Club sports teams report lacking funds

The women's rugby team leaves for California today to play Stanford in the final four — but they will be buying their own plane tickets.

The team receives $3,000 from the University annually, but will spend more than 10 times that amount this year on referees, union dues, transportation and ambulances at their games, said former rugby team president Lisa Newman-Wise '05. To make up the difference, team members are required to spend 20 hours fundraising and contribute an average of $500 from their own pockets.

"I just find it kind of ironic that we're still so underrecognized and that the University doesn't help us at all when we're playing at the highest level possible," Newman-Wise said. "If you look at the varsity teams that make it to this point, to the highest collegiate level at their sport, the players are getting free sneakers and all that stuff. It's tough that we have to take time out of studying and practicing in order to fund playing this sport."

Princeton will play Stanford, which has a program director and a rugby stadium, this weekend. Princeton's team has neither.

Women's rugby, which also made it to the final four last year, is an extreme example of a common phenomenon: with much of the University's athletics budget directed toward varsity sports, club teams are often reimbursed for only a fraction of their total costs. Limited funds, club sports captains say, have made it difficult to compete at an optimal level.

"I think everyone always wants more money," men's club basketball co-captain Freddie Flaxman '07 said.

Flaxman and his teammates were each required to pay $60 in dues this season to cover the costs of new basketballs, uniforms, a league membership fee and referees, who charge $70 per game. With at least ten games in a season, he said the costs start to pile up — costs that are not compensated by the University's contribution of $250.

Flaxman laments having to ask for membership dues. "It's hard to tell kids who want to play basketball that they have to pay $60," he said.

Despite club sports' insufficient resources, though, most teams agreed that available funds are distributed fairly by the Office of Club and Intramural Sports.

Each year at the beginning of May, a four-member committee in the office reviews the proposed budget of each club sport and decides how to allocate funds. Cristine McCarthy, the coordinator of intramural and club sports, said the council spends at least 12 hours considering numerous factors including fundraising, dues, amount of travel, size and league membership costs.

For several teams that compete at high levels, the resulting figures do not nearly cover expenses. Top-ranked teams such as men's lacrosse and women's rugby require significant backing to compete with other, better-funded teams.

Nationally-ranked men's club lacrosse struggled to make do with the $1,200 it received last year, said Ben Gliklich '06, one of the team captains. "For the level at which we compete, as one of the best teams in the country, we don't have the means to play the best competition as much as we'd like — the best teams are in Maryland, and we only get to see them once at a tournament."

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Gliklich said it is disheartening to play against varsity teams such as University of Maryland, which is backed by a $20,000 budget and two coaches. Glicklich further questioned the University's policy forbidding private sponsorship, a common practice at many other schools.

Though teams complained about a lack of funds, many also acknowledged the efforts of the Office of Intramural and Club Sports. Badminton's captain Ross Bogenschneider '06 said he thought the money given to the Office is used efficiently.

He added that his team could use more money for equipment and facilities, though. "One of the big problems is facilities; there are not enough courts on campus to function well," Bogenschneider said. "I think this is where most of the troubles of club sports come from."

Since most teams require extra funds, they must demand dues, fundraise or both. The badminton team chose not to charge dues in order to increase participation. Instead, they raised money through fundraising events such as hosting tournaments, cleaning up stadiums and collecting tickets at games — opportunities provided by the Department of Athletics.

Gliklich said fundraising can sometimes be difficult for club sports teams since most of the fundraising opportunities are given to varsity teams and are rarely funneled down to clubs.

McCarthy, on the other hand, said that every team had an equal opportunity to fundraise. She said she has never heard club sports complain and believes that most are satisfied with the process.

"I don't believe varsity gets an advantage," she said. "It's on a first-come, first-serve basis."

Since available funds for club sports are divided as evenly and efficiently as possible, according to McCarthy, complaints about inadequate funding tend to concern the difference between club and varsity sports. Associate Athletic Director Eric Stein said, however, that this comparison is unfair.

"It's like comparing apples and oranges; you just can't compare the two," Stein said.