Continue the competition with Illinois club sports

Along with the many registered student organizations and unique opportunities that the University of Illinois has to o er are a wide range of club sports that also allow students to get more involved on campus.

Club sports at the University provide an opportunity for all students to expand their horizons during the time they spend on campus. From the Illini Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Club to the Illinois Men’s Lacrosse Club, there are 38 clubs that allow individuals to continue to operate in a competitive environment at the University.

By joining club sports, students are granted the opportunity to develop their skills beyond the sport itself. As incoming junior and mid elder for the Illinois Men’s Lacrosse Club Phillip Mackey points out, each member belongs to an organization that encourages personal growth.

“I have found that the unique opportunities presented by club sports for those who excelled at the high school level but didn’t wish to pursue the D-1 college sports experience are invaluable as an outlet for the student body to come together and represent their university in a more formal way, or to bring together like-minded individuals to grow as a unit through sport,” Mackey said.

For sports like lacrosse that don’t have an o cial Division I program at Illinois, the club sport lls this void and is extremely competitive, sharing the same Big Ten rivalries that an o cial program has. With this in mind, some club sports require a larger commitment than others.

Member of Illinois Men’s Volleyball Club and recent alum Rocky Mayer gave important advice to freshmen considering a club sport.

“Fully commit to whatever team you may be on,” Mayer said. “The guys within volleyball that have fully applied themselves to competing with their teams have been the guys who have enjoyed it the most as well as have had the most success.”

Shots Takeda, incoming senior and member of the Illini Swim Club, has been able to balance two other RSOs, a job and his engineering workload all while consistently making nationals for club swim. The team has tryouts, weekly practice and three events throughout the season.

As for balancing time spent with friends, it hasn’t been an issue for Takeda either, as it has shown him some of his closest relationships.

“Swimming has given me some of my best friends from college and I’m excited to make more memories with them and the new freshmen to come,” Takeda said.

Some of the club sports at the University have enjoyed a great deal of success, such as men’s volleyball, which nished as the runner-up at the national tournament. Others are steadily improving each year to get to their desired destination.

Whatever state the club sport that may interest incoming freshmen is in, they are heavily reliant on the next wave of students to continue to grow their programs.

Like any other organization on campus, what the student puts into their time spent with the club is what they will get out of it.

By joining a club sport, however, the individual is provided a competitive outlet to continue to live out the passions that they developed through high school, travel to other colleges and the potential to foster some of the strongest friendships made while in college.