Visible as you walk into Sonoma State University’s gymnasium is a banner of a famed football player, Larry Allen. Allen dominated football at Sonoma State between the 1991-1992 season and was inducted in the pro football hall of fame following a stellar career in the NFL. Despite this athletic history of SSU, many current students are completely unaware of the school’s former football team.
Sonoma State publicly announced they were discontinuing their football program altogether in a press release on December 10, 1996 due to budget limitations within the Northern California Athletic Conference.
Nearly 25 years later, athletic programs at SSU are showing less variety than before. Sonoma State disbanded the water polo and tennis program in April 2020, with reasoning similar to that of the football program.
Sonoma State Associate Vice President of Strategic Communications, Paul Gullixson, stated in a press release that the removal of the program is, “Part of a continuing strategic effort to focus on the university’s institutional mission while addressing current budget challenges.”
Even so, it leaves many students to wonder how life would be with a school football team. How would matchups be between UC Davis or UNR? What would school spirit be like if a football program were to exist?
Ross Goldschlag, a political science student at Sonoma State, believes having a football program could potentially boost school spirit for students, but also acknowledges that having the program revived, “Would negatively affect athletics as a whole and just doesn’t seem feasible for a state school of our size.” Putting the school’s financial complication aside, Goldschlag would be excited, like many, if Sonoma State’s football program came back into the picture,“[It] would be very fun to have a football team to get behind.”
In the rare occasion that a football program were to come back into play, there’s no doubt that students would be excited to attend games against competing schools.
Veronica Sandoval, a senior at Sonoma State, stated, “I think Sonoma would benefit from the team, there are a lot of local high schools around so there definitely would be lots of kids to feed into the school,” regarding how a football team may spark enrollment interest in high school athletes. Sandoval adds, “…the school spirit would really improve and bring more students together.”
Having a football program could potentially enhance school spirit, but given the fact that SSU had to cut women’s water polo and tennis programs just last year, it’s clear the athletic department is struggling financially. Having a football program would certainly be a significant added expense that would likely stretch the department’s available assets much thinner than they already are. Although many students would love to cheer on an SSU football team, the negative effects may be too much.
Though the return of football is a possibility, many factors are to be considered. A majority of the school’s games would not be played on campus, as SSU does not have a football field up to the standards of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Moreover, equipment, travel cost, and other expenses would come from the students participating in the club if established.
Many students would be excited to see football return to SSU. However, the time and money required to reestablish the program is more than most people realize. The risks may be too great for it to be a possibility at this time. For now, the football program remains as nothing but a memory.
