National Park College Athletics Director Jason Hudnell is in year 18 of his tenure, and five years ago Hudnell and the administration decided to make the push to add athletics to their growing junior college.
National Park College previously had athletics in the 1970s and 1980s when it was Garland County Community College. The teams were called the Lakers.
The students and the community were called to action on selecting a mascot, and the Nighthawk was selected.
The first sport added was basketball, and Hudnell's background in the sport came from playing at Lakeside High School and in college at Ouachita Baptist University. He coached the first basketball team at National Park in almost 40 years.
Hudnell has been in various roles with National Park. He started by working with high school students and in student life before moving to athletics.
"We wanted to provide a more university experience to our students, more opportunity for our students to be engaged, and it all started with the new mascot,'' Hudnell said. "As soon as we named the Nighthawk the very next question was, 'Now that you have this mascot are athletics coming?' The voices started getting louder from students, and it was something they really wanted. Athletics has always been something a campus and community can rally around."
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National Park College has added multiple sports in just five years including men's and women's basketball, men's and women's soccer, cross-country, baseball and softball.
The programs have had several All-Region team athletes. In women's basketball for the 2021-22 season, a pair of freshmen, India Atkins and Kayla Richards, had success in their first seasons.
The baseball program's Demias Jimerson made All-American third team last season in his freshman year.
The Nighthawks compete at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II level for all sports. Being a junior college, they cannot compete in the NCAA, which has only four-year universities.
"We had a gym full of community members and students -- they embraced what we were doing," Hudnell said. "We won ball games. We played 18 games that first year. We went 13-5 that first year. If we would have gone 5-13 we might not be where we are today. Because we were successful we were able to grow quickly, and had we not been successful that first year we might not have had the growth we have experienced."
As fast as NPC has grown in five years, expansion is always a possibility.
"We have been really aggressive," Hudnell said, "When we started with club teams we had 28 student athletes on campus. This fall we are welcoming 200 student athletes."
Currently, the club sport trap shooting is an emerging sport on the college's list. National Park also has a cheer squad that is already competing at a club sport level.
The college has its eyes on a few sports to make a possible move on in the future.
"Obviously volleyball in our area is really big," Hudnell said. "I would be foolish to not at least have an eye on that."
Community support is what creates the growth, and introducing new sports comes off the athletic department's budget. If local businesses and sponsors in the area buy into what National Park is doing with the student-athletes, the growth could continue.
"This year housing is going to be full so if we were to bring on another sport, it might be difficult to find them housing," Hudnell said.
Recruiting is a must for the college, and National Park currently has 10 international student-athletes. Current Nighthawk athletes have come from places like Germany and Australia, but local players from Lakeside and Lake Hamilton also make up the college's rosters.
"(Last season) 16 of our student athletes were named academic All-Americans meaning they had a 3.6 or higher GPA," Hudnell said. "So recruiting is such a big piece. Our staff and coaches do a good job of finding student-athletes that will be just that -- student-athletes."
NPC baseball coach Rich Thompson is from Australia and has made the Nighthawks' presence known on the recruiting trail. Texas and Louisiana are hot spots for finding recruits, too.
There is always an eye on the future in terms of athletics at National Park.
"For now we are happy with the number that we have and the sports that we have," Hudnell said. "We never want to do something that we cannot do the right way. Everything we do we want it to be excellent and provide a great student experience."