According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Federation of State High School Associations, around 57% of all high school students participate in at least one sport. For example, most kindergartners start off with soccer, then maybe move to tee-ball. Some of these kids will quit sports altogether once they reach a certain age and some may grasp onto a sport and stick with it for life.
Club sports are a competitive, yet non-overbearing way for college kids to still play the sports that they love against similar competition. If a student is not necessarily good enough to play on their school’s varsity team, or if a student does not like the relaxed nature of intramural sports, then club sports would be the perfect fit.
At Quinnipiac University, there are a multitude of different club sports to pick from, including ones like club powerlifting, golf, roller hockey and esports.
Associate director of recreation John Somers said that the university is currently closed for club sports expansion , but back in the 2021 school year, Quinnipiac went from 10 to 21 club sports.
Of course, these athletes can’t just be out there by themselves, especially when they are playing at a competitive level. What if a player gets hurt?
He added, “We have 60 hours per week of athletic training . So we have three graduate athletic trainers that offer us 20 hours per week. We would need to add at least one more to expand, because right now, each takes on seven teams.
Somers also spoke on one of the main reasons why athletes find club sports appealing.
“During the regular season, ten hours per week is about the max,” Somers said. “There’s no penalty for missing practice because you have class. For club sports, academics absolutely comes first. This is very much second, third or sometimes even fourth, as it should be on a student’s priority list.”
For athletes Matthew Laverdure and Zach Carter, the choice was always going to be club baseball.
Carter played high school baseball in Cranford, New Jersey, but just knew he wasn’t going to be able to afford the time commitment that comes with varsity sports.
“I knew from the first day I got to Quinnipiac that I wanted to play club baseball,” Carter, a third-year journalism student, said. “It was the first year that the team became affiliated with the school and they were really pushing for more involvement. The team lets me continue to play the sport I love.”
Laverdure, a fifth-year public relations major, attributed his involvement with the team to the more relaxed time commitment.
“I played two years of collegiate baseball – at Westfield State – before coming to Quinnipiac,” said Laverdure. “Part of the reason I didn’t continue with college baseball is the time commitment of practices every day for three hours, as well as the traveling. So, club baseball is a good fit for me because you still get three games on the weekend, but you’re not practicing every day. You have more time for academics and friends and things like that.”
Coming into a new school can be challenging and difficult for a lot of reasons. One of these challenges for new students can be making a group of friends that they can hang out with. Laverdure and Carter both believe that club baseball has created a very positive environment for new students and players.
“It’s a healthy way to get involved,” Laverdure said. “Everyone’s super close, and there’s no pecking order or anything. Everyone is super friendly. For me, it was really useful because I transferred late. So I transferred – to Quinnipiac – going into my junior year, so I didn’t have the established friends that a lot of other people had. Playing club baseball really helped out a lot with that right away. About a month into being at school, I didn’t worry about making friends or anything like that.”
Carter, who is assuming the role of president for next year’s club baseball executive board, agreed, “The team is really close. We’ve got like 20 guys who are all friendly and it’s just a great social aspect to have. Every time we hold tryouts and new kids come on the team, you get friendly with them. We all get along great and it’s been a really enjoyable experience.”
Another reason why club sports separates itself from other organizations at Quinnipiac is that it lets any student become involved with the e-board.
“We’re different from the student organization process in which graduate students are allowed to be e-board members and can serve executive roles,” Somers said.
Some clubs and organizations around campus do not allow graduate members to hold the position of president or any other e-board positions. Somers mentions that club sports’ flexibility is a great example of its commitment to inclusion and allowing any member to be able to do whatever they want to get involved.
In terms of the quality of the experience, both mentioned numerous instances where they were grateful to continue their athletic abilities at a collegiate level.
Laverdure said, “My favorite moment is probably no-hitting New Haven on our home field. But as a team, my first year, we won a spring tournament which was cool cause it was double elimination. We lost our first game of the tournament to Syracuse and then we ended up playing Syracuse again in the championship. We were down 7-0 and they even posted on their social media that they were going to mercy us.”
Laverdure mentioned that pitching during that tournament took a toll on his arm, but was well worth the pain in the end.
“I was definitely sore, but then your adrenaline takes over. I go out for an inning, I do well, and then my team scores runs. It kind of slowly builds up, and then you kind of get to a flow state. It was awesome,” he said.
Carter also spoke about one of his favorite games as a part of the team, saying “We played in our league’s playoffs last fall. I was hitting pretty well at the time, and I remember having two doubles and driving in the go-ahead RBI late in the game in the semi-finals against Brown. I’m not much of a hitter, but that game was especially memorable.”
For these athletes, club sports have been essential in helping to keep a healthy mental slate and it also allows them to grow as athletes and people. According to Scripps Health, regular participation in sports has been found to be as effective as medication in improving mental health. Additionally, one study finds that sports and exercise have a longer lasting effect than antidepressants.
An example of this comes from Ryan Vallancourt, a sophomore student at Bryant University. Throughout high school, Vallancourt was the star basketball player for Whitman-Hanson in Massachusetts. He was a multiple time league all-star, but this suddenly came crashing down when he was diagnosed with cancer going into his senior year.
“It really sucked,” said Vallancourt. “Obviously I have to go through all this chemo and my teammates are still practicing in the gym. It made me want to work even harder so I could get back on the court. I love basketball so much and all I wanted to do was be out there to play for my senior year.”
He currently does not play club basketball at Bryant, but considered it, saying “I haven’t really thought about it to be honest. I do play a ton of pick up games throughout the year so maybe next year I’ll give it a try.”
Another comes from Ryan Vassil, another former basketball player who played one year at Quincy College in Massachusetts.
“I love the game so much,” said Vassil. “I’m a huge Denver Nuggets fan and I always try to catch the games. I wish I could still play competitively, but I love to look back on my high school days. I had a great time with my teammates and friends.”
Vassil does not currently attend school, but said that if he did, “I would one hundred percent be on a club basketball team. I just love competing against other kids who take the game seriously. There’s nothing better than winning a hard fought game in my eyes.”
It’s a perfect solution for some, but some students may be wary of joining a team.
“I would say there’s really no downsides,” Carter explained. It’s a great way to get involved and you get to play your favorite sports with people who have similar interests as you.”
“If someone is on the fence about how a team is, I would tell them to at least try it for a season, and if they don’t like it, they don’t have to stick with it,” Laverdure said.” We’ve had a few people that joined, but it wasn’t their thing. I definitely would make sure that they know how flexible it is. It’s not like you can get in trouble if you can’t go to practices or anything like that. You’ll make a lot of friends, and for us, everyone on our team plays, so you wouldn’t have to worry about that.”
Somers also added that it’s a great way for parents to continue their involvement in their child’s athletic careers.
“We have a lot more parents because they’re excited to get to see their kid play competitively again,” he said. “It’s just as rewarding for them as it is for everybody else. You’d probably be surprised at how athletic and competitive a lot of your friends that you might know on the teams are.”
If someone is on the fence about joining and they don’t know what the first step is, Somers mentioned to contact that team’s social media.
“Just direct message that team’s Instagram account,” he said. Those accounts are monitored by the social media managers and the presence of all the teams. That is the primary method of communication. I actually tell prospective students, ‘DM the Instagram account.’I know that’s where students are most comfortable, so DM the account with any questions you have. They can be fully open and honest with you.”