LCCC gets one more year of intercollegiate athletics, after all

Lehigh Carbon Community College will have intercollegiate athletics for a final year beginning next month, as the college is finalizing a contract with St. Luke’s University Health Network for athletic trainer services.

The college received a contract for services on July 16, according to college spokesperson Linda Baker, and a “final contract will be signed in the next few days,” she wrote in an email. There could be multiple trainers providing service for the community college.

An athletic trainer had to have been hired for intercollegiate athletic activity to resume for a final academic year. The position was recently vacant.

Seven of eight intercollegiate teams will have activity against other colleges this academic year before the college transitions to an intramural model of sports starting in fall 2025. The decision was marred by controversy — dozens attended a Board of Trustees meeting on July 11 to express their frustration with the decision.

Men’s soccer, women’s soccer and volleyball — which are sports that have their seasons in the fall — can begin official practices on Aug. 1, with other sports beginning practice later in the year. The golf team, which was controversially terminated altogether last month, will cease athletic activity.

Because LCCC is a two-year college, many second-year students will have graduated by the end of the 2024-25 academic year, while first-year students will either have to transfer or likely participate under the intramural athletic model.

The first athletic event for the fall season will occur on Aug. 27, when the women’s soccer team faces off against Union County College.