“The problem is they keep winning, they keep getting championships, isn’t that what we want?,” said senator Christopher Rodriguez to anyone who weren’t in agreement with giving the sports program additional funding.
During an Associated Students of Cerritos College meeting on March 21 members of the senate approved a motion to grant the sports program $16,000 in funding for the playoffs, primarily the state championships.
According to ASCC Director of Athletics Angel Salcido, “The money is ready to be used now and will be used for any Cerritos [College] athletic teams who make it to playoffs.”
As for what the funds will be used for exactly, Salcido said, “The money would cover entry fees, travel, and food expenses until next fall. Especially since most of the state playoffs are in Northern California, which is pretty pricey to send whole teams out there.”
Salcido orchestrated several student-athletes, a coach and the Dean of Athletics for Cerritos College Dan Smith to speak during the approval meeting.
The reason Salcido, also a member of the Student Athletes Captains Council, wrote the legislation asking for the playoff funding is because Cerritos College’s sports teams are at its peak right now, as this could be the best overall year for sports in the school’s 63-year history.
As a result of the teams’ successes, financial resources available for other subsequent Falcons teams have been been depleted.
That would put future teams in jeopardy of not being able to participate in the playoffs, due to lack of money to fund player’s and coaching staffs travel, hotels, meals, etc.
However, another reason for the lack of funds is because some state championships are played in Northern California which are more expensive than attending games in Southern California, it’s not solely due to the teams playing at a high level.
As the Smith noted, “…just a couple years ago we won the state championship in both men’s and women’s soccer, [it was a] very inexpensive championship.
He said “…because the venue was Mt. SAC College, which is less than 50 miles from here, so it’s just a bus ride there and back, no meals, no overnight, no hotels—a fraction of the cost that it takes to play in a state championship in Northern California.”
Smith added, that the men’s basketball team’s Elite Eight game versus Yuba College in Ventura received more views than the championship game.
He gave that information to explain that people really do support the sports teams at Cerritos College.
The process of getting the proposal approved consisted of three weeks, including two senate meetings during that time span.
Salcido said he was “happy and relieved” the moment the bill was passed.
The ASCC Vice President David Ramirez was in agreement with funding the sports department. He said, “If you see success, you should want to help.”
Ramirez finished with saying that he can’t wait to see this bill benefit the players and he hopes they “Win it all and come back to an ASCC meeting and talk about how it helped them.”
A current football player for Cerritos College, Salcido says, “I understand the challenges with directing your focus from the sport you’re playing, to working on obtaining the money needed to continue the sport…
“When you think of Cerritos College Athletics, you should think about all of the state championships and professional athletes that are produced, not a school where its athletes are going door to door selling chocolates.”
