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The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 7 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - The Michigan Daily
Out of
,Oiitof
Club sport athletes don't do t merely for the exercise. Many practice and
compete almost on the level of varsity, but without the funding and resources.
BY NICOLE AUERBACH I DAILY SPORTS EDITOR
elics of past glory line the wall on the sec-
ond floor of the Coliseum. Faded photo-
graphs of boxers in shiny maize shorts are
propped up on the counter. A newspaper article
on Shamael Haque, one of Michigan's most cel-
ebratedboxers, hangs next to the team photos in
a sturdy frame. Dust is starting to build up, but
no one wants to move the memories.
It's rather quiet, except for the beat of the
music - from a CD mix entitled "boxing hard-
core." The red, blue and white ropes lining the
boxing ring and the seven punching bags are
still, but not for long.
A rush of energy bursts into the room as
nearly 20 women enter, drenched in sweat from
a pre-practice jog. They are tall, short, white,
black and Latina. They are freshmen, seniors
and even University staff members. And every
single one of them is ready to wind up and punch
the stress-absorbing bags for two hours or until
their arms give out - whichever comes first.
This is the world of mismatched T-shirt uni-
forms and sharing equipment with the men's
team. This is the world of women's club boxing.
Club sports occupy an interesting niche on
campus. While some club programs, like wom-
en's boxing and martial arts clubs, emphasize
instruction and weekly exercise, certain teams
are as competitive as almost any varsity team.
The 42 clubs registered with the Recreational
Sports department include everything from
obscure groups like the rifle team to varsity sib-
ling sports like baseball. The time commitments
vary, but for some club athletes, practices and
games exceed more than 20 hours a week.
Members of club teams compete without
the perks afforded varsity teams: scholarships,
brand new gear and a page on the official Michi-
gan athletic site, mgoblue.com. They sacrifice
their time, energy and grade point averages sim-
ply for the love of the game.
Still, there's a dream that many club team
presidents have. It's the rags-to-riches, club-
to-varsity Hollywood tale set against dramatic
music, like the kind in "Rocky."
In fact, five club sports - men's and women's
lacrosse, men's rowing, women's synchronized
skating and women's synchronized swimming
- have the classification of "club varsity," a title
Athletic Director Bill Martin created in 2000 to
put ultra-competitive club teams on the track
toward varsity standing.
The path to varsity status is riddled with
intense requirements, funding considerations
and legal constraints - meaning the Universi-
ty's strongest club teams have to maintain that
strength through mainly the will of their mem-
bers alone.
Men's Ultimate Frisbee captain Ollie Hondred
was the first club sport member to use the word
"cult" to describe his team. But his counterpart
on the women's team agreed.
"Ultimate Frisbee can be described as some
sort of cult," said Anna Maria Paruk, captain
of the women's Ultimate Frisbee club. "At least
for me, this isn't just a sport. It can be described
almost as a way of life."
It's not surprising that club athletes would
describe their teams that way - while fiercely
competing to snag the best-non-varsity athletes
on campus, club teams like Ultimate Frisbee rely
on the dedication of their members to survive.
Unlike varsity sports with extensive recruit-
ment budgets that include cross-country visits,
club sports depend on word of mouth and their
Festifall tables to attract new talent. Among the
many lost freshmen and people looking to boost
their resumes at Festifall are former high school
athletes looking to keep sports in their day-to-
day lives.
"It's an opportunity for people who might not
want to - or can't- take the sport they've always
known and loved to the next level," said Cheryl
Jendryka, Recreational Sports Assistant Direc-
tor, who works with all club teams. "But they
still want to be an athlete or they still want to go
around all day and chase something on a field,
whether that's a soccer ball or a Frisbee. Same
thing with rugby or boxing - you find these new
sports this way."
At the men's Ulti-
mate Frisbee tryouts
in September, dozens
of freshmen showed up i
with Frisbees in hand.,
As upperclassmen players tagged the recruits'
calves with Sharpie to distinguish them on the
field, the aspiring members shared their reasons
for coming. Some had been high school soccer
players who knew they couldn't compete at the
Division-I varsity level and always enjoyed an
afternoon Frisbee toss.
Hondred said his best recruiting tool is to find
the guys who didn't make the men's club soccer
team, which is lower than varsity soccer but still
competes on a very high level. Some members of
both the women's and men's club soccer teams,
for example, turned down the opportunity to
play soccer at smaller Division-III programs to
attend the University.
Turning down varsity offers elsewhere and
deciding to pay to play at Michigan is most evi-
dent in the world of club varsity athletics.
In 2000, after he was newly hired as athletic
director, Bill Martin created the club varsity
classification to go along with the existing appli-
cation for attaining varsity status. Before teams
earn the club varsity distinction, they are evalu-
ated on a number of topics, from the existence
of a national governing body to the amount of
hours spent practicing each week. Clubs that
have been established for more than eight years
are eligible to apply for the club varsity label.
Benefits of the new status include prior-
ity in scheduling practice locations/times and
opportunities for sponsored gear and warmup
suit packages.
The men's lacrosse team has garnered a
great deal of attention on its quest for varsity
status. Boastinga 40-game winningstreak, the
team's two flawless seasons have led to nation-
al championships in 2008 and 2009.
But the men's lacrosse team isn't the only
one making the most of the "varsity" part of
club varsity.
The men's rowing team has also won two
straight national championships, the first two
hosted by the newly formed America Collegiate
Rowing Association.
