SCC to add new sports teams next fall

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - The chance to shoot hoops on a college court is what made Jake Banks fly across the world--Christchurch, New Zealand to Beatrice, Nebraska.

“I know if I wasn’t playing basketball, I don’t know if I’d be studying still,” Banks, a freshman basketball player at SCC said. “I’d probably be working back at home. I’d probably be building or something like that.”

That’s the story for many of SCC’s 170 student-athletes. Recently, the college system announced plans to expand its number of athletes to 400 in the next couple of years by adding about a dozen new sports teams in the fall of 2023.

“Obviously, it’s going to create a more positive impact,” Banks said. “Like there’s going to be more things for the students to do.”

“Yeah, I’m excited,” Alyssa Wilson, a freshman volleyball player at SCC, said. “It’s exciting to know that there’s going to be a lot more people involved in sports.”

The new sports offered through the college include e-sports, women’s golf, rodeo, trap, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s track and field, and men’s volleyball and men’s and women’s wrestling.

Right now, sports are only offered at the Beatrice campus, which has made recent upgrades with a new dining hall, dorm, and an academic excellence center.

Come fall of 2023, SCC athletics will be spread out across all three campuses: Beatrice, Milford, and Lincoln.

And that could bring overall student numbers up.

“This change and the addition of, you know, another 250 athletes on these campuses could generate up to four or five hundred more students to the campus,” Brett Bright, the SCC athletic director, said. “We’re really excited about it.”

While enrollment has stayed pretty steady in Lincoln and Beatrice, it’s increased in Milford. School administrators say because of the economy and the pandemic’s re-shuffling, people are relying on community colleges for cheaper tuition and to learn new skills in different careers.

“We don’t see that stopping,” Bright said. “As the needs of our community grows, you know, we need to make sure we’re providing our communities with the best resources for the talent that they need.”

From construction to college sports, it’s a sign of growth that doors are opening for SCC students.

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