The Clackamas print., October 26, 2011, Page 7, Image 7

Sports
The Clackamas P rin t7
Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011
sportsed@clackamas. edu
CCC Football
Recalling memories of program cut 34 years ago
By John William Howard
Sports Editor
There is something special about football. It’| ; a
sport that Americans understand. It moves in short
spurts but takes breaks in between. People hit each
other, it’s easy to keep track o f who has the ball and
it’s a chance to get together as á community. Above
all, football gives opportunities for young people to do
something that’s constructive, active and something
that will benefit them for years to come.
T hat brings me to something I’ve always wondered
about. W hy doesn’t Clackamas Community College
have a football program? As it turns out, we used to.
Back in.1971, when McLoughlin and Randall halls
were still under construction. and the two year old
Clairmont hall housed almost the entire college, a
group of young men gathered at for football practice.
They were to be the first team for the first season o f
football at Clackamas and a part o f a growing trend in
the Northwest. At that time, around a dozen “junior
colleges” had football teams, including Mt. Hood,
Walla Walla and Treasure Valíey. Those teams, fed the
larger division one programs like Oregon and Oregon
State as well as the smaller schools in the region.
A lot o f people know that Paul Fiskum has been
everywhere; they know that he coached softball for 20
yéárs. They know that he teaches numerous classes in
Randall hall. They know he is an assistant coach oh the
men’s basketball team. W hat most people don’t know
is that Fiskum. was one o f those very young men that
pioneered football at Clackamas. „
“It was fun being something that was starting, bmpd
new,” said Fiskum.
The fledgling Cougars struggled in their first outing.
Wrought with injuries and inexperience,'Clackamas
finished a miserable winless season but captured the
attention, of the community.
The following year, the program won its first game
and continued to build. The third year began to bring
some success, The team was competitive^ and fin­
ished around .500 in 1973, the year that Fiskum left
Clackamas for what is now Western Oregon.
“The fourth year they were really, really good:
6-3,” said Fiskum. “They bad a bunch o f guys go play
Divison-I. They had two guys go play at Oregon, two
guys go play at Colorado State ... it was really coming
on,”
While the football team built on each successful sea­
son after another, the college board o f education and
the president of the college were working against them.
According to John Keyser, former C C C presi­
dent and author o f “Transforming Lives: a history of
Clackamas Community College,” the board was wor­
ried that the lo'cal taxpayers would begin to disagree
with the number o f players coming from out o fth e
area and uncomfortable with the expense of football.
If the taxpayers didn’t pass the annual budget
levy for the college because o f their gripes with the
football program, then the college would lose much
Clackamas Comm unity College football players celebrate a touchdown against Wenatchee Valley College. Clackamas
playedfootball at Pioneer Stadium in Oregon City u n til the program ceased to exist after the 1 9 7 7 season.
needed money. Those fears, in combination with a
general thought that Clackamas shouldn’t have football
to begin with meant that- the program struggled to be
stable from year to year.
“It was controversial in some people’s minds to have
football ... the whole time football existed, there was
a fairly vocal group th at felt like, ‘Hey, we shouldn’t
be having football, ” said Fiskum. “Unfortunately one
o f the ones who never wanted football was our college
president. He neyetreally wanted it and he never really
supported i t ” |
The 1977 season saw rivals Mt. Hood winning, the
NWAACC championship and the very existence of
the newly successful Clackamas football program was
called into question yet again.
After much debate; the decision came down from’
the board o f education: 4-3 in favor o f elimination
o f C C C Football. T hat meant the loss o f a team that
brought around 70 athletes to the school and filled
Pioneer Stadium in Oregon City with supporters.
It wasn’t just a community college sporting event. It
was college football, as far as Clackamas County was
concerned,' A pep band and a ’cheer squad greeted
fans that came out to watch the top players from their
respective towns play at ¡the. next level with the chance
to move on-
Now, the echoes o f that bright and vibrant football
culture have all but faded, except for a few envelopes of
pictures and in the memories o f .those that participat­
ed. Several members o fth e music faculty played in-the
pep band and former players and recruits are sprinkled
all over the area,
,....One.,such- recruit was R on .Chappell, who now ’ts
the head football coach at Wèst Linn High School.
While he decided to go to Western Oregon, he said
that many of his teammates cairie from Clackamàs'ànd
that he had visited and liked the campus and program
at Clackamas. He also said that many of his players,
given the opportunity, would love to play football if
CCC had a team.
Fellbw head coach Steve Coury from Lake Oswego
High School also had good things to say about a Com­
munity college football system in Oregon.
“IF we-could give kids an opportunity to compete
at ,the junior college level it would be a great* option
for them,” said Corny, who played college' ball at
Oregon State. “A lot o f times a kid needs another year
o f growth, and maturity ... a good football program
.would give them the chance to grow and improve as
a player and student. T hat is something we no -longer
can offer our kids in the state.”
Sadly, in the years after Clackamas cut their football
program, the other community colleges dropped, theirs
as well. M t. H o odheld on for a few years but eventu­
ally there were only four teams remaining. Then foot­
ball was gone, as were the Ians, the cheerleaders: and the
band. The necessity, however, still remains. *7.
§ Coury said, “I believe this is really needed‘here, if
done right.” :
1976 NWAACC Football Standings
W-L
PF
PA
6-3
6-3
5-4
158
151
247
122
124
164
3-6
1-8
126
80
185
' 279
9-0
5-4
5-4
382
131
.221
86
141
2 Ï9
3-6
2-7
91
95
209
151
East Division
Spokane Falls
Walla Walla
Columbia Basin
Wenatchee Valley
Yakima Valley
West Divison
Mt. Hood
Clackamas
Grays Harbor
Treasure Valley
Olympic
Paul Fiskum (center, with crutches) takes in a college football game a t Pioneer Stadium in 1971. Fiskum was
injured in his first season as a Cougar but got a medical red-shirt an d returned to play during the 1 9 7 2 a n d ‘73 sea­
sons. Clackamas Community Collegefootball games regularlyfilled the stadium an d were covered by The Oregonian.
League Champions: Spokane Falls
Spokane Falls 19, Mt. Hood 7
M
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