Here's What College Students Don't Know About Playing Club Sports
Tufts club rugby team posing with a Muscle Milk truck after practice.
When I was an incoming freshman here at Tufts University, I was all but sure I would be playing for the varsity baseball team. In my mind, only two types of people played club sports: those who aren’t committed enough and those who aren’t good enough.
In some ways that is a fair assumption. If you can commit the time and are good enough to make it, varsity is your domain. I just had such tunnel vision that I did not even consider checking the club sports system at Tufts when I was deciding to attend.
In the big picture, I’m pretty lucky to have happened upon a school that had club sports, because now, I play club baseball at Tufts. I became a co-captain of said club baseball team (called TUBC) during my junior year. My personal journey with club baseball was something I have reflected on a lot in the past and even wrote a piece about it for Uloop back in February this year.
My mom and I before one of my club baseball games. My dad and she came up from Florida to see me play.
I have learned a lot from the process and have found my experience with club baseball to have been extremely beneficial. Saying that, there are some annoying stereotypes and misconceptions about club sports that I have encountered over the years (some of them, as I said before, being my own).
Below are 15 things that the average college student doesn’t know about club sports. Of course, different schools will have different policies, etc. and within those different schools, different teams will operate in a unique way. They’re split into assumptions, the not-considered negatives and the not-considered positives. Take these with a grain of salt, but they are pretty general from what I’ve seen.
THE ASSUMPTIONS COLLEGE STUDENTS SOMETIMES MAKE
Assumption 1: It’s a complete joke
Wrong. Although you may be able to get away with not showing up to every practice, not running out a ground ball or any other number of things most varsity sports have a zero tolerance for, club sports are generally very competitive and illicit a considerable effort from players. Obviously, it depends on the vibe of the team and how serious they want to be when competing.
Assumption 2: It doesn’t matter what I do at the games
Wrong again. You still represent the university if you are funded or even just if you’re recognized by the school’s athletic department. If you operate under their name, there are liabilities involved. So no; acting a fool on the field is not suggested. Word will definitely get back to the school. Your club’s existence may ride on it.
Assumption 3: It will just be me and my friends and we’ll play in every game
Wrong also. When you have team sports, you’re always going to need extra numbers on the roster, because of injuries, time conflicts and other unforeseen circumstances. You don’t need the 40 guys that varsity keeps, but you’re going to want at least half as many more “back-ups” than starters. With this size, you and your friends might have to sit some innings, quarters, periods, etc.
Assumption 4: There is no time commitment
Wrong…for the most part. The time commitment is probably nowhere near varsity’s, but obviously there will be times you will have to sacrifice to attend club sports events and games. Just like any other organization you join, club sports will be another responsibility, another thing on your plate, another something clogging up your free time.
THE NEGATIVES COLLEGE STUDENTS DON’T NECESSARILY CONSIDER
1. Captains have a lot more responsibility
Being a captain myself, I know about this struggle. There are so many things that club sports captains have to do that varsity captains do not. I’m not taking away anything from those who are (I know those are big responsibilities too), but club sports are another animal altogether. Oftentimes it is their job to act as coach, general manager, liaison (with the athletics department), financial planner, as well as organize transportation, league membership…essentially everything on this “NEGATIVES” list is the responsibility of the captains.
2. You have to find a league
Again, some club sports are different in this aspect. Some have to work directly with local teams to play each other (which is the least organized situation), while others have established leagues where a “commissioner” handles scheduling, umpires and field rentals (the ideal situation). In TUBC’s fall league, for example, we even have playoffs, MVPs and inter-league play.
3. Finances get complicated
Some club teams at some schools gets funding for their sport (mostly for league dues, transportation and equipment), but others don’t. Some sports are more expensive than others (i.e. it costs a whole lot more to rent ice for a hockey game than it does to rent a soccer field). Dues are collected by clubs who don’t get funding, so trigger all the headaches associated with asking people for money. Not to mention, once you have money, when, where and how to spend on equipment and other necessary expenses.
4. Finding locations for games
The league commissioner (if you even have one) usually does this…or at least tries to. Rain outs and other unforeseen circumstances can change locations of games. Working on getting a field for cheap and during a time when both teams and both umpires can go is a pain.
5. Transportation
Once you’ve established where the game is, next comes trying to get there. Some club sports have transportation provided to them by the university (perhaps a student-driven van or a hired-driver for a bus), while others have to organize transport within the team itself. Whoever can drive also have to figure out equipment transportation (some sports require more equipment than others…I imagine club tennis doesn’t have a whole lot).
6. Equipment inventory
Most every sport has some pieces of equipment that cannot, and should not, be personalized. Balls are a perfect example. No one ever owns their own, but they are essential for the game. And if you lose some…you have to buy more.
7. Forms
Page taken from the binder handed out to all Tufts club sports captains.
As you can see, there are a lot of forms that need to be filled out prior to seasons, after games and for specific events. It becomes a lot to handle.
THE POSITIVES COLLEGE STUDENTS DON’T NECESSARILY CONSIDER
1. Camaraderie
As with any club or organization you join, there is an established bond built between the group members. For sports, especially if you’ve played for a while, you can share your love of the game…and that’s actually pretty special. Having fun is an important factor in balancing the stress of school.
2. It’s still the sport you love
Just because you’re not in the newspaper doesn’t mean it should be any less fulfilling to you. To me and most other club sports player I know, just getting out there to play and play competitively is enough.
3. It’s popularity has grown
Five years ago, the New York Times reported about two million students played club sports, while 430,000 played varsity-level sports. Club sports are the majority…by a lot.
4. Between varsity and intramural
The competition is just enough where you know you are not just playing pick-up. There are rivalries that exist between schools and those can extend to club sports (why not?). Where intramural is glorified pick-up, club is at the next level up, but just below varsity.
Obviously depending on size of school, school policy and sport itself, the above can change. Larger schools, for example, have more students to choose from, so their club sports are likely much better than a small school’s. The exception would be if the smaller school did not have a varsity team of that sport. Take the following example from TUBC’s league: the University of New Hampshire has about 12,000 undergraduates while Boston University has about 16,000. However, New Hampshire does not have a varsity baseball team and Boston University does. As a result, New Hampshire’s team is much better than Boston University’s.
The takeaway here is that conclusions about club sports in college are very dependent upon the school itself, so do your research if you hope to play club sports at your university.