OLEAN, N.Y. – SUNY Jamestown Community College basketball is returning to the Olean YMCA court for a men’s and women’s doubleheader on Tuesday, Dec. 7.
The men’s team faces the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford junior varsity at 5:30 p.m. followed by the women’s game against Corning Community College at 7:30 p.m.
Admission is free to the games. Per JCC protocols, spectators are required to wear face masks.
College basketball hasn’t been played at the Olean YMCA since JCC’s Cattaraugus County Campus men’s program was discontinued following the 2015-16 season.
“Having an athletics presence is vital to the foundation of our Cattaraugus County Campus,” said JCC president Daniel DeMarte. “We see these men’s and women’s basketball games and our additional sports initiatives as a means to re-energize our Olean campus.”
Jayhawks athletics returned to JCC’s Cattaraugus County Campus for the first time in nearly five years with the introduction of men’s and women’s cross country teams in fall 2020. Additionally, the college announced in June its intentions to start a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) esport team on the Cattaraugus County Campus.
“Our goal is to have an esport program at the NJCAA level by next fall,” said George Sisson, JCC’s director of athletics and recreation.
The campus offered men's basketball, women's soccer, and men's and women's golf programs through the 2015-16 academic year. It also had men's soccer and women's basketball until 2009.
JCC and the YMCA have shared the Wayne Street facility in Olean since its opening in 2004. Though JCC hasn’t hosted college athletics events at the YMCA in recent years, the college holds its annual spring commencement ceremony there and uses the building's athletic facilities and rooms for intramural sports and classes.
“I’m very excited to see our partnership with the YMCA strengthened and to have a college-wide athletic event hosted again by the JCC-Olean YMCA,” said Paula Snyder, executive director of JCC’s Cattaraugus County Campus. “This is just the beginning of a revitalized partnership between JCC and the YMCA.”
For more information on JCC athletics, visit www.JCCJayhawks.com.