College football has dawned upon us once again this year and as students around the nation get geared up to show some school pride, California State University, Stanislaus (Stan State) still remains without a football team.
One might ask why Stan State has failed to adopt a football program in its 58 years of existence and rightfully so. It is a question that has floated around in my mind ever since my freshman year when I saw a t-shirt in the bookstore that proclaimed Stan State football as being undefeated.
As a new student to campus then, I thought that was a pretty awesome accomplishment until I remembered that there actually was no football team on campus. That ever-deceitful shirt fooled me, but it made me ponder exactly why football was nonexistent on campus.
It’s so much fun to attend college football games where there is tailgating, body painting and school spirit everywhere in sight. With such a thrilling and enjoyable atmosphere that would undoubtedly draw huge crowds of people in, I could not wrap my head around why Stan State would not want to adopt a football program.
“A football team would bring more school spirit and get more students involved with school activities,” said Esther McConnell (senior, Criminal Justice). “It would make them feel more connected and more proud to be involved in something fun that is more than just academics.”
Football games absolutely would provide students a fun place to gather on campus where they could escape the pressures of schoolwork and show pride for their school.
“Stanislaus would benefit from having a football team because it would help change Turlock from being a town with a college in it to possibly being a college town,” said Ramiro Mora (Kinesiology, senior).
“On top of that the university could make a huge profit from the amount of people that would want to come and watch a college football game. So I see a football team benefiting Stanislaus and Turlock in a unity and profit aspect.”
That brings up one of the biggest issues though, which is of course money.
“In order to add football we would need to double our operating budget,” said Mike Matoso, Director of Athletics at Stanislaus. “With football it is not just about adding a team – you need to look at additional staffing (trainers, compliance), a facility to practice, increased travel (there are only two division II football colleges in California – Humboldt and Azusa), equipment and a full coaching staff.”
The cost to start up a football program would not work with the university’s athletics budget. To add to that, an imbalance of men’s to women’s sports is also preventing a football team from becoming a reality.
“Additionally with our Title XI requirements we would need to add several more women’s sports to stay in compliance,” said Matoso.
Although having a football team would add so much excitement and student identification with Stanislaus, the chances of having a football team are pretty bleak. Matoso did reassure that he is focused on making sure the athletics teams that do exist on campus are successful.
“We are looking to fund the programs that we currently have to the highest level and compete for a conference commissioner’s cup as the best all-around sports program in the conference and win conference championships,” said Matoso.
So Stan State football does not look like it will be a possibility anytime soon. The obstacles are too big to cross at this point.
It looks like Stan State football will remain undefeated.
