YVCC wrestling dodges bullet

YAKIMA -- For now, wrestling at Yakima Valley Community College lives.

But for how long?

That seemed the paramount question after Thursday's meeting of the college's board of trustees, during which a motion to discontinue the sport died because it did not receive a second.

"I'm grateful for the board members we have who did some research," co-coach Mike Schmitt said after a sometimes tense and occasionally contentious meeting in the Hopf Student Union building. "The problem we have with our administrators is that they don't think outside the box. They see a problem and they only see limited ways of solving it."

The problem for YVCC, since 2002, has been a complaint regarding Title IX, a 36-year-old federal law banning sex discrimination in schools. Women comprise approximately 64 percent of Yakima Valley's student body -- a higher percentage than compete in the college's varsity sports -- thereby putting the college in violation.

In January, Tomas Ybarra, vice president for instruction and student services, suggested the elimination of wrestling and the addition of women's cross country to satisfy the ongoing conflict with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

Schmitt countered with a proposal to start a women's wrestling team, and asked that a decision on whether to terminate the men's squad be delayed from February's meeting to Thursday's.

At a study session preceding the board meeting, Ybarra and board member James Carvo spoke to the school's dilemma.

"This is a very emotional issue for everyone concerned," Ybarra said. "It's very difficult to even contemplate. But we do have to consider what's in the best interest of the college."

Said Carvo, "I've spent a lot of insomnia and green tea on this deal."

Schmitt and former YVCC wrestling coach Bob Spain said women's wrestling in Washington has grown rapidly in recent years, thus increasing the likelihood of attracting a large number of participants.

Spain added that he would donate $5,000 to start women's wrestling as a club sport, with the hope that it would later achieve varsity status.

"I have no doubt," Schmitt said, "that if we were given the go-ahead to start this that we could get at least 15 girls in the next 90 days."

Kaminsky, however, said her discussions with OCR attorneys indicated that the college didn't necessarily have such an option.

"They have made clear that they are the ones who determine what, if any, sports are added," she said. "When we added women's soccer (for the 2006-07 school year), that was their idea, not ours."

Kaminsky also said that YVCC stuggled financially to add women's soccer, and that adding another sport create further budgetary stress.

It was also emphasized to the board -- with members Carvo, Patricia Whitefoot, Lisa Parker and chairman Paul McDonald present and member Larry Sanchez said to be in Olympia -- that the only action to be considered Thursday was whether to terminate men's wrestling.

After Whitefoot said, "So moved," when Kaminsky read the motion, McDonald's request for a second went unanswered in the crowded Martin Luther King room.

What happens next, regarding the Title IX problem and wrestling, remains unclear.

"It's basically putting the question on hold," Ybarra said after the meeting. "Unfortunately, the situation has not changed. It's not better. And I can tell you, regarding the funding for an additional sport, that there is not a single S and A (students and activities) program that I would cut in favor of doing so."

Said Schmitt, "There's got to be a better way."

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