All together: Go Cardinals!

Your community college doesn't merely prepare students for further studies and careers.

North Idaho College excels athletically, in case you hadn't noticed.

With some long-time boosters abandoning ship after college officials opted to play most sports at a less prestigious level starting this year, we'd like to remind Kootenai County fans that their local sports entertainment dollar still buys a lot with NIC games and matches. More than that, the support you can give these young adults, a terrific blend of home-grown student athletes and those from farther away, goes a long way in building community spirit and helping the athletes excel.

How good are they? Here are just a few of the highlights from the 2013-14 school year:

* Two national players of the year.

* Three national academic All-American teams. The women's basketball team posted an astonishing 3.26 grade point average. And the overall athletic department's cumulative GPA was an impressive 2.84.

* Eight individual national academic All-Americans.

* Five athletic All-Americans.

* Eight nationally ranked teams. In fact, every NIC team qualified for postseason play.

* 23 all-region selections.

Even the cheer team got into the act, finishing fifth in its national competition.

As worthy as these accomplishments are, one of the reasons we're putting NIC athletics on display today is because of the department's ongoing community service, long a hallmark of Athletic Director Al Williams. Race for the Cure, basketball special needs games, 13,000 reading program books read, participation in WE CARE Program, the recent school supply giveaway - these are just samples of the many ways NIC student athletes support the community that supports them.

In today's Sports section, editor Mark Nelke casts an eager eye on the NIC sports seasons ahead. And in the meantime, we submit, for your enjoyment, an exhilarating 6-minute NIC sports video produced by the school's outstanding softball coach, Don Don Williams, with an assist from assistant coach Shay Craig. You can view the video on cdapress.com.

Please, this fall, winter and next spring, get out and cheer on your Cardinals. Their championship spirit is infectious.