Growth of club sports creates more opportunities to compete
By Joseph Cuneo
When Tom McKinnon became coach of Mercyhurst’s club hockey team in 2005, the already 17-year-old program consisted of fewer than 20 players despite a winning history. Fifteen years later, Mercyhurst club hockey comprises two men’s squads as well as a women’s team, and boasts more than 80 coaches, players, and staf members. “Little by little, we’ve grown,” said McKinnon, who also holds the title of club hockey general manager. “We’ve always looked for opportunities for growth.” In many ways, the evolution of club hockey foreshadowed the growth of club sports in general at Mercyhurst. “Club sports is one of the fastest growing trends in college athletics and this is really about giving students the opportunity to compete, while being involved in organizing and running the program,” Mercyhurst athletics director Brad Davis said. “Club sports are also a very efective recruiting tool.” Mercyhurst established nine new club teams for the 2019-20 school year. In addition, club teams already in operation, which used to be considered Recognized Student Clubs/Organizations (RSCOs), are now coordinated by the athletics department. Athletics hired Allison Brace ’15 as the frst director of club sports and plans to introduce roughly eight new teams in each of the next two years. Club sports difer from intramural sports in that teams compete against other schools, often belong to regional conferences, and can even play for national championships. But there are also distinct diferences
between club and varsity sports: no athletic scholarships are ofered, student-athletes take a greater hand in planning practices and arranging competition, and teams are often responsible for raising funds. Mercyhurst hires non-student coaches to focus on recruiting students to the university, while providing instruction and organization. But ofering structure while still maintaining the independence that club student-athletes cherish is a balancing act, said Hayden Weaver, who in the fall became the frst coach of Mercyhurst’s Ultimate Frisbee team. “When I talked to the captains (before I started), they were kind of nervous that an outsider was going to come in and coach, because they were most concerned about their studies and they didn’t want to lose that,”Weaver said. “So, I’ve tried to fnd a middle ground in it not being so regimented but also introducing them to some new strategies and concepts.” While team responsibilities occupy large portions of varsity student-athletes’ time, club members have more freedom to structure their schedules around academics. For instance, fgure skating coach Anna Zelina said she ofers her six-member team multiple 6 a.m. practice times each week. “My rule for them is to come to two practices a week,” she said. “During fnals week, I have all practices as optional, just if they need to blow of some steam, but we try to make academics the priority.” Figure skating is in its inaugural season and has yet to begin intercollegiate competition.
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