C-R vows to step up its athletic scholarship game

8/15/2018

By Jim Poole

Cobleskill-Richmondville will sharpen its techniques for helping students secure college athletic scholarships.
That strategy, chosen by the school board and administrators, comes after 2018 grad Ashley Kubat nearly lost a scholarship to run cross country at Roberts Wesleyan College.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association requires athletes to have 16 approved core courses to receive a scholarship. Ashley was short two courses––but the deficit could have been avoided had all involved acted earlier in her athletic career.
Her scholarship in jeopardy, Ashley received a last-minute waiver from the NCAA, so she keeps her scholarship and can practice with the Wesleyan team. She left for college over the weekend.
Letters from C-R administrators helped Ashley keep the scholarship.
“We turned over every stone we could to preserve a student’s scholarship,” said Superintendent Carl Mummenthey.
“We’re very happy with the way it turned out,” said Lynette Kubat, Ashley’s mom, who addressed the school board last Monday.
The situation didn’t look promising this past school year. The Kubats learned only in November that Ashley was short two of the required courses––with little time to make them up.
“The first we knew of this was in the fall of her senior year,” said Mr. Mummenthey. “Instead of having eight semesters to work with, we had one.
“Time was the enemy.”
Now, he added, C-R will encourage athletes and their parents to alert the school early on if a student plans to play sports in college. C-R coaches will make the same effort.
Starting early to take required NCAA courses will give students a chance to complete 16.
Guidance counselors will be in the mix to plan proper course loads.
“We want to make sure there’s early detection and make sure guidance has the proper protocol,” Mr. Mummenthey said.
Besides being aware of college-bound student athletes, C-R and families should be familiar with NCAA rules.
Although the school and families have responsibilities, so do college coaches who are recruiting athletes, Mr. Mummenthey said.
“Colleges have NCAA compliance officers and coaches,” he said. “They’re a part of this, too.”
The upshot of Ashley’s case is that C-R, coaches and families will be more conscious of the process.
“I’m glad they’re going to work on professional development,” Ms. Kubat said.