By Adeniyi Latinwo, Sept 2, 2025
Sonoma State University abruptly discontinued its athletic program earlier this year after facing a $24 million budget which lead to hundreds of student-athletes without a place to call home.
Sonoma State was a part of the California Collegiate Athletic Association which is the same athletic conference as Cal Poly Pomona. The sudden closure forced their students to enter the transfer portal with hopes of utilizing the remainder of their athletic eligibility.
Jack Chapman and Kaden Young are two student-athletes who transferred from Sonoma State. Chapman transferred to play for the men’s soccer team and Young transferred to join the women’s volleyball team.
“My initial reaction was purely shock,” Chapman said. “Everyone found out the news through an email and it seemed like a total blind side and a decision that was rushed.”
Chapman said he had to take matters into his own hands as Sonoma State wasn’t supportive at all upon the closure. His biggest source of help and assistance came from his coaches and the athletic department.
“At the end of the day, it was on you to do the work and get recruited and to find your next opportunity unfortunately,” Chapman said.
The transfer portal led Chapman to a new opportunity, as he is now a goalkeeper on CPP’s men’s soccer team.
“Cal Poly Pomona was an easy decision for me,” he said. “CPP is a fantastic program with a great group of guys and a great coaching staff. For me, it was an easy choice.”
Chapman added he enjoyed playing against CPP in conference play last season and is excited to be a Bronco. The thing he is looking forward to the most during his time at CPP is building some great connections both on and off the field and becoming a great player as a part of a great program.
For Young, the closure of the athletics program was hurtful as she invested so much of her time at Sonoma State. She described her initial reaction as “heartbreaking.”
“I remember just sitting there in shock, almost not believing it was real,” Young said. “I had poured so much into being a student-athlete at Sonoma State, and in one email, it was gone.”
Young said the life she built there, from the friendships to the grind to the sense of purpose, had all been wiped away in an instant. It caused her to make major life adjustments on the fly when she had no plans to.
“Personally, it crushed me,” Young said. “I had built my life around the program. My teammates were my family, and I had thought I was going to finish earning my degree there.”
The lack of support from Sonoma State also caught Young’s attention. Like Chapman, Young had to go to coaches and teammates for support while trying to enter the next chapter of her collegiate career.
“My teammates truly cared and did everything they could to support each other through the uncertainty because we were all going through the same thing,” Young said.
Young said considering CPP as her next school felt “natural.” Having played CPP the previous three seasons, she already had an understanding of the type of program it had.
“I already knew the level of competition and the type of program CPP had,” Young said. “Every time we played them, I noticed the energy, the culture and how hard they competed.”
With a fresh and optimistic perspective, Young is putting her best foot forward as she moves past Sonoma State and embarks on a new horizon as a Bronco. She is ready to compete as a member of CPP and is grateful for the new opportunity as she continues to write her own story.
Feature image courtesy of Kaden Young and Jack Chapman