Salt Lake Community College’s Bruin Arena can hold up to 5,000 spectators. Players and coaches believe it is one of the best arenas for hosting games in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), and it is home to the SLCC volleyball team — a consistently dominant program.
Last season, the Bruins finished in sixth place nationwide, with a 27-7 record that included a Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) title and a NJCAA Rocky Mountain District title. This type of success is not new for them.
The volleyball program has dominated throughout its nearly 30-year history at SLCC, with only two losing seasons in the entire span. However, support for the team, and attendance at Bruin Arena — like for other sports at SLCC — does not match the team’s stellar record.
“In the sense of the college supporting its athletics, I think it’s very good,” said volleyball assistant coach Chris Tellesbo. “[But] there is a big divide between athletics and the rest of the school. The more traditional student base here sometimes doesn’t know athletics exist — let alone that they’re all really good.”
Barriers to attendance
Regular attendance at SLCC volleyball home games is not known to be remarkable. The Bruins also do not have a typical student section, which sometimes makes the massive Bruin Arena feel a bit empty, according to previous attendees.
“Lots of people I talk to aren’t even aware SLCC has sports. And if they do, they figure that they aren’t any good,” said Logan Lindsay, a social work major and one of four returning sophomore players this season.
SLCC is known for its diverse student body. One aspect of that diversity is the non-traditional schedules that many students take on, which makes following teams and attending games more difficult.
On the other hand, the lack of a significant following means that those who are close to the volleyball team tend to be ardent supporters, including the players’ family members, fellow students, and athletic department staff.
Internal support and external motivation
Tellesbo added that support for the Bruin volleyball squad from other SLCC student athletes is tremendous, saying the athletes are tight knit across the different programs.
“I feel very well supported by my teammates, family and coaches,” said Julie Oberg, a health science major who is returning to the volleyball team for her sophomore year at SLCC.
“We receive great support from school administration and our coaches, as well as our parents and families,” said Karlie Hopkins, another returning sophomore. “We don’t get a lot of fans as far as the general community goes, but our families are always there cheering for us.”
Tellesbo said the athletes get to experience more intense crowds at away games, where SLCC faces off against schools with smaller facilities. He added that the Bruins are usually the team everyone wants to beat.
“We get to play in loud gyms and [to the team] I’m like, ‘just remember they’re loud because they’re afraid of you,’” Tellesbo said. “‘They respect you or they wouldn’t show up.’”
“We feel we can feed on crowds just fine,” he added.
Building a sense of culture around teams at a two-year school can be more difficult than at other levels due to the unavoidable turnover of athletes, Tellesbo said.
But for the Bruin coaching staff, there is no question to where the priorities lie.
The coaching ‘process’
SLCC volleyball is currently revving up in hopes of another strong season led by head coach Shay Goulding-Meurer, who is in her second successful stint with the team. Goulding-Meurer is described as putting athletes first in her approach, and the team’s record speaks to the success of this method.
“We are definitely in the corner of the athlete,” Tellesbo said. “This isn’t an end destination for most of them. That’s the job we have as a staff: helping [the athletes] get where they want to be.”
Tellesbo explained the culture to be a product of Coach Shay’s philosophy, and said it is one of the main reasons that SLCC can compete with other powerhouse junior colleges on the national level.
The athletes appreciate Goulding-Meurer’s approach.
“Coach Shay’s culture was one that I recognized to be positive and different from many others from the day I went to a prospect camp the summer after my junior year of high school,” Hopkins explained.
Hopkins, Lindsay and Oberg all said they hope to play Division 1 NCAA volleyball after leaving SLCC, following in the footsteps of past great Bruin athletes who transferred to four-year institutions after their time at the college.
“[Shay] sets high goals and works nonstop to help us hit them,” Oberg said. “This vibe has given us all a strong work ethic and taught us the value of discipline and process over results.”
“Coach Shay’s focus on process over results has helped me so many times in the last year. Our team has built an amazing culture,” Lindsay said. “We are all so close to each other, like a family.”
As the team competes this season, they are not simply chasing specific trophies or championships. They will be going through their “process.” Winning just tends to follow.
For more updates on SLCC volleyball, including schedule and roster information, visit the SLCC Athletics team page or follow the team on Instagram. Home games are played in Bruin Arena, which is in the Lifetime Activities Center building (LAC) on Taylorsville Redwood Campus.
