There has been a tremendous increase in club sports at Northern Kentucky University since 2003. In 2003 there where only two club sports and now that number has increased to 21. With enrollment up 10 percent since 2002, the number of students looking to play sports is on the rise.
Why play club sports? Club sports are not intramural sports, it’s very competitive and requires a lot of practice. Class work will not be missed because most club sports are played on the weekend. They allow students to maintain good leadership, physical fitness and recreation.
Club sports also require funding for fees such as uniforms, league fees and equipment. The University Administration generously provided $100,000 of the requested $150,000 following the passage of Student Government Association resolution.
One new club here at NKU is the Baseball Club, led by president and coach Jared Moore. Moore, a senior at NKU, is in the first year of leading his club. The baseball club is a sanctioned league by the National Collegiate Baseball Association in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. For the Baseball Club, there are many expenses, such as umpire fees, uniforms, hats and league fees. “Some organizations use more money than others because their equipment is more expensive. For us, we spend about $250.00 a player or about $7,000 a year for a ballpark figure,” Moore said.
Moore expects the number of organizations to continue to grow. “This is a good way to play competitive sports at a college level, we practice almost every day and play on weekends,” Moore said.
One hundred thousand dollars was provided to the legacy fund, and another $50,000 is being asked for by SGA. Jill Kleiser, Assistant Director of Recreational Programs, would love the $50,000 to go directly to campus recreation. ” Our budget is only $6,000 for sports clubs right now and when the Hockey Club spends $35,000 that’s not much,” Kleiser said. The hockey club’s budget is $35,000 and they did receive $6,000 from the legacy fund and $1,800 from campus recreation. They are still short and the players had to make up the difference, which totaled around $800 a player. “Even though the money is in the legacy fund, any student organization can use that money, not just club sports,” she said.
“The clubs who are the most active and practice and play more should receive more money,” Kleiser said. It really depends on how active the club is in their fundraising and participation to what amount of money they will get back. “There are certain clubs who only practice once a week and don’t even play,” she said. “It wouldn’t be fair to give them the same amount of money as the clubs who are fundraising and practicing every day.”
Club sports are a world no one knows about and we want to get the word out,” Kleiser said.
