a couple rships and holds events
like a Caj ive and silent auction,
Henry sa eams enjoy two full-
time trai s through a partner-
ship with
“We a
she says. “We are not going to be in the hunt every
year for a national championship. Our ultimate
goal is providing an opportunity to continue their
education and continue playing a sport they love.
Winning championships is nice, but our goals are
graduation and retention, and giving them the
tools they need to be successful in whatever direc-
Seward County Community College is about
18-percent funded through the state, while the rest
comes through tuition, fees and local taxes, Trzaska
says. The college has a foundation that supports
scholarships, although it cannot come anywhere
close to 15 full rides per sport—they try to fully
fund two students for each.
“Ultimately, the commitment by the college to
invest in and support the full scholarship model
has been very powerful,” he says. “But at the end of
the day, if a student is looking at Seward County
and another college, and the other college can offer
more, they’re going to go there. If we can make a
(similar) offer, with our track record and culture,
the student will come to us.”
The success of its teams has led to funding
challenges in that travel to national tourna-
ments must be paid for, but that success in turn
rallies additional support, Trzaska says. “We are
continuing to have to reinvest and rethink our
budget because our teams are performing at such
a high level,” he says.
Snead State requires coaches and the athletic
trips and tournaments. Coaches receive a dollar
amount for scholarships that are never enough to
offer a full ride to every player, and they have the
say-so on who receives the full amount and who
gets a partial one, Exley says.
Hibbing Community College funds coaches’
salaries through the general fund, expenses like
travel and uniforms through student life fees, and
fundraising for extras like spring break trips for
the whole team, Raich says.
“If there is a challenge, it’s to manage costs,” he
says. “There is no revenue coming in—the gate we
have coming in is negligible. Sponsorships are tough;
there’s not a lot of sponsors stepping up for rural
community college athletics. The cost-benefit analy-
sis has to include how much tuition revenue are you
bringing in that wouldn’t otherwise be here.”
Recruiting presents another challenge, which
mostly falls to individual coaches, Henry says. Each
approaches the challenge a little differently, using
a combination of paid recruiting database services,
visits to local high schools and word-of-mouth.
“We don’t really have a recruiting budget,” she
says. “Our coaches are not jumping on planes.”
When students are recruited from a distance, it’s
typically after coaches have watched film, she adds.
Assistant coaches often begin the recruiting
process and head coaches go on to close the deal
with a desired recruit, Trzaska says. A network of
alumni athletes, including Kelby Tomlinson of the
San Francisco Giants, also has helped to spread the
good word about the college, even overseas.
“Every player who comes through these doors
feels something positive when they leave,” Trzaska
says. “When we recruit a student, we’re going to
take care of you.”
Snead State requires coaches to recruit potential
walk-on athletes, and usually between 25 and 35
students try out for teams, which means they have
to be full-time students, Exley says. “If you add all
“Winning championships is nice, but our
goals are graduation and retention, and
giving them the tools they need to be
successful in whatever direction they
choose to go.”
MARCI HENRY, athletic director, Northeastern Junior College
