A Summary of Tarrant County College Joining

the NJCAA: A Recommendation Report

Prepared for: Professor Stacy Stuewe, English Professor of
Tarrant County College
Prepared by:

Mr. Sharukh Virani

Mr. Wahab Muhammad
Mr. Mustafa Ansari
Mr. Ifdal Yusuf
November 23, 2016

Abstract

A Summary of Establishing a Football Team at

Tarrant County College: A Recommendation Report
Prepared by:

Mr. Sharukh Virani

Mr. Wahab Muhammad
Mr. Mustafa Ansari
Mr. Ifdal Yusuf

For our Technical and Business Writing class, we were assigned to create a
proposal for a change on campus. At first we were confused and could not
think of anything that was missing. Then we realised TCC does not have a
football team, or any sports team at all. From that point onward, our group
did lots of research. In order to have a football team, we need to be in a
league, to compete. So we decided the best league to join would be the
NJCAA (National Junior College Athletics Association). After some more
research we created a survey for the students of Tarrant County College.
After we handed out surveys and collected results, we interviewed Kevin
Harper, the lead of the Kinesiology department. After we interviewed him,
we realised that not everyone will like the idea, but we will continue to move
forward.
Keywords: NJCAA, Football, Team, League, Survey, Interview.
Table of Contents

Executive Summary....4
Introduction...5
Research Methods...6
Task 1:Getting information on how to be qualified for the NJCAA...6
Task 2: Research student attitudes on school sports..7
Task 3: Research faculty attitudes on school
sports.7
Task 4: Research locations and prices for school sports.9
Task 5: Research benefits of having school sports ..
9
Task 6: Analyze results and prepare recommendation report..10
Results......10
Task 1: Getting information on how to be qualified for the NJCAA....
..10
Task 2: Research student attitudes on school sports....
12
Task 3: Research faculty attitudes on school sports......13
Task 4: Research locations and prices for school
sports...14

Task 5: Research benefits of having school sports

14
Conclusions.16
Faculty Attitudes...16
Student Attitudes.16
Recommendation...17
References...18
Appendix: Questionnaires...19

Executive Summary
When you think of college, everyone knows that sports is huge part of the
overall experience. If you look at some of the public universities in Texas,
such as The University of Texas at Austin, or Texas Tech, or even Texas
A&M, all these universities have a football program. The TCCD campuses,
Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and South all do not have a football
program.
Having a football program for the TCCD campuses would increase the
chances of maybe earning money or getting scholarships when transferring
to a public university. It would increase the revenue due to the income of
game tickets, and selling of merchandise. It would also increase the
enrollment rate in the TCCD campuses.
To perform our research, we conducted a research on scholarship offers,
interviewed a specific faculty member that was recommended by our
professor. We also made a poll for students to take to see their interest in

our idea. We went around the campus asking students to take this survey
online.
We found positive signs for our project, the questionnaire we gave to
students to take showed a favorable interest in joining the NJCAA. We also
found out rules and requirements when interviewing a faculty member
which helped us out a little more.
To conclude this summary, we recommend Tarrant County College to make
a start on our project. The survey showed how interested student in this
project, especially if it offers scholarships.
Introduction
On October 1, 2016 a few classmates and I came up with the idea to have
a football team on TCC and be part of the NJCAA. (The NJCAA stands for
National Junior College Athletic Association, it is an association for
Community and Junior colleges throughout the United States.) It will give
former athletes that couldnt make it to the NCAA another chance not only
to play but also earn scholarships. In the proposal, we will be talking about
how having a football team could benefit this college, what needs to be
done, etc.
There is a 1.3% chance of getting a Divison 1 football scholarship, out of
80,000 players qualified to play in a college level only 14,000 play in
division 1. While 1.1 million students every year are still looking for a
scholarship. For some people they depend on football to continue their
education. You have to have a 2.5 GPA in high school to play in Division
1. Players that don't reach that requirement have a chance to play in
Division 2 or 3 but it does not guarantee a scholarship.
Having a football program for the TCCD campuses would increase the
chances of maybe earning money or getting scholarships when transferring
to a public university. It would increase the revenue due to the income of
game tickets, and selling of merchandise. It would also increase the
enrollment rate in the TCCD campuses.
5

Some of the questions people will be asking about out our process:
1. Where do we find space to make a football field?
2. How much money will go into making the field and being registered
NJCAA?
3. How many students would be interested in this idea?
4. If this works, how much will it benefit not only for the athletes but also for
TCC?
Research Methods
In order to acquire the information necessary to put together a football
team, we used these methods:

Task 1: Getting information on how to be qualified for the

NJCAA
To do this, our team decided it would be best to do some research
and talk to the lead of the kinesiology department, Kevin Harper. We
found a pamphlet online that shows the eligibility requirements. After
some research, we believed to would be possible to have our school
join the NJCAA. However, when we interviewed Kevin Harper about
it, he told us that It will likely kill the budget. Also, he told us about
Title 9, which is a rule that states that however many spots for a
sports league are available for men, the same amount must be
available for women.

