What happened ?

It's all about the MONEY.

Outside of Longwood (now provisional D-I), I don't ever remember many D-II schools in VA. Most schools simply made the jump from D-III to D-I, as JMU did back in the mid-late 70's. With the NCAA relaxing the D-I membership rule for men's hoops, it makes more sense for a fully-funded D-II school to make the extra investment in scholarships to move a program to D-I.

Virginia State and Virginia Union are still D-II (CIAA, which is a great basketball conference), though only one has baseball. Norfolk State used to be there, too, until it went D-I. I think there are a couple of NAIA scholarship programs (UVA-Wise).

Why is there no baseball (or any NJCAA sport) in the Virginia Community College System ?

I am told there has been a group formed to explore this and there are both representatives from North Carolina and Maryland in the group.

Anyone else heard anything on this ?

CV

Sting - Interesting topic. I know of three very talented kids from the beach area that went to out of state community Jr colleges. All three worked hard to improve their academics and has since moved on to ODU, Va Wesleyan and another will head to LSU next year. I would think with the right coach with the right approach at our local community college the kids might have stayed here to play. I have been told that Rappahanock CC has had success with their baseball program the past few years or so. Hampden-Sydney played RCC this past fall. Both games were very competitive and RCC had some very skilled players. I hope what your being told will happen in the near future.

fc v dad

Looks like Lord Fairfax Community College is going to be pursuing ...



S****r Is Coming To LFCC

By Drew Houff
The Winchester Star
December 8, 2004

MIDDLETOWN — By fall of 2005, Lord Fairfax Community College will have a burgeoning athletics program.

LFCC’s first intercollegiate teams will be men’s and women’s s****r.

Shaun Broy, LFCC’s student activities coordinator, said the search for a coach has begun, with an announcement coming in the not-too-distant future regarding a faculty or staff member from either the Middletown or Fauquier campuses.

Broy, a former assistant s****r coach for the girls’ team at Clarke County High School, said s****r was chosen as the college’s first foray into athletics because the Middletown campus already has an area that can be used for a s****r stadium.

He said the area for a stadium, coupled with his own experience in s****r and the area’s strong programs, made s****r a logical choice, particularly since LFCC could field teams for both and for women.

“It was the sport that drew the most interest,” Broy explained. “We already have a s****r club playing s****r every Friday afternoon, and it has grown quite a bit. We knew we had interest.”

The teams initially will start as club teams, student organizations formed to compete in specific sports.

Ideally, the program will grow and eventually become a varsity team at LFCC with the possibility of joining the National Junior College Athletic Association in the future.

Eleven of Virginia’s 23 community colleges currently have club sports teams that compete against other community colleges and some four-year institutions.

Broy said Danville Community College, for example, has had a baseball team that has beaten NCAA Division II and Division III institutions, and Northern Virginia Community College has fielded men’s and women’s basketball teams.

LFCC President John J. Sygielski remains a strong supporter of the idea of fielding teams to represent the college, providing an additional outlet for students.

“Organized athletic competition will certainly add to the richness and vibrancy of the LFCC experience,” Sygielski said. “These sports teams will provide opportunities for LFCC students to grow, collaborate, and learn outside of the classroom with fellow LFCC students and their counterparts at other colleges and universities.

“And they allow members of our local communities to become uniquely involved with LFCC.”

Broy said the s****r teams will play 12 to 16 games during the first season. Representatives of Potomac State College in West Virginia and Christendom College in Front Royal already have verbally committed to being a part of LFCC schedules.

He said Tidewater Community College in Norfolk already has an established s****r program and likely will be part of that initial schedule.

New River Community College in Dublin has a co-ed club team, but Lord Fairfax officials want separate teams for men and for women to help build the program, Broy noted.

“We want to make sure we do it with care,” he said. “We really want to do it right and then add baseball, softball, and men’s and women’s basketball in the next four to five years.”

Rappahannock has had a very successful club program for quite a number of years. Aylett's son (from these boards) played there. My son considered there before going in a different direction.

It seems the state's junior colleges, after roughly a generation of no sports, is starting to rethink that position. JUCOs seem to be pretty healthy these days, but the low costs are the reason why. The growing student bases want more services, but they cost money. So it will be interesting to see how this evolves.

