On Feb. 5, the Maricopa County Community College District announced that after the 2018 season, the football programs at Phoenix College, Mesa Community College, Scottsdale Community College and Glendale Community College will be eliminated.
The decision, which MCCCD said was made for financial reasons surrounding insurance costs for its annual budget, affects football players around the state, including those from the Verde Valley.
“It shocked me. A matter of fact when I saw it I got on the phone with the Phoenix College coaches,” Mingus defensive backs coach Jose Zabala said. “He just said the insurance side is the hard part. $20 million for the four schools to play football; there’s not a lot of reveneue coming in for that. It shocked me and it hurt me, and me growing up in Las Vegas, I didn’t realize how beneficial the junior college schools here were until my son got into high school.”
Despite the decision, two Mingus Union High School seniors, Martin Soria and Marcos Valenzuela, honored their committments to Phoenix College by signing their National Letters of Intent on Feb. 7.
Their reasoning, as for many Arizona seniors wishing to continue their careers at the next level, is simple — it is an opportunity to play while remaining at or near home.
Now options are limited, especially for Verde Valley players, since not many are at the level to play at in-state NCAA schools: Northern Arizona University, the University of Arizona and Arizona State University. The next best option is out-of-state, but it is something not everyone can afford.
“We don’t have a lot of Division I kids, so their options are junior colleges in Phoenix or out of state, which a lot of times is not viable for them, so that would really stink for us,” Mingus head coach Bob Young said after his players’ signing ceremony Feb. 7. “I know there’s a lot of people fighting this, so I’m hoping it’s not a done deal. I was just talking to coaches the last couple days, there’s a lot of things going on and they’re hoping that this gets reversed. If it does go through it’ll hurt all the schools up here.”
Young said he has helped between 50 and 60 players go to junior colleges during his coaching career of more than 30 years. Returning Marauders like Colby Fanning, who were in talks with Phoenix College, are left with a decision to make.
“We’re going to start looking at the small schools in Colorado and New Mexico and outlying states, and like I said financially that’s going to be tough for them. But the ones who really want to play football, that’s what they’re going to have to do,” Young said.
The decision comes at a time when Arizona high school football is on the rise. Two-time Conference 6A champion Chandler High School has dispatched state champions from Georgia and Florida in the GEICO State Champion Bowl Seires the last two years, and played a televised game against national powerhouse IMG Academy from Florida early this past fall.
