"Due to budget cuts the hockey and football teams are cut starting in the fall of 2004" picture our Athletic Director announcing that in front of a packed McQurk or Mullins. The student outcry would be more then enough to get every kid with even an ounce of school pride to transfer too our arch nemesis the University of Rhode Island. What if the Chancellor in one of his speeches proclaimed, "Because of the deficit we face here at Umass we must cut the afro-American major and eliminate all the lively arts i.e. dancing and theatre. Let's just say next years application numbers might be a little low. Not one person could and would stand idly by as these fine sports or vital classes were slashed by someone else's mistakes. The absolute uproar by the media, fans, parents, and students would be so strong that the Dining Commons might tip over. .
Like any other extracurricular activity, club sports are a vital part of the university, taking education out of the classroom and into real life. For many club athletes, the experience is more intense because students run the club sports programs almost completely independent of university help. They hold the tryouts, make the rosters, arrange the schedules, buy the equipment, coordinate field time, design the uniforms, oversee the practices and run virtually every other aspect of their team. Beyond attending to the administrative details, these students compete season after season, gaining little recognition in return for their hard work. But things are starting to get better for club athletes. After years of petitioning, club sports finally got financial support from the university. However, while official recognition does give the different club sports a break, members still pay dues, sometimes up to $400 per person, to pay for venue rights and uniforms. Even these fees do not cover coaches salaries for the teams, instead, for those Umass club sports that do have coaches, most coaches are volunteers.