NJCAA DIV I, II, & III member schools.

NJCAA Div. I Baseball

NJCAA Div II Baseball

NJCAA Div III Baseball

Let me know if you see any VA schools listed, I could not find any.

CV

Can anyone comment on the quality/level of baseball played by division 3 teams such as Virginia Wesleyan/Christopher Newport versus division 2 teams such as the eastern NC teams (Barton, Mt. Olive, etc).

I would say about equal. VWC and CNU have historicly had strong programs for D-III, both could probably give some D-I schools a fit.

Barton and Mt. Olive both received some votes in the recent College Baseball News 2005 pre-season ranking poll.

CV

CV

You won't find any state junior colleges in the NJCAA because they have to be sanctioned members to be there. All of the programs in Virginia (and in baseball, I believe there are six) are clubs.

As for CNU and VWU, they could compete with a lot of D-II teams in a short series and against some D-I teams with their best pitchers. But over a longer number of games, it would start to get ugly. The big difference is depth, especially pitching.

Just what I mean, I think there is some legal issue that prevents them (Community Colleges) from joining, at least that is what Richmond said when I called.

Hopefully there will be some baseball loving politicians that will get that mess straightened out.

CV

off topic a little bit (apologise) but our local schools are sure doing well in d-3 polls

http://www.collegiatebaseball.com/polls/divIII/currentpolldiviii.htm

practice starts next week and 1st game is less than 5 weeks away !!!!!

Yes, Virginia there is baseball in the Community college world.It is not JCNCAA because the state will not pay for any sport at any college level,where as Maryland state gov.does a great job at the community college level.The Virginia Community College SystemConference has been playing baseball for years.They play a Baseball Conference Tournament every spring.For the past two years it was played at Danville,Va. I think this years tournament is going to be played in Martinsville,Va.Rappahannock Community College has won the tournament five times.My son was on two of thoes Championship teams.RCC has transfered over 50 players to DIII,DII,DI and NAIA colleges.RCC plays over 30 games a spring and carries about 25 players.The team rasies money for all it's travel and uniforms.RCC plays teams from NY,Maryland,NC,and SC.There are six teams in the VCCSC,Danville CC,New RiverCC,Patrick Henry CC,Rappahannock CC,Southwest Virginia CC,and Virginia Western CC.

Aylett,

What prevents them from joining NJCAA, is it the State of VA ?

Are there any web page addresses or links to the baseball teams you listed ?

Is there a schedule posted somewhere on the web?

I am sure other members on here would like to know this info.

CV

The state of Virginia does not pay for any college sports at any level.VCU,VT,UVA, and all colleges support their own sport programs,mostly thur student fees and sport backer clubs and alumi.Any community college in our state could join the NJCAA if they wanted to,but they would have to raise the money themselfs. There are no web sites that I know of,the VCCS works inside the colleges,last years president was the baseball coach at Danville CC,Coach John Bailey.Each school plays eachother home and away.I think this years president is the baseball coach at Patrick Henry CC in Martinsville,Va.The tournament will be the first week-end in May. Ifound out about this league and RCC thur a pro scout.My son went to a tryout and the scout told my son he needed more work and told us about Coach Wade Johnson and his baseball team.The best thing about a club team you can play as many games as you want,RCC plays a full fall schedule. Here is list of colleges that have taken baseball players from RCC.Bluefield College,Bluefield State,Shenandoah Un.,VCU,Chowan College,Virginia Tech,Averett College,James Madison Un,Christopher Newport Un,Bridgewater Un,Radford Un,Norfolk State,Ferrum College,Virginia State,Mary Washington Un.,Lynchburg College,North Carolina Wesleyan,Greensboro College,Mount Olive College,ODU,Longwood Un,UNC Chapel Hill.

It's too bad those 6 teams cannot raise enough money to join NJCAA so they can receive recognition.

Let's hope the committee that has formed through the Virginia Community College System can get some support from the Virginia Legislature to support State wide college athletics like Maryland and North Carolina.

I know there are a lot of good athletes across the State that for what ever reason cannot leave town to go away to college and can only attend the local community college.

Hopefully in a year or two there will be Community College Baseball played throughout the State of VA.

CV