LSU is a powerhouse for collegiate sports with premier teams in the Southeastern Conference. The school has put out over 400 professional athletes that include big names like Joe Burrow, Shaquille O’Neal and Paul Skenes.
With sports like football, baseball and gymnastics dominating the headlines, club sports remain an overlooked part of LSU athletics.
Club athletes come to LSU from every corner of the globe, some with the intention of continuing the sport they love, and others who have stumbled onto the team they call their family.
“I’ve made many great friends with rugby,” Cameron Coughlin, an LSU rugby player, said. “There’s people on the team that are from abroad, there’s someone from New Zealand and South Africa, someone from Australia.”
Some have come to LSU for the culture that can only be found down in the South. Casey Ruben, a lacrosse team member, said he considered playing somewhere on scholarship, but ended up a Tiger instead.
“I got some smaller D1 and D3 offers, but ultimately, I just wanted the big school experience,” Ruben said. “I didn’t want to go to school with 2000 people.”
These club teams have given players a chance to experience the SEC, while continuing to pursue their love for sports on a different level. Even so, the reality of club sports is rather rough.
For club athletics, every season comes with a price tag. The teams may receive a small portion of funding from UREC budget allocations or occasionally the school’s Program and Support Improvement Fund, but most of the financing is from members themselves.
A team that struggles heavily with monetary support is LSU club hockey. Without a rink on campus, the team finds themselves paying for icetime and driving to Lafayette every week.
The three hour total commute these players tolerate doesn’t even account for the travel expenses they pay while on the road for games.
“A big thing that nobody realizes is that we pay out of pocket,” hockey team captain Anthony Lafranchi said. “Right now for our dues, we gave $2,000 to play hockey for LSU and sometimes pay more. It’s a really big financial commitment.”
Even sports that don’t have much equipment or facility requirements still struggle with finances, as mentioned by the president of the LSU women’s rugby club, Olivia Messa.
“You do have to get a little bit thrifty with money,” Messa said. “I’d say that the team maintains itself pretty well. It’s usually just keeping it going and getting enough money and enough players.”
Paying hundreds or even thousands just to compete can discourage people from joining club sports, but players accept it as the cost of their passion.
Money isn’t the only displacing factor in club sport involvement, as academic sacrifices are also part of the deal.
Unlike varsity athletes who have classes that work around athletic schedules, club members face the struggles of juggling practices with exams and class commitments.
“I was just so exhausted,” Kaitlyn Hoang, a former water polo club member said when reflecting on her freshman year. “On top of water polo practices twice a week in the evenings, we had swim practices in the mornings, also twice, so really picking up sleep. That was one of these struggles.”
Even hockey assistant captain Eric Roth agreed about the exhaustion of participating in club sports.
“We practice every Wednesday night at 9:30 and I get back home after dropping everybody off at 1:30 Thursday mornings,” he said. “So it kind of messes off the rest of the week. We always have players missing practice for exams, homework and stuff.”
The weight of being a club member only grows heavier when adding the lack of resources many of these teams have.
In comparison to varsity programs who have trainers on call, top of the line equipment and chartered transportation, club teams lack heavily in these areas.
Sports clubs are entirely student-run, and in most cases, teams are lucky to have an actual coach that isn’t just a student captain. While the UREC is responsible for overseeing these clubs, student officers are responsible for coordinating their own logistics and games.
The gap between varsity and club programs is very obvious; however, for club athletes, the rewards are what keep the team alive.
For many participants, wins and losses matter less than the people beside them, because sharing the same ardor with your teammates can really create a family away from home.
“In terms of being an out-of-state student, I think playing hockey down here has definitely given me a friend group and people to relate to,” said Trevor Doyle, a hockey team assistant captain.
Beyond friendships, club sports give opportunities to develop career-shaping skills. Captains and officers handle operations, fundraising and schedule creation that can mirror experiences they might have after graduation.
It may not be lavish, but for club players, passion is the true value of club sports. Knowing that there is an option to continue to play while wearing the Tiger logo is reason enough for most members to commit time to the team.
Sympathizing with this was Rowan Dunbar, another member of LSU hockey who discussed what his favorite part of playing on the club is.
“Probably competing I miss that coming from high school sports, just knowing there’s a game that night or tomorrow gets me excited,” said the assistant captain.
Club athletics at LSU may be underwhelming in comparison to headlining varsity sports, but club members walk away with something just as great as the roar of a stadium — a family of teammates and the chance to represent LSU doing what they love.
These players carry the same pride as any Tiger. The community and commitment involved in each team proves the value of club sports on campus.
