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History has a funny way of repeating itself. Take Sonoma State athletics for instance. Roughly 50 years ago now, the school dropped athletics. They were brought back and lived a modest life but have now been dropped again.
By the way, good luck finding that fact in any story out there on SSU dropping its athletics program for a second time. A few referenced dropping football in 1996. But seriously, most media outlets have totally neglected what should be a fairly relevant and seemingly massive point.
Yet, you will hear words like historic and tradition used to describe the athletic program. Those are a bit of a stretch. Really, Sonoma State doesn’t have many high-profile moments as it relates to athletics since school’s first intake of students back in 1961. Sure, the football team had Larry Allen in the two short spells the program existed.
More recently, Jaylen Wells of the Memphis Grizzlies spent two years playing the Wolves’ Den before moving on the Washington State and eventually the NBA.
It’s also important to recognize the feats of the other teams at Sonoma State. Both men’s and women’s soccer have been DII National Champions. Baseball has been sold under John Goelz, regularly reaching the postseason and producing a few minor leagues. He has been coaching the team since 1986.
Athletics have an important, multi-faceted role in the college experience at any level. That is what Sonoma State is losing. the
The difference between today and 50 years ago is that students were the ones who made the decision on intercollegiate athletics. That was fair. The community stepped up for a while to keep things afloat, but ultimately, that was no longer enough.
Guess what happened? People, both students and the community, realized Sonoma State athletics was better than no Sonoma State athletics, and the program was brought back a few years later.
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