FRANKLIN
The fictional sports teams at Paul D. Camp Community College have always been affectionately referred to as the Fighting Pinecones. However, college president Dr. Dan Lufkin is planning to turn these imaginary teams into a reality.

College baseball and softball are coming to Western Tidewater when PDCCC establishes competitive programs that will be affiliated with the National Junior College Athletic Association.

“It’s exciting,” said Lufkin, who added that his idea has been talked and planned for these past five months. “It’s a nice recruitment tool for enrollment and retention. I’ve seen many benefits elsewhere.”

He speaks from his experiences as both an athlete and athletic director at other schools of how the sports will fare in this region.

But before the first baseball or softball can be thrown, there’s much preparation to be done.

The need for an athletic director has already been posted, and the goal is to have one in place within eight or nine weeks.

Naturally, the existing field on campus will be upgraded to be in compliance with NJCAA standards. The hope is to have some baseball in the fall, but the first official team won’t start playing until spring 2018; softball will begin that late summer or autumn.

All this won’t be just an extra-curricular activity. Participating students will have to be enrolled full-time at the college.

The community will be invited to become involved with the project. Through this newspaper’s partnership, residents can nominate and vote for the team name and mascot. Be on the lookout for details about this project in The Tidewater News.