Last Season for Lumberjack Football

Dakota College at Bottineau announced the 2019 season of Lumberjack football would be its last. The program is being discontinued due to its high cost and the need to reinvest these resources into academic programming and other services at the college.

“This was an extremely hard decision to make” said Campus Dean Jerry Migler, “as a great deal of time and effort was invested by the college and the community to re-instate the football program at DCB in 2008.” The program was successful for a time, but factors such as increasing travel and equipment costs, declining student numbers in high school programs, and rising concerns related to concussion injuries led to the decision to close the program. Also, the unique nature of a two-year college football program, with high attrition of players leaving the college at the end of the fall semester, negatively impacted the college’s retention and graduation rates.

DCB’s decision to discontinue its football program is part of a national trend, with announcements last year by community colleges in Arizona to eliminate football due to high travel costs and decreasing high school participation.

While the football program is being discontinued at DCB, the college plans to continue its strong tradition of athletics by exploring other options that better fit with its natural resources and technology mission.