The case for clubs
Why club sports deserve more recognition Sydney Territo
L
terrisyd000@hsestudents.org
ast year, the boys volleyball team finished fifth in the nation, making it the second consecutive time they have ranked nationally, yet they gained no more recognition in the school than they have in prior years. This is one example of a larger problem with a lack of advertisement for club sports teams, due to the fact that they are not affiliated with the school. Sports affiliated with the school, such as football, cross country, tennis, baseball and basketball, are classified under the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA), which takes care of most of the planning and functionality of the sports it recognizes. The IHSAA plans statewide tournaments, ensures the safety of players, determines qualifications for officials involved in the sport, protects students and schools against exploitation and establishes standards for sportsmanship and eligibility in the games played. A sport can only be officially recognized by the IHSAA if over half of schools in the state sponsor it;, otherwise, it must be a club. Currently, there are four club sports at the school: rugby, volleyball, hockey and lacrosse. These sports are not affiliated with the school because they are not recognized by the IHSAA and organized through separate governing bodies that take care of the organization of teams across the state. The school’s swimming team is a special case, where there is a specific IHSAA team as well as a club sport run out of the school. While the club sport is not affiliated with the school, Fishers swimmers can swim for some club events, under certain
Sports
conditions. In order to swim at club meets, swimmers must submit a waiver and are only allowed to swim at a maximum of two club meets. Additionally, the guidelines for IHSAA sports are different from club swim sports (i.e. allowing jewelry for club sports, but not for school sports and not allowing visible blood when swimming for school meets). I play rugby, which is a club sport. I love playing rugby as well as the community and sportsmanship surrounding it, but oftentimes we can only get rugby enthusiasts or parents to attend games and tournaments. This can get a little disheartening, especially when no one is there to see our accomplishments. It would be amazing to see a greater turnout at games because it would show me that my peers are interested in supporting my hobbies, and it would make me feel like my team was seen and appreciated by the school. One potential reason for there being such a small turnout at games is the lack of advertisement for them around the school. With school sports, the coaches can come from the school, which gives the sport more of a connection to the students, whereas club sports need to hire their own coaches. This makes it harder for club sports to network because coaches typically have increased difficulty sending out information, such as callout meetings, due to their lack of knowledge about school events and advertising locations. The school can potentially resolve this issue by communicating more with club sports’ sponsors and coaches.
If the coaches know the school calendar or are made aware of opportunities to promote the club, they would have a greater opportunity to gain more participants. Additionally, promoting club sports more would help to increase visibility as well. If schedules for the sport are released or advertised on the TVs around the school, there will be increased visibility for it, and it could attract interested individuals as well. I believe that the lack of turnout and love for club sports is purely due to the scarcity of information on them. Most people I talk to about my sport are shocked that we even have a girls rugby team, and the more I talk to people about it, the more I attract potential players and pique their interest in it. If there is more buzz about club sports, more people will take an interest in them, which will bring Senior Melvin Lopez runs a bigger and better community towards the try zone to around each club. score a point at a rugby sevens tournament on Oct. 3. Photo used with permission of Jordan MacMillan.
Tiger Times
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