Club sports in full force at USU
For love of the game – it is more than just a movie title for coaches and students who compete in club sports at Utah State University.
The love of competing in their respective sport is the driving motive behind their participation in that sport, Paul Larkin, president of the men’s lacrosse club, said.
“Everybody you meet that comes out, comes out because they want to play,” he said. “They want to be involved in something, and they know the sport they’re playing is awesome.”
Club sports have been in existence at USU for quite some time, Deanne Williams, director of campus recreation, said. Club sport programs existed in the 1970s, she said, but there were only few including a ski club and a bowling club.
With the popularity of club sports growing, Williams said the university hired Fred Behm as a part-time club sport adviser in 1978. The department continued to grow, receiving a huge boost in the 1987-88 academic year when students voted on and approved a fee proposal for a campus recreation fund.
“In the summer of [1988], the fee was approved, and so that created the campus recreation department as we have it today,” Williams said.
One of many segments of the campus recreation department, club sports gives students a chance to rekindle the competitive fire within in a sport not offered as a varsity sport at USU.
There are currently 16 club sports offered at USU: Ballroom dance, baseball, women’s basketball, cycling, hockey, men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, racquetball, rodeo, men’s rugby, women’s rugby, skiing, men’s soccer, ultimate Frisbee, men’s volleyball and waterpolo.
Three years ago 29 sports clubs were in existence at USU, Williams said. Because many of the clubs were not involved in any competitions and were idle, Williams said she and Gary Chambers, assistant vice president for student life, decided to “de-club” several clubs.
“We had clubs like the belly dance club, and a lot of clubs that weren’t really competing,” she said. “They were just using the space and the building.”
Because club sports are not varsity sports, and thus not part of the Athletics department at USU, members of club teams are not offered scholarships. As a result, most club athletes end up spending money out of their own pockets to compete.
When asked how much money members of the men’s lacrosse team spend out of their own pockets, Larkin said between $300 to $350 every year.
The amount of money varies from sport to sport, Williams said.
While club members frequently dig into their own accounts, each club is allocated a certain amount of money a year. A yearly stipend of $44,000 is allotted between the 16 clubs, Williams said, with some clubs receiving more money than other clubs due to various costs associated with funding a particular club.
For example, she said the hockey club requires a lot more funding than a club like the ultimate Frisbee club because of the expenses associated with equipment costs and ice time costs. The hockey club pays in excess of $125 per hour for ice time alone, club member Deryk Anderson said.
In addition to the money each club is granted, Williams implemented a policy three years ago which allows each club to earn more money. Under the “matching principle,” the campus recreation department matches the amount of money each club raises to a certain extent. Like the money allocated up front to each club, this amount varies from club to club.
“I give the clubs a budget up front; I give them a number automatically, which is their money – no questions asked,” she said. “Then I put another amount that I call ‘match,’ and I did that as an incentive for clubs [to raise money].”
With this principle in place, Williams said it will influence club members to make a concerted effort to keep their program going strong, whether it be by charging dues, coming up with fund raisers or securing sponsorships.
“We had a lot of clubs that weren’t doing anything to raise money for themselves,” she said. “They just spent what money I gave them and then they were done.”
Not only does raising money alleviate the costs associated with running a club team, it shows club organization and commitment, Larkin said.
“We have a bunch of the guys that just go around to the local businesses,” he said. “Over the summer, Johnny [Atwood] and I went around and showed them what we had going on as a club, and just showed them that we were very organized.
“We’re trying to build community support [for the sport of lacrosse]. The financial support, I think, will come with the community support,” he said.
Larkin said the club’s public relations officer, Nathan Daniels, has a couple of fund-raising ideas in mind, including a date auction.
Ernie Rivers, head coach of the baseball club, said members of the baseball club participated in the battle of the bands with a couple of other groups on campus in an effort to raise money. He said the club has knocked on people’s doors in the past, and plans on selling team apparel at home games this spring in hopes of raising money.
“We have a couple of families which do donate some money – they’re former players of the university, so that always helps out,” he said. “The people that know about [our team] have been very supportive of us.”
The baseball club and cycling club are the two newest sports clubs on campus, and had to undergo several steps to become members of the club organization.
In order for a new club to be accepted into the organization, Williams said members of the prospective club must meet with her, fill out some paper work and show their sport has a national governing body. Next, she said, members of the prospective club must clear matters with the risk and management department on campus, come to a campus recreation policy meeting and have the campus recreation policy board’s approval.
“You have to show to me, number one, that there are people willing to administer and run the program, and number two, there is sufficient interest to create this club,” Williams said.
When asked about the process of becoming a club, Rivers said the fact USU had a baseball club at one time made the process a little easier.
“Because we had been a club before we kind of got in through the ‘grandfather clause,'” he said. “We were probably approved quicker than we would have any other way.”
In addition to club players having to sacrifice their time and money to participate in club sports, several teams have coaches who, in turn, also make a lot of sacrifices, Williams said.
Unless the club agrees to set aside part of its budget to compensate its coach(es), Williams said the coaches are not paid.
“If they want to use part of their budget to pay their coach a little bit, that’s their decision,” she said.
Rivers, like hockey coach Jerry Crossley, are not paid to coach their respective teams. Rivers, who also works fulltime as a special educator at Adams Elementary School, said despite devoting close to 60 hours a week to the baseball club – if one were to include travel time – it is well-worth the sacrifice.
“I love [coaching],” he said. “I enjoy being involved with the sport of baseball, and I think no matter what level it was I would still be involved.
“If I didn’t have a supportive wife I would be in a lot of trouble,” he said.
This dedication is something Williams said is a gratifying aspect of her job.
“It’s incredible to see the amount of talent we have on some of these teams,” she said. “People have no idea how many hours they [the coaches and players] put into their club. They work their butts off so their program will succeed.”