Through their eyes
For many students, club sports bridge the gap between recreational intramural sports and demanding intercollegiate varsity athletics.
"I think it's perfect because the team commitment is there and it's more than just a pick-up-and-play, because we practice together and there is a lot of dedication," said women's club lacrosse president Audrey Carrasco. "But it doesn't control your life, and you still have enough time for studies."
Club sports also offer students the chance to play a sport their high school might not have had.
"It provides exposure for some students, maybe their high school never had lacrosse, but they always maybe wanted to play." said University Recreation Associate Director Jen Nottingham.
Starting it up
The process of starting a club sport is pretty easy. First, the prospective student-athletes have to apply through the Office of Student Life. There must be at least three members - one to serve as president, one as treasurer and one other member.
The team then fills out an application through the RSO's Reggie System and makes up its own constitution after working out some other kinks to make the club official. The group then deals with University Recreation and the Sports Club Council.
"It's not real tough, theoretically, if you have all your stuff together you could probably get registered in about a half hour," said Assistant Director of Student Life Tom Idema.
The Money
One of the biggest difficulties that comes with playing for club teams is the cost to play. Most teams have membership dues, which help pay for travel, referees, hotels and uniforms.
Each player's dues can be up to $1,200 depending on the expense of the sport and travel required. Some teams use fundraisers to help cover some costs, such as Cedar Point fundraisers or golf outings. Some of the money also goes to team coaches, if one is needed.
But even after dues, some teams still pay extra for warm-up sweats and other apparel.
With success comes the need for more money, especially when teams make it to play at the regional or national level.
The E-Board
The backbone of every club sport is its executive board, or E-Board. The team's E-Board is comprised of the team president, vice president and any other executive position the team might have.
The E-Board is in charge of dealing with paperwork, communicating with other teams and the league. E-Board members complete scheduling, set up practice space and also sometimes serve as coaches.
"Without it we could be completely lost," said Andrew Ueeck, ultimate Frisbee club president .
The Future
With more than 25 registered sports clubs, U-REC has continued to expand every year.
"This program has grown so much," Nottingham said. "This is an area of growth that a lot of universities are going to see in their programs."
To continue its growth into the future, Nottingham said she would like to set up a unified front when showing prospective students and prospective members what sports clubs at CMU have to offer.
Nottingham also considered the idea of letting students in the sports management field and programs complete internships for the club teams as supervisors to give them an opportunity to see what it's like as a game day supervisor, while dealing with team marketing.
"I'm going into sports management, so it gives me a chance to get involved and run something that I can also participate in." said women's club soccer vice president Erica Lemm.
But beyond the friendships or career opportunities sparked, club sports offer the additional chance for students to live in the past, while also continuing to play the games they loved growing up.
"I didn't want to be done with the sport yet," said Craig Lipar, club hockey president. "I love the sport, so I wanted to stay involved in the sport."
sports@cm-life.com
