By Zane Mudron

The first football championship in 30 years isn’t a bad way to go out. 

Also, if not for the COVID-19 closure, the men’s basketball team seemed poised to make its own run at a title. 

Riverside City College Athletic Director Jim Wooldridge announced his retirement March 30 after five years directing traffic at Wheelock Stadium and Gym, the Evans Sports Complex and a state of the art aquatics complex. 

Wooldridge spoke highly of the administration and the positive direction that it is headed.

“You’re going to see numbers of growth over the years, there is going to be more opportunities for female student athletes,” he said. “I think we’ll see tremendous success in the future.” 

“This department carries so much success, not only on the playing fields, the courts and in the pools but also the academics and with what our coaches are doing,” he added.

Year after year, due to the quality of the department as well as the coaching staffs across the sports, more student athletes as well as staff are drawn in from elsewhere.

“Everybody wants to be part of a winner, and that department is a winning department, and it has great people associated with it,” he said. 

Woodlridge isn’t looking too far into the future after a 45 year career. 

“We’re just going to hit the pause button, and try to decide what we want to do next chapter.”

Wooldridge felt it was time to close the book and open another one, after a long successful career in athletics. After a short term as Athletic Director at RCC, he has definitely left a mark on the department and helped it make leaps in the right direction.

“My colleagues, and student-athletes first and foremost, that will be a vacancy in my life that I’ll miss the most.”