CLUB SPORTS The ABC(S)s of Club Sports Funding First Step of any for GU Teams By Meredith McCloskey Hoya Staff Writer

Charles Nailen/The Hoya Ice Hockey is just one of the teams to receive university funding via ABCS.

Until recently, club teams struggled to remain intact, self-funded and student-led without the ability to even call themselves the Hoyas and proudly represent their university.

“Every time I tell [other coaches] about the lack of support from our university, their jaws drop,” Sam Bakhshandehpour (MSB ’97), head coach of the water polo team, said after the teams first visit to club collegiate national championships. “Every other team I saw [there] was on par with varsity programs.”

At many other universities across the nation, club and varsity athletics differ only nominally. Club teams not only receive generous recognition, but also facility access, considerable financial support and other privileges similar to those enjoyed by varsity athletes.

Although Georgetown club sports have yet to see all of these features, they are now a couple steps closer. After a relentless effort put forth by GUSA Vice President Brian Walsh and Dominique Burzacchi (MSB ’00) to convince the administration that club sports merited aid, then-Dean James Donahue instituted the Advisory Board for Club Sports (ABCS) as one of his last decisions before leaving Georgetown.

Throughout the 1999-2000 school year, Burzacchi and Walsh first presented a report proposing granting club sports access to benefits during a meeting with Donohue and former GUSA president Ron Palmese (MSB ’00).

Eventually a committee was established, consisting of faculty members such as Mary Kay Schneider, director of student programs, Bill Wood, director of risk management and Rick Hall, assistant director of intramurals, which voiced concerns such as field space, money, liability and Title IX compliance.

Walsh and Burzacchi worked with the committee, researching and resolving the issues. After presenting a constitution and revised report, the team felt confident that the committee was giving a positive response. However, Donohue was hesitant and wanted to leave the decision up to his successor. After continued persistence, he finally approved their proposal, which created the ABCS under the Office of Student programs to monitor the distribution of funding to teams.

The club consists of six students who are appointed each year by GUSA. Presently, Chas Dorman (COL ’03), Sean Lynch (COL ’04), Taryn Streich (COL ’04), Shannon Martin and Eileen Barnes (COL ’04) sit on the board with Chair Eddie Ferrer (MSB ’02), captain of the men’s club volleyball team.

The number of club sports has expanded considerably since the creation of ABCS. Rugby has been a longstanding tradition at Georgetown, dating back as far as the late 1960s, but most club sports have appeared at the Hilltop more recently.

Over the past decade men’s and women’s volleyball, water polo, men’s ice hockey, softball, field hockey, men’s and women’s lacrosse, ultimate Frisbee and women’s soccer have all developed programs. Men’s soccer, women’s rugby and fencing are also forming teams, but are still awaiting admission into ABCS.

The process of gaining access to ABCS benefits takes about a month, according to Ferrer.

The basic conditions require a team to submit a constitution, budget and roster. The team must also have at least 12 members (undergraduate or graduate students) on its roster, and must compete in at least one intercollegiate competition each semester.

After the budget is approved, the team can be granted funding and receive official recognition from the university. This seemingly small step has allowed the teams to officially call themselves `Georgetown Hoyas,’ and helped cover costly league and tournament fees.

This has also allowed teams to shift their emphasis to developing their talent rather than worrying about financial and commitment problems. Despite past struggles, many Georgetown club sports have proved very successful in their respective leagues.

The club water polo team has experienced remarkable success in its seven seasons, the most recent culminating with a league championship and 13th place finish at the national championship. Over the past three years, Georgetown has appeared in the National Collegiate Top 20 Poll, defeated only by former varsity squads, and according to Head Coach Sam Bakhshandehpour, the Hoyas are the fastest team not from California to qualify for nationals.

Ice hockey also made a name for the Hoyas, winning their regional championships last season.

Club softball is in a unique situation, as Georgetown will add a varsity team in 2004. According to senior captain Meg Foley, ABCS funding has especially helped the squad.

“Getting money from Georgetown plus having the chance to play varsity has picked up people’s intensity about playing,” Foley said. “We are the feeder team for the varsity team, so I think some people are taking it more seriously than they would a club sport.”

Despite this success, teams are still largely underfunded compared to the club programs at other universities. Although funding has been appreciated, it has been far from sufficient in many cases. Last year ABCS had a $4,000 operating budget, along with a $3,000 gift from the university. This year it increased to $21,000 and looks to be around $28,000 for the upcoming school year.

Teams continue to incur additional costs for transportation, equipment and uniforms.

“We look at the budgets, the need of the team and how much they’re bringing in with dues,” Ferrer said. “Ice time and pool time are expensive. For the rest of the teams, funding covers mostly traveling, uniforms and entry fees.”

Many teams such as water polo and ice hockey have to dish out an additional sum of money per semester to secure practice facilities.

“We are spending a couple thousand dollars per semester to get pool time at a [recreation] center in Virginia,” Bakhshandehpour said. The team pays for their transportation, hotel and food costs for each tournament in addition to the $100 in dues they pay for the season.

After one year of existence, the ABCS has had the initial success of implementing university funding and recognition to eleven club teams. With the promised increase in financial support, ABCS has the opportunity to resolve more of the many remaining challenges club sports face.

Funding has essentially breathed life into many of the teams who were struggling to remain in good financial standings with their league.

“The funding has helped out in the short term by far,” Garret Fitzgerald (COL ’03), rugby president said. “It allowed us to get out of debt. We are thankful for every penny they have given us.”

However, many teams are still looking for much more from ABCS.

“Many of the club sports with representatives in ABCS do not use the fields, so our troubles do not gain much attention,” Chris Papavasiliou (MSB ’02) of the ultimate Frisbee team said.

With minimal practice time, teams find that they are at an additional disadvantage in intercollegiate competition.

According to Ferrer, the board is trying to increase interaction among the teams to work out common difficulties, the most apparent being use of facilities. Most teams consider that finding practice space and time the most problematic to them. Many teams practice around the Georgetown community, with few able to find any time available on campus.

“We’re trying to build communication between different teams so they can cooperate and know what their troubles and successes have been,” Ferrer said.

Although the funding has considerably helped club sports get their feet off the ground, many teams collect dues, as funding is not yet sufficient to cover all of their costs.

The ultimate Frisbee team plans to sell Frisbees in the spring, and other teams also have ideas in the works. The water polo team is preparing to form a board of directors, which will be headed by Bakhshandehpour and be comprised of other alumni.

The ABCS has progressed in its initial aims. It also has a Web site, linked to the Student Programs page, to help raise student awareness to alert prospective Georgetown students to what the university has to offer in terms of athletics.

While several concerns of teams remain, the board continues to consistently advocate for them and to maintain the support and recognition that took so long to achieve.