Jackie Robinson played four sports at what was then Pasadena Junior College on his way to breaking major league baseball's color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Fifty years later, pitcher Barry Zito spent a year at Pierce College before transferring to USC, then joined the Oakland A's, where he won the Cy Young award in 2002.
Athletes as varied as volleyball's Flo Hyman, quarterback Warren Moon and Olympic swimmer Debbie Meyer, and coaches and sports executives including Jerry Tarkanian and Pete Rozelle, were educated at California community colleges. But that enduring sports legacy is in peril, as officials look for ways to staunch the state's hemorrhaging budget.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed slashing funding for community college physical education courses by $120 million, or about 40%. Because many community college physical education instructors double as coaches, the funding cuts and any subsequent layoffs could kill many sports programs, athletics officials at the colleges said.
Some advocates say it is ironic that the man behind the proposal is Schwarzenegger, a lifetime advocate of physical activity and an alumnus of Santa Monica College. Others see it as a sign of the state's desperate straits. Many hope the governor can be persuaded to accept alternate cuts.
"He is one of us," said Diane Henry, Cypress College's dean of athletics.
H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the state Department of Finance, said Schwarzenegger had little choice but to make the proposal and others aimed at reducing the budget deficit. "Because of the size and scope of this recession, the governor has been forced to put forward options that weren't considered just four short months ago," Palmer said.
But even before a decision is made on the state funding issue, some community colleges are thinking of eliminating or trimming their sports teams. The governing council at Los Angeles City College voted earlier this week to recommend suspending the entire athletic program, including men's and women's basketball teams.
L.A. City College President Jamillah Moore, who will make the final decision, said putting sports on hiatus was just one option as the college faces an unprecedented budget shortfall. Linda Tong, executive vice president of the associated student organization at the college, said she voted against the proposal because it wasn't clear how much money it would save.
