COA Basketball Championships Bound for Fresno;
Four-day championship at Selland Arena caps inaugural Festival
SACRAMENTO, CA .
. . The California Community Colleges
Commission on Athletics (COA) Men and Women's Basketball Championships presented
by U.S. Bank will be held March 9-12 at Selland Arena in Fresno, CA. The event
will mark the close of the inaugural COA Championship Festival, a concept in
which all of the COA's fall championship contests are competed in the Fresno
region.
The basketball championships
feature the eight men's teams and eight women's teams that advance through the
COA playoff format, which begins February 22. The championship event is single
elimination, beginning Thursday March 9 with women's quarterfinals at 1:00,
3:00, 5:00, and 7:00 p.m. The men's quarterfinals begin on Friday March 10 at
1:00, 3:00, 5:00, and 7:00 p.m. Semifinal games take place on Saturday March
11, with women's games at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. and men's games at 5:00 and 7:00
p.m. The women's championship game begins at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday March 12, followed
by the men's championship at 3:30 p.m. The quarterfinal schedule will be released
on March 5 at www.coasports.org.
Tickets for the championships
are $10 per day or $24 for a tournament pass. An $8 ticket for identified students,
senior citizens, and children under 12 year of age is also available. Tickets
may be purchased on game day at the Selland Arena box office.
In conjunction with the
championships, the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association
(CCCWBCA) and the California Community College Men's Basketball Coaches Association
(CCCMBCA) will host free clinics at Fresno City College on Wednesday March 8
(4:00-5:30p.m.) and Thursday March 9 (5:00-6:00 p.m.) with Fresno area Boys
and Girls Clubs.
The COA basketball championships
boast a rich tradition of elite athletes, coaches, and premier competition.
In 2005, Fresno City College, with a 34-0 record, became the third team in California
community college history to win the men's basketball championship by going
undefeated. Compton College was previously the last team to go undefeated, winning
the state championship in 1970 with a 33-0 record. Riverside Community College,
under Jerry Tarkanian, was the first in 1964 when the Tigers were 35-0. The
Cypress College women's team, seeded fourth in the state championship, capped
a tremendous playoff run with a 69-65 victory over Pasadena City College in
2005.
The Festival has already
been designated a tremendous success by COA officials on the heals of first-time
events such as student-athlete banquets for women's golf, women and men's water
polo, and women and men's soccer competitors. The sports of golf, water polo,
women's volleyball, soccer, and wresting provided free clinics to Fresno-area
youth. The teams involved in the state football championship visited Children's
Hospital Central California on the day prior to the title game.
"It's the events that
go beyond a win or a loss that will leave a positive lasting impression on these
young men and women," said COA Executive Director Carlyle Carter. "The
objective of the Festival was to enhance the experience of the student-athletes,
not only with events in and around competition, but by creating activities that
emphasize community involvement and goodwill."
The California Community
Colleges Commission on Athletics Women's Golf Championship Presented by U.S.
Bank marked the official opening of the Festival, during which over 1,500 student
athletes will compete in twelve state championship events over eleven days of
competition throughout the Fresno region in November and December 2005, and
March 2006.
The Festival concept evolved
from the efforts of the COA Management Council Subcommittee on Championship
Site Selection. The committee comprised of COA management council representatives,
COA sport coach's association representatives, and COA staff, was charged with
the task of developing standards and procedures for the COA's championship site
selection process.
To view the latest news,
information, and updates of all 23 COA-sanctioned sports, and for comprehensive
COA Basketball Championship information, visit www.coasports.org.
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