Task 2: Research student attitudes on school sports

When we conducted a questionnaire for students, we asked 6 main
questions that would help us out. We asked students,
1.How interested they are if they found out TCC is joining the
NJCAA?
2. If there was a football team at TCC that would compete in the
NJCAA, would you participate, or know someone who would be
interested in the program?
3. If there was a football team, how likely would it be for you attend a
game?
4. If TCC joined the NJCAA, what other sports would you like to see
or join competitively?
5. If you were enrolling at TCC, would it make you more likely to
attend the school if there was a football team?
6. If TCC was offering scholarship money, would you be interested in
joining a football team?

Task 3: Research faculty attitudes on school sports

In order to research the faculty attitudes on joining the NJCAA, we
interviewed the lead of the Kinesiology Department: Kevin Harper.

Also we talked to our professor, Stacy Stuewe, to see her views as

well. For the interview with Kevin Harper, we prepared some
questions.
1. Have you thought about joining the NJCAA and creating a football team at
TCC? If so what's holding it back to create a football team here?
2. Do you know if there is room in the budget to make a football team at TCC?
3. Do you think TCC will be able to offer scholarships to football players?
4. Is having 5 campuses an advantage or disadvantage for a football
program?
5. Do you know what it will take to have a football team in the NJCAA?
6. What do you think of the idea of joining the NJCAA?
7. What do you think the effect will be for the college if we join the NJCAA?

Task 4: Research locations and prices for school sports

When researching for the locations of the fields for practice, we came
up with the idea that maybe borrowing a high school football field
would be ideal, until TCC build their own practice field. We visited
with Kevin Harper, who is the head of the Kinesiology department at
TCC, and he suggested that maybe, we could use the Birdville High
School football field, because it is close by. As for the prices for
school sports, Kevin Harper predicted that TCC would not have the
funds to kickstart a football program. Some football programs at the
public universities in Texas could need up to 1 million dollars.

Task 5: Research benefits of having school sports

The benefit of having school sports is great for both faculty and
students. If TCC were to offer a football program, there would be
more job openings because the team would need trainers, coaches,
etc. It would also benefit the students because it would bring more
school spirit, entice students to start attending community colleges,
and maybe even provide scholarships so students can benefit. It will
also put TCC on the radar to other schools, making TCC more
popular and well-known. More students will start to be more open to
the idea of attending a community college, before attending a public
university.

Task 6: Analyze results and prepare recommendation report

Our teams goal was to analyze and finish the recommendation report
by November 23, 2016.
Results
In this section, we discuss the results of the survey, interview, and
research.

Task 1: Getting information on how to be qualified for the

NJCAA
Researching all of the requirements that will be needed to have
Tarrant County College eligible for the NJCAA, we found a pamphlet
online. It is the latest pamphlet made by the NJCAA, it is the 2016-17
edition, which is effective by August 2016. The pamphlet helped us
out a lot. It revealed all the things we needed to know. From
enrollment eligibility to Grant-in-aid and recruitment. To be enrolled,
academic enrollment is what decides if an athlete can play or not.
You must be a full time student, which means at least 12 credit must
be taken every semester. You can not have lower than a C as your
final grade and have to finish the semester with a 2.00 GPA or higher.
Every athlete has a chance to apply for grants, you just have to
actually apply for it at the financial aid desk. For scholarships, it
depends on the student's academic results and his performance on
and off the field, there some scholarships that you have to apply to be
noticeable. Title 9 is what will hurt the most if there is only a football
team at Tarrant County College. Title 9 states, that women and men
be provided equitable opportunities to participate in sports. Title IX
does not require institutions to offer identical sports but an equal

10

opportunity to play. This also goes for scholarships and other

benefits like equipments, coaching, facilities etc. Since there are at
least 65 athletes on a full football roster, there needs to be sports to
equal it out. Which will be tough to do to have a football team at TCC,
but still not effective to be part of the NJCAA. The pamphlet had a lot
of information for athletes but also what colleges can and cannot do
like funding etc.

Task 2: Research student attitudes on school sports.

