Copper Mountain College Athletic Director Kenneth Simonds announced the ‘Fighting Cacti’s’ will be competing in women’s volleyball for the Fall 2021 athletic campaign.  

College athletics has a natural tendency in pulling a small community together. Four years ago, Copper Mountain started competing in men’s and women’s basketball and the feedback from the community have been positive. 

“We surveyed quite a bit as we wanted to hear everyone's opinion,” states Simonds.  “With our enrollment being two-thirds female, and the popularity of the sport, adding volleyball made perfect sense. Besides, with a mascot named “Spike,” we needed volleyball.`` 

Adding a sport to a collegiate program can be difficult. There’s a meticulous process to follow which includes budgeting, staffing, and recruiting. According to Simonds however, the process worked well at Copper Mountain because of the “team effort with our president, deans, business office, faculty members, and athletic department. I am currently recruiting, when the coaches are hired they will take over those duties,” adds Simmonds. “We are currently working with BSN and New Balance to develop our uniforms. It has been a long process, but very enjoyable and it will be rewarding to see the team inside the Bell Center at CMC.”

The team is expected to start competition before August 16th. First game is scheduled on August 27th as they travel to San Diego to battle against Palomar College. “We don’t have a lot of time, but hopefully we’ll be playing our best volleyball as we enter conference play,’ states Simmonds.

The program is currently searching for a head coach. Interested applicants are encouraged to contact  Ken Simonds at 760-408-4651(ksimonds@cmccd.edu) or  fill out the form at https://fightingcacti.com/recruit-me/recruit_me