Victory For Fairfield

Back in the day, during my time at Frontier Community College, we joked that our athletics teams were never defeated. That’s because we were the only Illinois Eastern Community College without sports.

That has changed….and the great benefactor is Fairfield.

I think the IECC Board, the Frontier Community College Foundation and last but not least CEO Terry Bruce took real risk in starting the Bobcat Athletic program. It cost money to build facilities and hire coaches. But I saw firsthand this week how that money has had a positive investment in our local community.

I dropped in to the home opener at FNB Field on Wednesday night and watched a walk off homer for a Frontier victory. Just having the team is a local victory.

The 50 or so baseball players, coupled with 25 other athletes in other sports, pump money into this town. The baseball team has players from Texas, representation from Kentucky, Florida, Indiana, Oklahoma, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin, a Canadian, a Puerto Rican….and of course players from Illinois. They all have parents who come to home games, buy gas…eat and stay the night. It means thousands and thousands of dollars spent here.

There is no other way to put it. This is a local success story made possible by the college and the local folks that made FNB Field possible…..not the least of which, Fairfield National Bank.

We can no longer joke that FCC’s athletic teams are undefeated…

We can say the risk of starting the program has been a local victory.