James Bell works with a shrinking budget

Along with just about every other program and department at Linn-Benton Community College, the athletics department has taken a financial hit over the past six months.

In response to the state's budget crunch, community colleges have reduced their budgets by about 10 percent and LBCC athletics has done the same, said James Bell, the school's dean of athletics.

The easiest way to save money is through scheduling, and the Roadrunner volleyball team will stay a bit closer to home this fall.

"They've cut some preseason (matches)," Bell said. "Also, we've tried to arrange the schedule to maximize savings on travel, gasoline."

The roster of sports at Linn-Benton is limited to volleyball, men's and women's basketball, and baseball.

Other teams in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges also compete in sports such as cross country, golf, softball, soccer, tennis, track and field, and wrestling.

The athletic director, who is entering his third year in that position, chooses to emphasize the positive.

"The teams are still intact and we still hope for highly successful seasons for all four teams," Bell said.

Linn-Benton has a distinguished history in track and field, and Bell acknowledged that there was a longstanding desire to restart that program or to launch a cross country team.

The budget situation makes that extremely difficult.

"I don't think that's going to happen in the near future," Bell said.

Simply supporting the existing programs in the proper manner is tough enough. Athletics is primarily supported through student activity fees and receives no direct general fund support in the budget.

That means the school has limited options when it comes to a major project, such as putting in bleachers at the Linn-Benton baseball diamond.

The only way such a project could be funded would be if a generous donor were to step forward or if it were included in a tax bond proposal approved by voters.

Linn-Benton has established soccer as a club sport over the past couple of years in response to growing student interest.

Despite the necessary focus on budgets, Bell said the most important and challenging part of his job is making sure student-athletes receive a good education at Linn-Benton.

"One of the reasons we strongly support athletics here at Linn-Benton is that it can bring in students that wouldn't ordinarily think about college," Bell said. "We call them student-athletes and the emphasis is on student. We want them to be successful."