Taft College brings on Men's and Women's Golf Teams
To enhance it's Athletic Program
At its December 9, 2015 meeting, the West Kern Community College District Board of Trustees approved a proposal to add two new sports to the line-up of intercollegiate competition at Taft College.
Golf will provide an opportunity for men and women to compete in the sport at the collegial level. Each team typically includes 8-10 players. At the community college level, women's golf teams compete in the fall semester, and men's teams compete in spring. Our men will begin competition in the Spring of 2017 and the women will begin competition in the Fall of 2017.
The college has hired Chad Sorensen, PGA Professional as the Head Men's Golf Coach. He will be responsible for recruiting players and building the men's golf program at Taft College. The Athletics Department is working with the Central Valley Athletic Conference to ensure a smooth launch of the Taft College golf program.
"Adding men's and women's golf to our athletic program provides additional opportunities for student athletes who wish to compete in the sport of golf", states Brock McMurray, Interim Superintendent-President at Taft College. "We are eager to expand our athletics program to include golf next year."
Academically, student athletes generally perform better than non-athletes. The discipline of the sport, coupled with supportive services and strong peer relationships, may be the reason why. "Our Athletic Department is very focused on the success of our athletes both academically and athletically. Following this philosophy, our athletes are among some of our top academic performers on our campus", says Darcy Bogle, Vice President of Student Services. "For example, our current graduating class of student athletes has a cumulative GPA of 3.16."
Kanoe Bandy, Athletic Director also shared, "I am very excited that we are in a position to expand our athletic offerings by bringing in men's and women's golf. This addresses two of our constant concerns, gender equity and the viability of our athletic program. We compete in a conference that varies in sport offerings from 19 sports down to only 2. This puts us closer to the conference average of 10 sports per college.
Students also have the opportunity to participate in several other intercollegiate sports programs. Men may participate in Baseball and Soccer; and Women may participate in Basketball, Soccer, Softball, and Volleyball. Our sport programs teach student athletes the value of discipline, loyalty, hard work, good health and good sportsmanship.
For more information, please contact, Kanoe Bandy at kbandy@taftcollege.edu or (661) 763-7779..
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