Arizona Western College eliminated its football program last week, leaving just one community college team in the state: Eastern Arizona College.
Prior to Arizona Western’s decision, several other junior colleges around the state also eliminated their football programs. Arizona Western, located in Yuma, cited a lack of sustainable funding for the program.
Eastern Arizona College spokesman Kris McBride said like the others, his school’s program is heavily subsidized by college funds.
“Our program has been in existence since 1920," McBride said. "It has been a valuable part of our student experience, but with so many teams dropping out, we have to take a look at the landscape and determine if this is something we want to continue moving forward with.”
McBride said the school held a community meeting Thursday night to talk about the issue.
“We met with members of the public to ask them the question what do you think we should do? Should we continue subsidizing the program? We got some good responses back from them," McBride said. "But it is tough now with Arizona Western’s decision to drop out."
The school plans to have a final decision this week.