I was having a conversation with a friend a couple of weeks back, and the topic has been sticking with me: Why doesn’t our community embrace Centralia College athletics the way that high school athletics are followed?
It isn’t so much a question of fault, so much as I’m just really curious and sort of thinking out loud here.
Centralia College is a pretty nice place. I hold a Centralia College degree, myself, in fact. It’s a great place to play sports after high school. It’s a great stepping stone between high school and a full-blown, long-distance university experience. They’ve got really nice, updated facilities. And, on top of that, Centralia College has received numerous awards for academic and educational excellence (Centralia College’s popular 2-year Criminal Justice Program was named one of the 10 best in the nation this week by BestColleges.com).
Talented local high school athletes from our area often go on to play at Centralia College — if only for a season or two — and some continue on in college athletics after transferring to larger programs and institutions.
In addition to that, Centralia College also actively recruits from other schools and programs around the region. I often recognize some of the names of standout athletes from schools in other nearby leagues when the college reports signing them to play.
The recent High School All-Star Games, sponsored by The Chronicle and Alderson’s Awards West Printwares, packed the bleachers in the Centralia College gym. Ten minutes into the boys game, there were juiced fans screaming “TWO B!” across the gym and student sections taunting each other with rhymes and phrases sang in unison.
Why doesn’t more of that energy from our local community bleed over into Blazer Athletics?
It’s been an interesting question to consider. When you travel to places like Eugene, Oregon and Ellensburg, Washington, these entire towns often seem sort of “themed” around their local institutions (University of Oregon and Central Washington University, respectively, in this case). There are banners throughout the downtown and campus areas that feature local athletes’ photos and team number, etc.
And, in some college towns, there’s even local establishments that use local college athletics as the theme and decor of their restaurants and bars.
In Eugene, numerous establishments proudly display historic athletic photos and memorabilia. In Spokane, there are establishments that feature the Zags and the City of Spokane seems to also cross-promote athletics and athletic event opportunities.
Interestingly, the Twin Cities Sports Commission has recently become much more visible on Facebook. And while considering that, I’ve noted an interesting observation as well: While the NW Sports Hub has only been constructed for a few years — it almost seems like that venue and program has garnered more support, more broadly and more quickly than our own hometown college’s athletics program. And we all know Centralia College is the longest continually-operating community college in the state of Washington. I just thought that was an interesting juxtaposition.
Again — the appetite for sports and athletics is there ... but still not as much for the college.
So, I suppose I’m not proposing much of a solution here, as much as I am observing the disconnect.
What would it take for Centralia College Trailblazer Athletics to gain a larger following here locally? LewisCountySports.com does a great job reporting on their programs and games. The new “Let’s Take About It” sports podcast by Lewis County Sports is even recorded at Centralia College!
Centralia College has also partnered with Eli Sports Network to increase access to athletics broadcasts.
But is that enough? Does it take a local gathering place to promote game night specials? Or entertainment partnerships? Or, is there room for more coordination through our local tourism outlets? Should Centralia College athletic events be advertised more like tourism events? I can see in other towns where venues are more aggressive about their marketing.
With all the passion I see in this community for youth, high school and select athletics, it just seems odd to me that we don’t see more of a visible college athletics following here.
It will be interesting to see, for instance, with Chehalis School District’s focus on getting kids enrolled in and completing college degrees, maybe we’ll see more local participation and athletics enthusiasm.
As the cost of college education continues to rise and student debt steadily increases, perhaps we’ll see more students from around the region choose to play a couple of years of ball at Centralia College.
Regardless, I hope that the community begins to recognize this opportunity to capitalize and maybe we can build a fun, local following. Go Blazers!
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Brittany Voie is a columnist for The Chronicle.
