Sports Clubs and Finances

Last year, Sport Clubs enacted a new ranking system for clubs on campus to get funding from Student Government. There are three categories, orange, blue and white. Very school spirited, I know. The better your classification, the more funds and perks you get from the university. I’ll layout the ranking system, and what clubs have to do to maintain their ranking. If a club doesn’t do the bare minimum (white level), then they can have their status as a sport club reviewed.

White

Must…

• Raise atleast 20% of their SG budget on their own
• One or more club officers have to attend one of the four Sport Club Leadership Council Seminars held throughout the year
• Host one special event (like a run or a blood drive. Keggers do not count)
• At least five club members have to attend a game for another sport club. They have to go for two hours, and it can’t be their club’s opposite sex counterpart (i.e. the Women’s Soccer club can’t only go to Men’s Soccer club games)

Blue

Must…

• Raise atleast 33% of their SG budget on their own
• Take part in a community service project on campus or around town, racking up a total 20 hours
• At least one officer must attend two or more Sport Club Leadership Council Seminars held throughout the year
• The club has to compete on a level that shows it is trying to achieve a national championship organized by the sport’s governing body
• Have an active alumni network and a coach that has attended Sport Club training
• Must host a special event and attend another sport club’s game (as explained above)

Orange

Must…

• Raise atleast %50 of their SG budget on their own
• Participate in two different community service events, with a total of 50 service hours total.
• At least one officer must attend every Sport Club Leadership Council Seminars held throughout the year
• Compete on a level that makes them competitive for a national championship as organized by their governing body.
• Host a competitive tournament for their sport in the academic year.
• Have an active alumni network and a coach that has attended Sport Club training.
• Have at least five club members attend another sport club’s match (as described previously).

So basically, the officers of a sport club have a full plate. It seems as if teams are now being treated as fraternities and sororities, with the expected fundraising and community service. The planning and hours that go into organizing a tournament or fundraiser are exhaustive, and on top of this officers must attend training sessions during the academic year and over the summer.

I think that the idea of a classification system is a good one though. Clubs that put forth more effort than other groups should be recognized for their efforts and rewarded. I just think that it will be difficult for smaller clubs, or clubs with members that aren’t as interested in goings on outside of games. Also, newer sports will have trouble getting into the orange category without an established alumni network, or the funds to pay for a coach.

If the hierarchy system were tweaked to be a little more forgiving of student athletes, I think it would work much better for all parties involved and keep sport clubs better funded.

Fields

The Rec Sports department at the University of Florida has done a fantastic job of providing ample facilities for sports clubs to practice at on campus. I think the only clubs that don’t are the ice hockey club, crew and the equestrian club.

But not all practice fields are equal. Below I’ve compiled a brief profile on some of the fields the clubs and students on campus use.

Flavet Field

Picture of Flavet Field, which houses the bandshell and is popular among UF students

Located across from Hume Dorms, off Museum Rd. and Gale Lemerand Dr.

Clubs that practice here:

• None, but many intramural teams practice before games here, and students often play pick-up games at Flavet.
• Also, sports clubs use it on off days. Rugby sometimes does fitness here, and I’m pretty sure I saw Club Cricket playing here on a Wednesday night.

The incline around the bandshell at Flavet field is pretty steep, despite what this picture might show

Drawbacks:

• Has a pretty steep incline around the area of the bandshell, so there is a considerable chunk of the field that you can’t really play on.
• Ant piles.
• Is usually very busy because it is an open field.

Strengths:

• It is an open field, so the public can use it whenever they want. Good for training on off days if you can stake out a spot on the field.
• Has lights that they turn on at night.

Hume Field

Hume field has two soccer goals and uprights for practicing place kicking

Located directly behind Hume Dorms, off Museum Road

Clubs that practice here:

• Women and Men’s Soccer
• Cricket
• Men and Women’s Rugby
• Men’s Ultimate Frisbee

Mud patch leftover from a soccer game on Hume field.

Drawbacks

• Has a large amount of ant piles scattered around the field.
• The field itself is very muddy right now, and with so many clubs practicing on it so often, the ground doesn’t really have the time to harden again.
• In beginning of Fall semester, when it is hot, it attracts a lot of bugs because it it close to a small pond behind Hume.

Strengths

• It’s pretty flat in general.
• Large, so allows for multiple clubs to practice at once, and also any students who might want to use the field can use the sides.
• Has lights that turn on after sunset, so people can use the field at night. The lights are on a timer though, so once the sports clubs are done using Hume field, the lights turn off.
• It has soccer goals, if that’s what you’re into.

University Village Fields

UVS Field, where many sport clubs have their games

Located on Bledsoe Drive near Southwest Recreation  Center

Clubs that practice here:

• Men and Women’s Soccer
• Baseball

The field has working scoreboards, but the gates are a bit of a bummer.

Drawbacks:

• Is usually locked, so very difficult to access without getting someone from Southwest Rec to open the gate for you
• Not really in a central location on campus, and surrounded by construction because of all the building they are doing to Southwest Rec.

Strengths:

• Is a very well maintained field. Because the gates are always locked, the field is hardly ever played on. The ground is very even, and sports clubs is pretty good about filling in any holes that might develop (usually with sand, but beggars can’t be choosers).
• Is ideal to host games on campus. Has bleachers and ample parking for fans, and a scoreboard.
• Has lights so you can play at night.

Reflection…

Now that I’m in my last year at the University of Florida, I find myself reflecting on my college career a lot. How I’ve spent my time and money, and the people I’ve spent it with. I find that in each crazy story and blurred night are the friends I made in rugby.

