Disappointing Club Sport Experience Rant/LONG

Athletic Recruits
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<p>I'm not sure if anyone here has experience with collegiate sports at the club level, but if so, I'm curious if my son's experience is typical. Apologize for the length....</p>

<p>DS competes in a sport at a very high level outside of school (think national rank approx top 10 or 20, depending on exact discipline/time of year). His sport is played at the varsity level at a only handful of schools in the country (he was recruited by most). At almost every other school, it's a club sport. Clubs compete against the varsity teams with no distinction at all between the two. He did receive several scholarship offers from the varsity schools (all private), but none were enough to enable us to afford those schools. </p>

<p>Fast forward - now a freshman, planning on competing for State U's club team. He attended the first couple of club meetings intending to join at the beginning of the semester, but soon realized his workload didn't really allow for full participation. As his first "collegiate" competition wasn't going to be until December, he decided to put off joining until he could devote more time to the club - i.e. December.</p>

<p>During the time he was not participating, there was apparently a fund-raiser that he did not attend. As such, he was put on probation "in absentia" and told one more infraction and he's permanently barred from joining. He hasn't even paid dues to join the club yet. The club president said that since he filled out paperwork at the first meeting, he is considered a de facto member and therefore subject to the rules, etc.</p>

<p>There is another fund-raiser on Saturday that he only learned about this week. Unfortunately, he will be out of town competing with the pro team he's on. As that would have been the 2nd infraction resulting in a permanent ban (before he ever joins?), DS sent an email to the club president, copying the head of club sports, explaining that he had decided not to join the team this year due to a heavier-than-expected workload and would rethink it next year.</p>

<p>I'm completely blown away by this whole situation. This is an individual sport, not a team sport, and isn't even a large club - maybe 10-15 members at the most, only 4-5 of whom compete regularly. Were we just totally naive about the way collegiate club sports work, or does this guy appear to be just on a major power trip? Unfortunately, the president is only a sophomore so waiting him out will take a few years.</p>

<p>I feel bad for DS, who had the expectation of competing at the collegiate level, and now will not be. Not sure what my intention is here other than to rant, and it didn't even make me feel better.</p>

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<p>Hate to say it but his putting academics and waiting to participate until later put him on the “outs” and he was out of the loop and not notified about the mandatory fund raiser.
He was told that he was on probation so since then he should have been double checking for mandatory events.
You posting is not making the situation better.
It is easy to figure out what sport and school you are talking about.
I would delete this posting… if I were you.</p>

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<p>Is that some sort of threat, Batllo? Sure sounds like it. If you are in any way associated with/aware of this situation, then I’m doubly glad he managed to get himself out of it before it was too late. </p>

<p>The email regarding missing the fundraiser was sent to all the “members” who did not attend. - as DS had not joined the club yet, he assumed that it didn’t strictly apply to him. Whether he was correct in that assumption or not is irrelevant. He hadn’t yet joined the club, so should have had no reason to check for “mandatory” events. Are you telling me that you research mandatory events for clubs to which you don’t belong?</p>

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<p>No, I’m just trying to tell you that small sports have a small community.</p>

<p>I have no agenda with your situation.
No knowledge of your specifics.
Just tried to remind you that it is easy to infer knowledge from previous posts.
Sorry for posting.</p>

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<p>I’m sorry for jumping to that conclusion. I understand your point, but that’s not much of a concern here. DS is well-known and has a great reputation in the sport. We were just completely shocked that a random guy could effectively end his collegiate career before it even begins by declaring him to be a “de facto” member of a club he never joined. </p>

<p>I suppose, in retrospect, he will probably be better off the way things have worked out.</p>

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<p>Hello again jcc, I am sorry for the mess your son is in. I think your son needs to have a face to face with the club president and try to resolve this situation. If he does not get satisfaction from the president, he needs to get in contact with the head of club sports and explain the situation and appeal to his/her sensibilities. It is ridiculous that the club president is treating him as a member of a club that he has not paid the dues for nor participated with. Lots of people fill out paperwork to join clubs and don’t follow through and the fact that your son has not paid dues required to be part of the club clearly shows his intention to NOT join at this time. And to possibly be permanently barred from ever
joining the club team in the future is even just ludicrous! I certainly hope your son can get this issue resolved, what a shame it would be for him not to be able to participate in his sport at the collegiate level.</p>

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<p>JCC–I have no idea what sport this is or who your son might be. I read this because my son might play club in his sport if he goes DI.</p>

<p>Q.

</p>

<p>A. Major power trip. Alternatively, this club is underfunded (or not funded) by the university, and the club president is desperate to raise funds. The takeaway from this for me is to determine how club sports are funded at colleges my son is considering. </p>

<p>I think your son handled it well so far by emailing the club president and the head of club sports as a first step. What was the response?</p>

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<p>Yes, I’m sure they want the money. Second, if the team is reasonably good, they’d want him in the spring. If all else fails, can you find out from the US (sports) association whether he’s eligible for collegiate events and nationals, even if unaffiliated?</p>

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<p>Reading between the lines, I wonder if a)your son may have been more involved than you think, realizes he made a few mistakes, and wants DD to pick up the pieces. Missing out on the fund raising and then "waltzing on " to the team on one’s reputation can be frowned upon.
b) you have been over-expecting or over-manging to begin with, and this is your son’s “out”?
Nothing on the table from my standpoint, don’t have a clue what you do, but my S on a club team, donation not required but pretty much expected…Need the money to pay the coach.</p>

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<p>Can you write a check to cover his “portion” of the 2nd fundraiser that he will be missing? On my son’s club team (most likely a different sport) they always give that option for any of the fundraisers, as some people don’t have time or don’t want to participate.</p>