The two teams share more similarities with
the University's varsity teams beyond the level
of competition they face and the rigorous work-
out regimens (often including two-a-day prac-
tices) they undergo.
Both men's lacrosse and men's rowing have
representatives on the Student Athlete Advisory
Committee, which includes members from all
varsity programs.
But perhaps the most visible sign of growth
for both men's lacrosse and men's rowing was
their inclusion in Mock Rock, the athletic
department's annual fundraiser for C.S. Mott's
Children Hospital.
One major difference from varsity sports is
that club varsity sports require upperclassmen
to act as coaches, captains and star players all at
once. :
"You're entirely on your own, and that's the
difference (from) the varsity sports," Jendryka
said. "Not only are the club athletes trying to
get the best athletes and practicing, but some of
them are going to practice, then coming home the team's rise to varsity status. He had to write
and writing the lineup for the game the next multiple proposals to the Athletic Department,
day." . including a more than 30-page report that
Considering the large commitment required addressed concerns from finances to Title IX,
of players, several club sports leaders believe which requires educational and athletic pro-
their teams are competitive enough to take to "grams to provide equal opportunities for men
the varsity level - and to receive the perks that and women as well as financial assistance pro-
distinction delivers. portional to participation rates.
"I view our team more as a varsity team that To satisfy Title IX, Burns worked behind
competes the same the scenes to find a
way the other var- li women's team that
sity teams do," said could rise to varsity
Matt Zoufaly, the alongside men's
men's rowing club soccer. He con-
president. "Our This isn't just a sport. It tacted competitive
training schedule, women's club teams
competition sched- can be desc ri beda I most like lacrosse, ice
ule, everything is hockey and water
more like theirs. as a way of life. polo to urge them
Our opponents are to make a push for
the same caliber varsity, too..
as their opponents. "It was a con-
There are no differ- certed effort to
ences. It's just the coordinate and get
label." the right people the right information at what
Club varsity is a much more ambiguous we thought was the right time," Burns said. "If
distinction, one that not many students even there was going to be a men's sport and women's
understand. It's supposed to help put club teams sport added at the same time, they'd need to have
on a track to varsity, but in reality, no team has their ducks all in a row, too."
crossed the finish line. In the nine years that And as good fortune would have it, it was
club varsity has existed, zero teams have moved the right time. A strong economy and increased
up to varsity status. funding to the Athletic Department due to the
Michigan football team's 1997 national champi-
onship provided the resources to grow the Uni-
BREAKING THROUGH TO VARSITY versity's varsity program.
Since then, the men's varsity soccer team has
It's been nearly a decade since the Michigan earned berths to the NCAA Tournament three
Athletic Department has welcomed a new var- times in nine years. Just last season, it went all
sity team. In 2000, the men's soccer team and the way to the third round before suffering a
the women's water polo team both earned var- defeat to No. 12 Indiana. Meanwhile, women's
sity recognition - but the result took years to water polo has reached the Tournament four
achieve. times since earning varsity status.
Steve Burnswho played on the men's clubsoc-
cer team from
1984 to 1988
and returned to
coach it in 1992, The two newest varsity teams provide a blue-
was the driving print for teams aspiring to varsity status, such
force behind as increasingly popular sports like lacrosse and
women's ice hockey. And for a team like men's
rowing, which competes against varsity pro-
grams all season but is excluded from the sport's
traditional national championship, the fight for
the varsity distinction is more critical.
"We don'treallyneed allthestuff(the Adidas-
sponsored gear) that the varsity teams have,"
Zoufaly said. "It's all nice and everyone likes it,
but we just want the status to compete."
But forclub varsity teams, droppingthe "club"
can be difficult.
Following the procedure that the men's soc-
cer club program used, teams start the process
by submitting a formal request to a planning
committee ofthe University'sAdvisoryBoard on
Intercollegiate Athletics. The committee looks at
four main categories when making its decision:
student-athlete welfare, quality of competition
at the conference and national level, viability of
anew sport and financial considerations.
While the first three categories are signifi-
cant, most competitive club teams have those
bases covered. Men's rowing and men's lacrosse
both compete against the nation's top varsity
programs, and women's hockey has grown sig-
nificantly at the high school level in the state
of Michigan in just the past five years - just to
name a few examples.
But really, the struggle to advance to varsity
is all about financing. Suddenly, coaches must
be paid salaries. State-of-the-art equipment is
a must. Resources must be dedicated to nation-
wide recruitment, and the cost of travel makes
financial figures skyrocket.
"I would love to have more varsity sports,"
Martintold The Michigan Daily in 2007. "It's not
a matter of wanting to have new teams or not.
It's a matter of if you can afford them or not."
But men's lacrosse - or men's rowing -
doesn't have a chance of making varsity unless
there is a women's team to rise up with it.
Women's club hockey is a team that would
clearly benefit from increased financial support
- three practices a week and weekend games
bring the team's ice bill up to around $18,000 a
year.
The Athletic Department denied varsity sta-
tus to women's hockey when it applied to move
See PAGE 8B
Men's Ultimate Frisbee requires star players to double as coaches and recruiters to keep the team going year to year.
Women's club hockey can't afford to pay for ice time in order to practice as much as the club varsity level requires. And the Athletic Department can't afford to r
em varsity. Women's club boxing attracts dedicated amateur boxers who are looking for exercise and instruction ina new sport.