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Too small. Too slow. Too dumb. Too immature. Too damaged. 

These are the characteristics given to me and many other athletes who want to play college football. The vast majority of high school football players wanting to play at the next level have been told they’re too “something” to be offered a scholarship at a Division I school. Coaches say they do not have what it takes physically, academically or behaviorally. So they go the only place they can: JUCO.  

Out of the thousands of junior and community colleges across this nation, there are only 133 football programs. These 133 schools are split between eight conferences. Some teams carry rosters that are comparable to Division I programs when it comes to talent and competing for conference, state and even national titles; others are just horrible. 

Many people’s perception of JUCO football comes from the Netflix series “Last Chance U,” which tells the stories of the coaches and players of both East Mississippi Community College and Independence Community College and shows what it’s like to coach and play at that level. Although accurate, this series does not fully depict the struggles and hardships that some of these athletes have to go through in order to pursue a future with the sport they love. 

As a JUCO athlete who was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship at Grand View after playing two seasons, I take pride in the determination and focus it took for me to achieve my goal of playing collegiate football; however, my situation was different from many of my teammates. Being a local player, I was able to live at home. Others were away from family and in a whole different state; homesickness was just the tip of the iceberg. 

Tre Coleman is a junior at Grand View. Raised in Paducah, Kentucky, Coleman was given a scholarship by Western Kentucky University out of high school to play running back but was struck with tragedy soon after.

“Before I could go out there, I tore my ACL in my all-star game for high school,” Coleman said. “After that, they gave me a preferred walk-on, and then I just ended up going to school there my first year.” 

During that year, there was a coaching change at the school, and Coleman figured his chance of being offered a scholarship again was lost. 

“So I left and went to JUCO in California,” Coleman said.

Injuries and staff changes are just a couple examples of why athletes choose to go the JUCO route. Others are college bouncebacks who got in trouble or made a mistake that resulted in them losing their scholarships. They had to go to JUCO for a season while they waited to hopefully receive another offer from a four-year college, which is usually what you will see in series like “Last Chance U.” 

Others have low GPAs or test scores leaving high school. The National Collegiate Athletic Association and The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics require a minimum 2.0 GPA  for incoming freshmen straight out of high school, and many don’t meet this standard.

Professional arena football player Demarvious Loving came to GV after attending JUCO. 

“I had probably six or seven offers coming out of high school, but my grades held me back from going to any of them because I graduated with a 1.9 GPA, so no school really wanted to follow through and offer me,” Loving said. 

Other athletes simply didn’t even receive offers from bigger schools. According to an article titled “8 Things You Should Know About Sports Scholarships” by Lynn O’Shaughnessy of NBC News, “Only about 2% of high school athletes win sports scholarships every year at NCAA colleges and universities.”

No matter what steers a player toward JUCO, they each understand that this is their last shot at reaching their goals of playing college and professional football. Choosing the best school to attend is an important step. As previously mentioned, only 133 junior colleges in the country offer football programs. A big reason for the lack of programs is a lack of funding.

According to an article titled “Athletics in Community Colleges” by Grace Chen of the Community College Review, “The funding from the state covers only 12% of the college’s operating costs. Thus, the college decided to use all the funds for academics, ‘the area that matters most.’ In addition, campus surveys have shown that a majority of students do not have time for sports and that a relatively small number of students actually participate.” 

This means that for athletes like Coleman and Loving, the decision to go the JUCO route forces them to go to other states not only to play but also to compete and get noticed by college recruiters. Both Coleman and Loving left their home states of Kentucky and Missouri to attend school and play football. Coleman attended Antelope Valley Community College in Lancaster, California, and Loving attended Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls, Iowa. 

“Kentucky doesn’t have any JUCO’s that offer football, so I asked my high school coach to help me out,” Coleman said. “He got in touch with my coach at Antelope Valley, so I saved up some money while I was at Western Kentucky and then transferred out.” 

California is on average one of the most expensive states to live in, and with only $3,000, Coleman left Kentucky to pursue his dream of receiving a college scholarship. His JUCO life was nothing glamorous. According to fieldlevel.com, there are 114 active community colleges in California, but only 69 offer football. Out of those 69, there are only five that offer on-campus living for students; Antelope Valley is not one of those five.   

“You basically have to start brand new,” Coleman said. “I had to split a $1,200 rent bill with my two other teammates, who were also out of state. All I had when I got there was a little cash and the clothes from home, so I just bought an air mattress for my bed.” 

It was hard for Coleman to stay afloat. Unable to pay for his education and without a scholarship, Coleman had to rely on financial aid as well as some funds from home and a part-time job he received from the school. 

“I worked for the school overseeing a class for older people,” Coleman said. “The job was only a few times a week though, and I got paid $8.50 hour. But I got my check monthly, so I had to use that money and maybe a little bit I might have gotten from home. I wanted to get a better job, but I didn’t have any way to get there and back.” 

Coaches and anyone working for the school cannot assist the athletes in any way financially because it violates NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA athletics rules. This means that in order to keep the program up to standard with regulations and make sure their players are eligible to transfer out, coaches cannot assist their players off the field. This leaves players to fend for themselves and struggle to juggle school, sports and living.

“I’ve seen some crazy stuff while I was in JUCO,” Coleman said. “At one time, we had five of our teammates living in a two-bedroom apartment with people sharing air mattresses and even having to stretch out on the floor and even in the closet.” 

Despite this, he said the opportunity to get a scholarship and being able to play the sport he loves has made it all worth while. He also takes pride in coming from a junior college because it was not an easy route to take. 

“I wouldn’t be who I am today if  I hadn’t gone through that struggle,” Coleman said. “I had to grow up a lot and had to learn how to take care of myself as well as adapt to a different environment and people. It also made my love for football grow even more because I had to put everything I had into the sport and school in order to get my scholarship.” 

At the end of 3.5 years Coleman qualified to transfer academically and was then rewarded with a full-tuition scholarship to Grand View. He said he hopes to finish out his last two college years of college at GV and graduate with a degree in liberal arts.