Bailey Browning thought she had her college plans all sorted out. The rising senior at West Limestone High School was going to Calhoun Community College on a softball scholarship to study in one of the top nursing programs in the area.

But Browning’s carefully crafted plans were destroyed last week when she learned the college she has been committed to for a year would be canceling its sports programs effective at the end of the 2018 spring semester.

“It’s kind of like a sucker punch,” Browning’s mother, Michelle Browning said. “Bailey had planned several years ago that’s where she wanted to go because of their great nursing program. She has worked really hard with her softball career to be able to get a scholarship, and now it’s the summer before her senior year and she’s kind of stuck.”

Browning is one of a number of athletes from Limestone County whose college career has been affected because of the shocking announcement Calhoun President Dr. Jim Klauber made last week that Calhoun was canceling its athletic programs, which consist of softball, baseball and golf, due to budgetary constraints.

“The decision to suspend our athletics program was an extremely difficult one to reach. However, after much consideration and deliberation of all possible options, we felt this was in the best interest of the college as a whole,” Klauber said in a news release. “As we looked at the college’s overall budget this year, it became apparent that reductions in every area had to be made. Athletics was one such area.”

The announcement didn’t sit well with athletes and their families, especially seeing they first heard about the decision on the news Friday before receiving a letter in the mail the following day explaining the situation.

“I found out by watching the news,” Athens High School graduate and incoming Calhoun softball player Kaitlyn Scruggs said. “I was like ‘What the heck?’ I had planned on playing softball at Calhoun for two years and the fact that I will only be able to play for one year has put me down in the dumps.”

Kaitlyn’s mother Krishana Scruggs said the family struggled with the situation, especially after the joy of witnessing Kaitlyn signing a softball scholarship to play at Calhoun.

“When I got the phone call, it was like ‘How do I pay for this? What do I tell her?’ Krishana Scruggs said. “It has been stressful for the entire family. For her to have the opportunity to get a scholarship to go to school and play the sport she would die for was a blessing for us. Now, do you cut your losses and try to find another juco or stay that one year and hope and pray they bring the program back?”

The college has said it will honor all athletic scholarships for their duration, which is a small consolation to Krishana Scruggs, but it doesn’t replace the joy of playing softball for her daughter.

“How can you cut the program, but still offer her a scholarship for the second year?” she said. “In Kaitlyn’s mind, what is a scholarship with no softball? The hard work and effort they put in is what you look for. To not be able to use that is very disappointing.”

Seth Underwood finds himself in a similar situation to Scruggs. The Ardmore graduate signed a scholarship this summer to play baseball at Calhoun, but now will only be able to play one year at the school.

“I will play this year to my fullest and wherever I go after that, that’s how it’s going to be,” Underwood said. “I had just committed to play for them a couple of weeks ago and then this news came up. It was rough. I’ll play for Calhoun one year and then look for another option after that.”

Dakota McCurley and Brandi Bentley, both Elkmont graduates, are rising sophomores for the Calhoun softball team but will be able to finish their careers at the school before the program is shut down.

Coach’s concerns

Calhoun softball coach and athletic director Nancy Keenum said situations like Underwood’s, Scruggs’ and Browning’s are difficult for her and the other coaches at the school.

“A lot of these young folks made a choice that Calhoun was best for their future and turned down other colleges, and now it’s turned out like it has,” Keenum said. “As coaches, we’re not as concerned with our livelihoods at this point, but knowing the directions these many young lives will take with this decision. These 15-16-17 year olds, their future is going to have to take a different direction than they had hoped.”

Keenum said she was disappointed the decision to cancel the athletic programs was made without consulting her or the other coaches at the school.

“This decision was made without us being able to prepare for it,” Keenum said. “Perhaps we could have done something different, like cut the budget in half, or try other options. We had no idea (shutting down the athletic program) was coming.”

This is not the first time Calhoun has canceled its athletic program. In May 2001, then-Calhoun president Richard Carpenter eliminated the athletics program in budget cuts. In 2005, Calhoun brought back baseball and softball, and then added a golf program in 2016.

While Calhoun’s current players and signees know they will have a place to play this year, athletes like Bailey Browning are having to begin the recruiting process all over again.

“Because I committed to playing at Calhoun about this time last year, I went the whole year without emailing coaches or going to camps for other colleges because I thought I had somewhere to go,” Browning said. “Last weekend I started emailing coaches again and looking up colleges that have good nursing programs. I’ve been invited to work out at a few colleges and am going to some camps. But it is late in the process and I’m having to start all over.”