Club Sports

David R.

October 7, 2009 - 4:51 PM

Before many students begin college, they are rather unfamiliar with the term "club sports." I was the same way. When I was in high school, and beginning my college search, I was unaware that there was any sort of program that allowed students, who would have otherwise had to attend smaller schools, to attend division 1 schools and play that sports that they love. As I stated in one of my earlier blogs, I had to opportunity to play baseball at some smaller, division three schools. When analyzing these schools, I realized that I would have a great opportunity to play baseball, while at the same time, I would be at a school that was only a few thousand students larger than my high school. That was until I found out about club sports. While taking a look at the University of Oregon's athletic website one day, my dad and I discovered that Oregon had a club baseball team, and that the team was pretty good. The article stated that the team had just taken second place in the Club Baseball World Series in Fort Myers, Florida. The more I learned about the club team the more I liked it, and I ended up deciding to come to the U of O to play on this team. It may have been one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Some people don't understand how truly difficult it is for club teams to keep their programs going. Minus a small amount of money that is granted from the U of O, all of the money income for these programs comes from the students. During my two years on the club baseball team, we had to pay for our own uniforms, equipment, hotel fares, food on the road, and traveling fares, such as gasoline for our vans, or in a few instances, airplane tickets. All of this money, for the most part, came out of our pockets, with some additional money coming from fundraisers, such as selling our team hats. If a club program is going to succeed it requires a great deal of money.

Playing a club sport requires a great deal of time as well. Aside from the practices that take place all week, the weekend traveling can be brutal, which is another reason that sticking it our for a season on any club team is a major commitment. For example, when the football team travels to Boise, they fly. We traveled to Boise last season, but we were crammed into multiple-passenger vans for the seven hour trek.. We also made the trip to Spokane, WA and Bellingham, WA during this last season. We leave on Friday and in some cases we don't return until very late on Sunday nights. Western Washington University, Eastern Washington University, Seattle University, and Central Oregon CC are a few of the teams that have been in our division. It is extremely difficult to complete homework while driving, or sitting in the hotel, because no matter where we are, we are constantly surrounded by other people. This makes it extremely imperative that many players do all of their homework during the week, because chances are they might not get anything done during the weekend.

Similarly, from time to time we were also required to miss days of school. We missed three days of school to play in the Regional tournament in La,Grande, OR, and we missed almost a week and a half of school to play in the Club Baseball World Series in Florida. There are no academic tutors supplied to club sports, so it comes upon the players to communicate with their professors and create a plan for doing all academic work.

Although playing club sports can be rigorous, it is also some of the most fun I have ever had. I formed some great friendships with my teammates as we were traveling around the country. While we were in Florida for nationals we had to the opportunity to play in the Boston Red Sox spring training facility. We were also able to explore the everglades, the Florida coast, and the beautiful community of Naples while we were there. For anyone who loves playing a sport, but isn't capable of playing at the division 1 level, club sports are for them. I was able to play a game I love at a high level, while being at a larger school at the same time. My two years being involved in a club sport were incredible. Maybe you can have a similar experience.