Kaitlin Anderson's father thought she was messing with him.

The freshman on the women's golf team at Sonoma State, a Division II school in Northern California, called her dad to tell him the news. Just a few minutes earlier, Anderson was with her roommates in their dorm when one of them got a lengthy email. Anderson received the same email. At the bottom of it was news that would change the course of her college career.

Sonoma State was eliminating athletics at the end of the 2024-25 school year. Every sports program was being cut in a cost-saving effort. For Anderson, who was just starting the second half of her freshman year, the news meant she would have to hit the reset button on a college career that was just getting started.

"It feels like everything (my parents) have done to get me here, all the process of recruiting and visits, is now just wasted and then also be redone again," Anderson said. "And then later that day, it finally hit me, and I was like, my gosh, I have to redo everything I just did to get here again in the middle of a college semester with a season still happening. Just stress."

There are 11 men's players and six women's players on the 2024-25 Sonoma State golf rosters. Five on each team have eligibility remaining after this season.

Sonoma State's enrollment as of fall 2024 was 5,784 students, with 5,191 of those being undergrads. Those numbers have dipped significantly in the past decade. In 2013, there were 8,378 full-time students.

The school said it would honor any athletic scholarships for the duration if an athlete chooses to remain on campus. Anderson would love to stay at Sonoma State. She fell in love with the school so much, she moved from Peoria, Arizona, a 14-hour car ride away, to attend and play college golf. But if there's no athletics or golf team to compete on next year, Anderson knows she has to move forward.

"People are saying, 'I'm not coming back to Sonoma,'" Anderson said. "There will be nothing to do now. There's no basketball games or softball games. They cut football a few years ago. When sports are gone, people say they're not going to come back because it's not going to be fun or enjoyable.

"It's not just affecting students or faculty. It's affecting the whole community."

As a freshman, she played in only one event this fall, which makes trying to find a new home difficult. Most schools have already signed players to join their teams for the 2025-26 season. Combined with the limited scores to show coaches she belongs on their rosters, Anderson is facing a dilemma like many of her peers at Sonoma State.

On top of all that, there's still a season to finish. The Seawolves' first event of the spring begins Sunday in Los Angeles.

"Our coach, he has been fighting for us trying to get this overturned," Anderson said about Val Verhunce, who also coaches the men's team. "Just like all the other coaches are.

"We have to get through this last season and make it the best. We aren't giving up. We aren't letting it distract us."

Public support has slowly grown in the last week since the announcement was made. A Facebook group called Save Seawolves Athletics has grown to nearly 2,000 followers. Hannah Gregg, a former Sonoma State athlete who's now a professional golfer, is one of many former athletes who have used their platforms to try to save athletics at the school.

When the news was announced, Anderson said there was a meeting for all student-athletes to ask questions, but a lot of people walked out because of how frustrated they were and that none of their questions were being answered. Anderson said they still haven't had questions answered about the future from the university presidents.

"In class, I'm not focused. I'm just worried about emailing other coaches and trying to figure out, if nothing happens, where I'm gonna go and what I'm gonna do," Anderson said. "I intended on being here four years. I try to keep my mind off of it, but then someone comes up to us at the course and they'll express how upsetting it is to them because they had a daughter or granddaughter go here, and then your mind wanders."

Anderson said Sonoma State is the perfect school for her. It's why she's fighting so hard to save the program and finish this season strong. She's also prepping for what could come, knowing this will be her last semester competing for the Seawolves.

For Anderson, it's a battle worth fighting.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: As program faces elimination, how Sonoma State golfers move forward