Club Sports or Sport Club Programming

  What are Sport Clubs?  They are groups that organize because of a common interest in a particular sport – they fulfill a social function with sport serving as a common interest for the group.  Generally, an individual or group of individuals will be interested in a particular sport, but the area that they live in might not offer an opportunity to engage in that particular sport in the means that the individuals might want.  The group then forms in order to facilitate participation in the sport of their choice.  Take SDSU, for example.  If you were a high school lacrosse player and you came to SDSU, there might not be an opportunity to play lacrosse competitively in Brookings.  Lacrosse is not a varsity sport, and it is not offered as part of the intramural sports program.  You might know several other people who were interested in lacrosse as well.  You would then form a “lacrosse club” and seek recognition from SDSU as a member of their Club Sports Program.

  What is the difference between club sports and sport clubs?  There is no real difference.  Traditionally, groups that organize around a common interest in a particular sport have been referred to as club sports – consistent with the names informal sports, instructional sports, intramural sports, and extramural sports.  I personally prefer the term “sport clubs,” which is growing in popularity because it is more descriptive in nature….besides, the only “club sports” I know of are golf, baseball and croquet!
 

  Whether you refer to them as club sports or sport clubs, the key is that they are self administered and self regulated, or as we used to say at Cal-Berkeley, “participant-led, participant-run.”  Other key areas of sport clubs are that the members seek out opportunities for regular participation.  Sport clubs offer more structure than informal sports, but because the participants decide the direction that the club takes, offer more flexibility than intramural sports.  Sport clubs offer a great forum for participant development, offering opportunities for club members to gain leadership skills through the many different roles that participants must play (president, treasurer, tournament scheduler, equipment manager, etc.).  One other thing to note – participation in sport clubs is voluntary in nature.

  The history of sport clubs:
 
 
 
 
 

  There are three different types of sport clubs:
        1) competitive
 

        2) recreational
 

        3) instructional
 
 
 
 

  Clubs may also combine different elements in order to achieve different goals.
 
 
 
 
 

  The factors that influence the type of club that involve are generally decided by the club membership and based on the interests and abilities of the members.  Traditions of the sport are also factors, along with capabilities of leadership, financial support and proximity of opponents.  One of the exciting elements of sport clubs is that the participants really get to choose their own outcomes.  This is VERY compatible with the philosophy of recreational sports that we discussed earlier this semester.  There are a multitude of outcomes which one can get out of sport club participation …. Competition, social interaction, skill development, fitness, and conditioning, ability to participate, etc.  There is generally little outside influence on
the types of outcomes that you will receive in sport club participation.