Where Do Club Sports Fit?

Chris Lynch, a second year business major, knew at the beginning of this year that he wanted to bring the club rugby team back to life. Working with the ASB Board of directors and supportive faculty, he restarted the rugby team from ground zero after it had to close down last year. He reached out to many students to join the team and started his own fundraising to get the team the equipment and gear they needed. 

As Lynch focused on revamping the team with the support of ASB, he faced initial barriers due to the previous rugby team’s lack of players on the team.

Lynch was told that the rugby club was planning to disband, and as a result, it would no longer be funded by ASB. Lynch said he was discouraged by this, but he continued to reach out to people to join the team to secure financial support. He reached out to PLNU alumni to help get the club back on its feet and fund its following season. The ASB Board of Directors helped Lynch with creating a financial budget and planning for their season to keep the rugby club.

“Finances and funds are well taken care of and there is good handling of funds for club sports,” Lynch said. 

The support and financial funding for clubs and club sports at Point Loma Nazarene University come from the Associated Student Body (ASB). They support all clubs that they deem are within reason, established and prepared. There is no special designation for club sports; they are all categorized as clubs that are part of ASB. 

“Clubs and club sports are not run by the school, but run through ASB alone,” said Scott McGowan, director of community life, who oversees ASB and student life on campus.

When creating a club sport, teams have to go through a process to secure funds and support. All clubs have to go through it when applying for the upcoming year. The three important roles that ASB focuses on with clubs are administration, finance and marketing. 

PLNU club sports also have to meet specific requirements to receive funding and support from the ASB. 

One of the requirements for creating a club and being funded is doing community service. To keep the club running and receive funding, a club has to complete 4 hours a week of community service. 

Another requirement is that members of the club have to do their own fundraising outside of the ASB funding they are receiving. The money that clubs earn from fundraising goes toward equipment, gear and facilities used in other fields if needed.

Club sports have to rent fields and facilities off campus to use for their games and practices because PLNU has fields and courts that are NCAA sanctioned, meaning they have to be kept up to a standard and allowing students to play on these surfaces continuously puts more wear and tear on them.The NCAA policy has been a cause of frustration for club leadership.

“I feel like we have to do a lot of the funding on our own and have to rent out facilities off campus in order to play or practice,” Lynch said. “This is a little frustrating to have to pay for on our own. For other clubs less established this is even more frustrating.”

McGowan stresses to all new clubs to recognize and be aware of the facilities on campus and how they should be treated with care and need to stay maintained. 

“Club sports want to use the facility on campus, and we allow up to once a year availability permitting in advance,” McGowan said. 

ASB tries to provide the best support possible within these rules, according to McGowan.

“ASB is run by students for the students,” McGowan said. 

Nathan Shoup, third-year applied health major and ASB director of student relations, helps clubs meet their specific requirements. Students often come to Shoup with questions and concerns regarding reserving university space to hold their club meetings or events. As director of student relations, Shoup said he’s there to help clubs with anything they need to get their teams ready for the year. 

ASB markets PLNU’s clubs so students know about the clubs that are on campus. They use social media platforms to try to reach the students about the clubs and what they are about, but Shoup is always hoping to provide more information. 

“It would be really cool for students to have further knowledge concerning the opportunities they have to get plugged in,” Shoup said, “so that they can experience this place more positively.”

To learn more about club sports, visit https://www.plnuasb.com/sports-outdoors.

Written By: Brooke Marx