Porterville College Director of Student Programs & Athletics Joe Cascio has announced the addition of women's cross country and women's tennis intercollegiate athletic programs that will commence play during the 2018-19 academic year. The programs expand PC's sports offerings to seven, joining women's volleyball, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, and softball at the college.
"I'm very excited to expand the athletic offerings here at Porterville College," said Cascio. "We have been looking for ways to increase opportunities for student-athletes, and I think this is a great start."
Cascio has brought back a familiar face to relaunch the women's tennis team after the program was halted in 2005. Legendary Porterville High School and former PC head coach Kurt Nielsen returns to lead the Pirates.
"We are extremely fortunate to have a coach like Kurt Nielsen already here and established on campus," said Cascio. "He brings a wealth of knowledge, not only of the game of tennis, but of Porterville and the surrounding area. I have every reason to believe that the program will be competitive right away."
Nielsen has coached the girl's tennis team at Porterville High for the past 19 years. While at PHS, Nielsen captured 15 East Yosemite League team championships and has coached 16 individual EYL champions. His 2009 PHS girl's squad were Valley champions.
Nielsen also has experience at the collegiate level, coaching Long Beach State University and Cal State Bakersfield. He also previously led the Porterville College tennis programs, coaching the men's and women's teams from 1999-2004.
"I'm very excited about the return of tennis to our college community," said Nielsen. "With the hopeful recruitment of our local high school players, PC is positioned to build a competitive program through the coming years. During the last 25-30 years, virtually all the local EYL league championships have come from Porterville and Monache high schools."
While PC has landed Nielsen to lead the women's tennis program, a search for a new women's cross country head coach is currently underway.
Says Cascio: "It's going to be a fun challenge to find the right cross country coach. Cross country is huge in this town, so I feel like the pool of candidates is going make the decision extremely difficult. That's a good problem to have, however."
Cross country officially competes during the fall while tennis takes place during the spring athletic season.
For more information on either of these programs, please contact Athletic Director Joe Cascio at joseph.cascio@portervillecollege.edu.