Fresno City College student-athletes have to be enrolled with 12 credits and have at least a 2.0 GPA in order to keep playing their sport.

Balancing both school and sports life can be tough, but FCC student-athletes
are performing better than non-student athletes.

The Associate Dean of Athletics at FCC, Derrick Johnson works closely with student-athletes and understands their drive to succeed in all aspects of their life.

“On average, we perform at a higher rate, we take more units, and we pass more units,” Johnson said.

He states that the general GPA of student-athletes is 2.9 compared to the rest of the student’s GPA of 2.6.

With some schools that these players want to transfer into do require a 3.0 or better. The idea of getting into their next athletic program pushes them to achieve their best in the sport and as well as in school.

“They have to excel in the classroom too, they have to present,” Johnson said.

If student-athletes keep performing well in all areas, it will make the district better as a whole and will impact how funding goes toward the school.

FCC hosted a Torch of Excellence Banquet on May 1 for student-athletes and
their academic achievements.

The Rams Football Head Coach Tony Caviglia was proud to have about half of his football players be honored at this event.

“We have close to 50 football players that have a 3.0 or better,” Caviglia said.

Caviglia believes good academics go hand-in-hand with sports and hold the
same amount of value. When students go above and beyond at school they deserve their recognition.

“You can’t have the sport without the school,” Caviglia said.