Something for every student

Sep. 15, 2008 – Ranging from the tall, muscular senior Owen Dickey to the slim, witty sophomore William Peabody to the everyday senior Brian Pike, club sports at IU host a variety of interests and styles.

For these three students, each has found a passion.

Dickey participates in rugby, while Peabody is an active participant in rowing and Pike practices hapkido.

“(Club sports) are an excellent program,” said Pike, the hapkido club’s president. “It’s a great opportunity for students to try something new and exciting.”

With more than 40 clubs ranging from aikido to bass fishing to volleyball, IU offers a variety of sporting options to students who want to try something new or continue to pursue a passion they have held throughout their lives.

Club sports are also student-run, allowing students to learn time and money management, recruiting practices, organization and other real-world skills.

People join club sports for a variety of reasons. Some, like club rowing president Ryan Ginty, just want to try something different.

“I basically just saw a flier and wanted to try something totally brand-new,” he said. “Rowing is certainly that.”

Others, such as men’s lacrosse president Ben Kalfas, have played on a national level and bring their passion to IU.

“I transferred mid-year my freshman year, and I was playing Division I at the Air Force Academy,” Kalfas said, “so I contacted the coach and expressed my interest in playing.”

No matter the reason for joining, students can find camaraderie and their own niche at IU through club sports.

“Clubs in general connect a pretty significant portion of the student body with the actual campus itself,” said Dickey, who serves as the men’s rugby president. “That way, it’s not just school work. You do something else.”

Besides connecting members of the IU community, club sports give students an opportunity to compete on a higher level than intramural sports offer while retaining the ability to remain committed to other aspects of college life.

“I think that sports are so important, and not everyone can be on a varsity sport,” said Samantha Silverman, the senior president and coach of the women’s lacrosse team.

She added that with a club sport, students still have time to keep up with academics.

“As far as intramural sports go, it’s fun to compete with your classmates, but competing against other universities is taking it to the next level,” said Peabody, captain and vice president of rowing. “I think it’s a great opportunity for kids to get involved and to compete on a level that not many people have a chance of doing.”

Another part of the appeal of club sports is the ability to compete with others who share a passion for what they do and to share the love of a sport with others.

“Club sports, to a certain extent, are the purest form of sport at the school,” Dickey said. “We play the sport because we truly love the sport. It’s not in an effort to get a scholarship or to play professionally or to get some sort of contract.”

One thing members of club sports agree on is that the benefits of joining a sport far outweigh the costs that come with it. While clubs can vary between three and 15 hours of commitment per week, they all share the same positive aspects that make them worthwhile to their participants.

“It seems like it might be a time constraint, which really is a pain, but for the most part, it is a positive thing,” Kalfas said. “It really gives you something to be proud of. I’ve played the D-I level, but this is something completely different because this is a student-run thing. Nothing happens without us doing it. It’s really something we can be proud of.”

One possibility for students who cannot find what they are looking for among the variety of club sports on campus is to create their own. Club Filipino Martial Arts President Tony Martin Spitz did just that, and, despite the difficulties of the task, feels his efforts were worth it.

“It was really difficult,” Spitz said. “It took a lot of finding sponsors and instructors and putting the word out. Club sports can be a rewarding experience to students if they take the chance to try them.”