Fresno City College has a storied history of successful athletic programs. Since 1955, the school has been home to numerous professional athletes such as Tom Flores, Cameron Worrell and Tom Seaver, countless conference titles and 58 state championships, ranging from wrestling, to basketball to badminton and most recently, the 2019 men’s soccer team.

Pamm Zierfuss-Hubbard, who took over as FCC’s athletic director in the fall of 2018, accepted the position of athletic director at Clovis Community College during the 2019 winter break. 

Zierfuss-Hubbard, a native Californian, returned to the state following a successful 11-year stint as associate athletic director of University of Alaska Fairbanks, a school with only 10 sports, compared to the Rams’ 21 programs in 2018.

Her sudden departure could very well have rattled the core of another athletic department.

“I knew she was leaving in December,” Rhonda Williams, former long-time softball coach and current co-athletic director said of Zierfuss-Hubbard’s abrupt departure.

Zierfuss-Hubbard departs FCC for Clovis, a school with eight programs – a still young, up-and-coming athletics department.

Wrestling coach and co-athletic director Paul Keysaw praised Zierfuss-Hubbard for her work as athletic director in her short time here.

“She started branding,” Keysaw said. “She’s got a few projects in the works.”

During her time here she supervised the replacement of the floor in the gymnasium, as well as renovations of the locker rooms on campus among other projects.

“The branding, I think, is huge,” Williams added. “You can just see what the difference looks like [in the gymnasium].”

Looking to build off the successes of Zierfuss-Hubbard, Williams says FCC is searching for someone who will be a long-term successor. Having filled the seat of athletic director herself in 2014-15, she acknowledges that there is a long list of things to do.

“It’s a big job,” Williams said. “There’s a lot of things that we’re [Williams and Keysaw] not even tackling this semester that are long-term projects.”

Williams attributes the size and difficulty of the job as part of the struggle in finding a long-term solution to the vacancy filled by Zierfuss-Hubbard.

The concern this semester is to keep the program stable until a permanent replacement can be found, aiming to take pressure off the coaches whose programs are in season and helping to facilitate their needs.

A committee has been formed to find a successor for Zierfuss-Hubbard and applicants are expected to be screened starting in mid to late February.

“The hope is that we’ll have a new athletic director July first,” Keysaw said.

Both Williams and Keysaw praised FCC’s athletic department as it currently stands.

“I think that one of the things that you can absolutely be proud of in Fresno is Fresno City College athletics,” Keysaw said of FCC’s history. “Pick any sport and we’re good.” 

Whoever permanently fills the position is coming into a historic program, and according to Keysaw – a well kept secret.

“I think this [FCC athletics] is one of the best kept secrets in the Central Valley.”