By Faith Jarrell
Elm Staff Writer
After a year of Washington College intramural sports gaining more attention and participation from students, club sports are making a big comeback.
WC offers a variety of club sports, including Club Volleyball, Women’s Club Lacrosse, Club Soccer, Mixed Martial Arts, Dance, Equestrian, Esports, ShoreFIT, Disc Golf, Sho’Troupe, Shore Steppers, and Club Tennis.
According to President of Club Soccer sophomore Quin Kaufmann, club sports are a middle ground between intramural sports and varsity sports on-campus.
“Rather than just IM sports, it’s actually teaching people more about the sport itself and getting people to come out to things without having to commit to the varsity schedules that are very rigorous and take up your life,” Kaufmann said.
IM seasons are also shorter. President of Women’s Club Lacrosse junior Kenley Hewitt said that she describes IM as being “more of a one-and-done,” while clubs last for their desired season.
“Club sports are for anyone whether you have played your entire life or never kicked a ball [or] picked up a stick in your life. I believe club sports create friendships and IM sports already have that established group. But it is all up to personal preference,” Hewitt said.
Unlike intramural sports, club sports have a set schedule and routine, typically meeting once or twice a week. Club Soccer meets twice weekly: every Tuesday and Thursday at 5 p.m. Meanwhile, Women’s Club Lacrosse practices are Wednesdays from 5:30 to 7 p.m. and Sundays from 3 to 4 p.m.
Coordinator of Campus Recreation Evan Clayton assists with this, as well as with other issues the clubs run across.
“The other club sports are working to gather members and build practice schedules up. Practices for each club are set by the club’s executive board working closely with me to make sure there aren’t any conflicts. They generally occur in the afternoon or evenings after classes are complete or during the weekends,” Clayton said.
Meetings generally occur in the afternoons, on evenings after classes are complete, or weekends.
Some club sports on campus have future competitions or events planned, such as the Equestrian Club and the Soccer Club. The Soccer Club has an upcoming game against the Salisbury University Club Soccer team on Saturday, March 25.
The Equestrian Club goes to regionals on Saturday, March 25.
This academic year is the first since March 2020 to regularly involve club sports going off-campus to compete. Since Hewitt’s freshman year was during COVID-19, she said she “does not know much” about facing other teams.
“We would like to try and get that back up and running this spring semester,” Hewitt said. “But from what [Vice President senior] Mackenzie Barnett has said, is that it is a lot of fun. It doesn’t matter if you win or lose as long as you put in the effort and have fun.”
Club sports aren’t all about competition, though. Kauffman said that there are many other reasons to join club sports.
“Some of the benefits of club sports I would say include the social aspect, in terms of you get to meet a lot of new people who have the same interests developing, the competitive spirit, and getting in shape,” Kauffman said. “Various other things that just involve more campus involvement, and also competition at a less intense scale than varsity sports.”
If you’re interested in joining a club sport, contact Evan Clayton at eclayton2@washcoll.edu or look out for emails from each organization.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo Caption: Students will have the opportunity to join both IM and club sports teams.