EMCC no longer plans on women’s soccer

Published 10:23 pm Thursday, June 15, 2017

Leon Powell was set to take over East Mississippi Community College’s new women’s soccer program, but state budget cuts have forced the school to put their plans for a women’s soccer team on hold.

“EMCC, like many institutions in Mississippi, has had to make difficult choices as we’ve prepared for the new budget year,” EMCC President Thomas Huebner said in an email. “In addition to not filling many positions previously left open by retirements and attrition, we’ve had to downsize by more than a dozen personnel across all our locations.”

Golf, in addition to women’s soccer, also suffered from the budget cuts.

“We made the difficult choice to delay indefinitely our desire to start a women’s soccer program, which was previously budgeted to begin in 2017-2018, and place our golf team, also indefinitely, on hiatus,” Huebner said. 

Powell said none of this came as a surprise to him, as he’s known for some time it was possible there wouldn’t be a program after all.

“I found out two months ago,” Powell said. “It’s kind of disappointing, but where I’m from, I’ve learned that nothing happens before its time. I’m guessing EMCC didn’t think it was time. Lack of funding is what they’re saying.”

Back in March, Powell announced he would be heading up a new EMCC women’s soccer program. At the time, Powell said he wasn’t made aware funding possibly wouldn’t be there for the sport, but there’s no bitterness on Powell’s end.

“I am an open-minded person, so I was just prepared for anything,” Powell said. “I wasn’t frustrated at all.”

Powell is still head coach of the Lamar School girls and boys soccer teams. With girls soccer being a fall sport in the MAIS, Powell said he’s started summer workouts with his returning players last week.