I spend hours every week with the girls on the rugby team, and they are the people who made my time at UF memorable. Tuesdays after practice at Mother’s with my teammates, all muddy and smelly, and Saturdays after games have made this college career amazing. Have there been trade-offs? Yes. Were there times I went out on the town instead of doing homework? Sure.

Sometimes, it comes down to this: do I want a good GPA, or do I want a good time? Playing rugby honest to God makes me happy, happier than any valedictorianship or scholastic title UF could ever give me. I would rather graduate with a black eye from a hard fought game the day before than an honor cord.

Will this please my mother? No. She has been supportive, but I suspect this is only because I have sold rugby to her as a resume and character builder. True, I have been able to trump it up on my resume to impress some prospective employers, but as far as character building…

Let’s not get carried away. I’m perhaps a more ridiculous person now than I was when I first came to UF. While this isn’t a terrible thing, it certainly doesn’t work in my favor for serious jobs in the media.

But I don’t regret it. A diploma, the memories I have from rugby (or any that I’ve retained after all the head trauma from tackling) and the possible sclerosis on my liver are all I have to remember my college years. I’ll get the diploma crappy GPA or not, but I only have one chance to be a reckless young adult.

Rugby has made college more than just classrooms and the weekend football game. Would college have been terrible without these experiences? Of course not, this is the University of Florida we’re talking about here. But those times I had with rugby are the things that memoirs are made of, and something I look forward to chuckling about when I’m a respectable adult.

Cuong Nhu

Weapons, self-defense and frugality. Cuong Nhu has been offering martial arts on the cheap to Gainesville for over three decades. The club itself has been active with the University of Florida since 1971, making it one of the longest running sports clubs on campus.

Cuong Nhu club members during practice

Master Ngo Dong founded Cuong Nhu in Vietnam. He first introduced the United States to this fighting style by founding a school in Gainesville. The sports club on campus, named “Cypress,” is actually descended from the original Cuong Nhu school.

Cuong Nhu is a combination of seven other martial arts, like judo, akido and tai chi. The school Dong founded focuses on self-defense, and avoiding confrontation.

“Everything we do ends with ‘Run before the cops get there’,” said John Kelley jokingly.   Kelley, a geology major at UF, has been a member of the club for three and a half years. In his time with the club, he’s attained the level of two brown stripes on a green belt, putting him just below teaching student.

John Kelley, known as "Jelly" to Cuong Nhu club members, warms up before practice

The club is comprised of undergrads, graduate students and faculty alike. Tarek Saab is the sensei of this particular branch of Cuong Nhu, and an assisstant professor of physics here at UF.

A typical session with the club starts off with bowing to the club flags and sensai. Then club members warm-up by jogging around the main floor of the SRFC, and also walking a stretching. About half-way through, novice members and senior members split to work on their skills, like blocking and kicking. At the end, club members may spar.

“I always wanted to do martial arts, and it’s free, and it’s fun,” said Rachel Greenspan, a freshman psychology major.

Greenspan, along with her friends Claudia Mezzich and Kelli Moss, have been attending Cuong Nhu practices for about a month. They all agreed that the club’s location at the Student Recreation and Fitness Center was a plus because of the proximity to the dorms.

Cuong Nhu has probably survived on campus for so long because of it’s basic appeal to the college crowd. It allows students who had previously studied martial arts to continue practicing, and it is an interesting way for new-comers to get in shape.

But, most importantly, it fits a tight college budget. Practitioners of Cuong Nhu don’t have to buy a lot of fancy equipment, and about the only thing that needs to be purchased are white robes for practice. Best yet, the club is  free to UF students and faculty.

“It’s a real cheap style,” Kelley said.

Rec Sports Extravaganza and a Preview

This past Tuesday I was out with the Women’s Rugby Club recruiting at the University of Florida’s Rec Sports Extravaganza. We were parked out in the cold rain in front of Beaty Towers in the skate park area. Aside from the miserable weather, it was perfect for attracting doe-eyed freshmen; there was free food, free shirts and the promise of friends. I managed to sneak away from the rugby girls for a quick glimpse of some of the sports clubs on campus. I know we were all soaked and not feeling too friendly, but I think I got a good feel for what clubs I should feature in this lovely blog.

Teams I am very excited about checking out:

1. Kendo – a type of Japanese sword fighting. They practice with some really cool looking bamboo sticks, and the club members seem like fellow Inuyasha fans. Any club with like-minded nerds I look forward to befriending.
2. Underwater Hockey – hockey at the bottom of a pool with a small curved wood stick and a snorkel. On the back of their shirts they have an alligator with an impressive set of abs in scuba fins and snorkel with the text “Get Down!”. Pretty awesome.
3. Fencing - basically fighting with swords, called epees, and collecting points by each strategic touch you get on your opponent’s body. I have also seen them recruiting in Turlington Plaza as well, and they seem like a good-natured bunch. Plus, they are actually good. In 2009 they were both men and women’s 2009 USACFC National Champions.

I think the most intimidating club was Team Florida Cycling. They were under the same tent as Underwater Hockey and Equestrian clubs, but they seemed very involved with themselves. Maybe it was the expensive equipment, the polished Peugeots they lounged on or the abundance of orange and blue spandex, but they made me nervous. I just kept my head down as I walked by their tent, and hoped they wouldn’t challenge me to some kind of hipster version of Thunderdome for daring to approach them.

There are still a bunch of clubs that weren’t feature in the extravaganza that I would love to explore, and I am always looking for suggestions. Please comment or e-mail with any good tips