In order to research student attitudes on school sports, we created a
survey on surveymonkey.com and passed out fliers to receieve a
maximum amount of results. The results are as follows:
1.How interested would you be if you found out TCC is joining the
NJCAA? 70% of students are interested, 30% are not interested.
2. If there was a football team at TCC that would compete in the
NJCAA, would you participate, or know someone who would be
interested in the program? 35% would not participate, 18% might
participate, 29% know someone who would participate, and 18%
would participate

11

3. If there was a football team, how likely would it be for you attend a
game? 59% of students said they are not likely to attend a game.
4. If TCC joined the NJCAA, what other sports would you like to see
or join competitively? 44% said they would like soccer. 38% want
basketball.
5. If you were enrolling at TCC, would it make you more likely to
attend the school if there was a football team? 41% said yes, 59%
said no.
6. If TCC was offering scholarship money, would you be interested in
joining a football team? 67% are interested and 33% are not.

Task 3: Research faculty attitudes on school sports.

In order to learn faculty opinions on school sports, our professor
recommended we interview the Kinesiology Department lead, Kevin
Harper. Professor Stuewe had a very positive attitude on having a
team and be involved with the NJCAA. However, Kevin Harper was
not so enthusiastic. We asked him if he ever thought about joining the
NJCAA, and he said no. He told us that it would kill the budget, and
the academic side of kinesiology would suffer, because the teams
would need to use the equipment often. He did agree that it is an

12

advantage to use all 5 TCC campuses to incorporate one team. The

biggest issue was that it would take a lot of money to bring this
together. He also said that if the students really want to have a team,
then the administration would be more likely to approve the idea. He
gave us an example of UTA (University of Texas at Arlington) used to
have a football team, and the program was shut down due to budget
issues. At UTA there is still a big interest of students for football, so
they have a football club. Kevin Harper recommended that we should
start a football club at tcc as well, and if the students show lots of
interest, possibly we could eventually join the NJCAA.

Task 4: Research locations and prices for school sports

We decided that if there were to be a football program for the TCC
campuses, wed need to locate the closest football field to all 5
campuses. After extensive researching and speaking to Kevin Harper,
we realized how costly it would be to build and maintain our own
football facility. The biggest universities in Texas spend millions of
dollars for facility/stadium purposes. If TCC were to join the NJCAA,
the best option for practicing/training would be a large affordable
stadium in the Tarrant County area.

13

Task 5: Research benefits of having school sports

After our survey and conversations with other students, we believe
that most students are supporting the creation of a TCC football
team. 70% of our survey participants say they are interested in the
idea. In other forms of research, a Harvard business school
professor, Doug J. Chung, conducted a study to see how much of a
influence school sports make on attracting students applying to
colleges. He found that when a college performs well in a sport such
as football or basketball, college applications increase by 18.7%.

Conclusions

14

In this section, we review our final conclusions, based on the research and
results we came up with from earlier.

Faculty Attitudes
According to Kevin Harper, he was not interested in starting a football
program, due to his own personal lack of interest, and the budget toll it
would have on TCC as a school. The University of Texas at Arlington used
to have a football program but they did not continue it, due to the high price
demand. The faculty here at TCC do not want to follow in the same
footsteps.

Student Attitudes
Based on the answers we got from the survey we sent out, we feel that
students have a mixed attitude towards starting a football program, or any
other school sports in general. 70% of students are actually interested in a
sports program, but only a surprising 18% would actually participate in it.
Recommendation
We recommend that Tarrant County College still joins the NJCAA, but if not
in football, then it any other sports. The benefits of bringing school sports to

15

TCC outweigh the disadvantages, in our opinion. As for those who are still
interested in joining a football program, we recommend that the best outlet
is to start a football club instead, and hopefully from there, it will grow into a
program itself.

16

References
"Tarrant County College District in Fort Worth, TX - Find Information about Admissions,
Tuition, Majors and Campus Life at Petersons.com." Petersons's. Nelnet Company, 0001. Web.
28 Oct. 2016.

"NJCAA Scholarships." Njcaa Scholarships. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016

Ashburn, Elyse. "To Increase Enrollment, Community Colleges Add More Sports." N.p., Oct.
2007. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.
"NJCAA Rules and Requirements for Athletic Eligibility | San Jacinto College." NJCAA Rules
and Requirements for Athletic Eligibility | San Jacinto College. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.
"Eligibility Rules Pamphlet." Eligibility Rules Pamphlet (n.d.): n. pag. 21 June 2016. Web. 16 Nov.
2016.

Silverthrone, Sean. The Flutie Effect: How Athletic Success Boosts College Applications.
Forbes. Forbes, 29 Apr. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2016.

17

Appendix: Questionnaire
1. How interested would you be if you found out TCC is going to be part of
the NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association)?

2. If there was a football team at TCC that would compete in the NJCAA,
would you participate, or know someone who would be interested in the
program?

3. If there was a football team, how likely would you attend a game?

4. If TCC joined the NJCAA, what other sports would you like to see or join
competitively?

5. If you were enrolling at TCC, would it make you more likely to attend the
school if there was a football team?

6. If TCC was offering scholarship money, would you be interested in

joining a football team?

18