idaho. — I called Cengiz and talked to him for a while. He offered me a ($550 per quarter) — scholarship two weeks before school started. I thought that was kind of a neat deal and — just came over here. — Former South players Jeff Dorris, Matt Hoggee and Adam Johnson also played for the — Lakers. — Since SWOCC was the only Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges member in — Oregon playing soccer, that meant a lot of long road trips to Spokane, Walla Walla, — Seattle, Aberdeen, Skagit Valley and other Washington destinations. — We would leave at 2 or — on Thursday afternoon and get back at — or 4 Sunday — morning, says Neville, who was taking four classes, equaling 14 credit hours. — I got a little behind in my homework. — Those 12-hour trips were the most difficult part of coaching admits Yakut, a — 40-year-old native of Turkey. — They're young men and it's hard to apply rules, he says. They want to — have fun, but you've got to think about the game. — The team traveled in two vans. On a return trip, one of the vans broke down near — Vancouver, Wash., and all 14 players, their coach and luggage were piled into the other — van. — We went all the way back to Coos Bay like that, Neville says. It was — pretty tight. By GREG STILES MailTribune.com By GREG STILES Posted Feb. 9, 1999 at 2:00 AM Updated Feb 16, 2011 at 7:45 AM » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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