What are Club Sports?
What is the difference between Club Sports
and varsity athletics or intramural sports?
Who is eligible to participate?
How do I join a club?
Do I need experience? Are there
tryouts?
What is the cost to join a club?
What is the time committment in belonging to a
club?
When are club practices?
The sport I want to play isn't listed, how do I
start a new club?
I turned in an eligibility form last year, do I
need to turn in a new one this year?
How do I deposit money from dues or
fundraising?
How do I order equipment and supplies?
My club is traveling overnight. How do I book
hotels?
Answer:
Club Sports are student run groups that participate in competitive
or instructional sporting activity within the Department of
Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation. They hold practices,
compete, and engage in skill instruction. Since all clubs are run
by members, each club culture is unique. If the topics below don't
answer your additional questions, please consult our handbook, or call the Club Sports office at
781.736.3669.
Answer:
Club Sports is almost a compromise between varsity athletics and
intramural sports. Clubs hold practices like varsity sports, and
most clubs have coaches. Most of our clubs also compete against
other schools. But, unlike varsity athletics, club members have
more flexibility with their participation. Each member can decide
on their own how much time to invest in the club. Similar to
intramural sports, club sports are for pure recreation, even if
they happen to be competitive clubs. Clubs generally practice two
or three times per week, so the time committment, even for someone
who attends every practice, is far less than a varsity sport.
Answer:
All current members of the Brandeis community are eligible;
undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff. Alumni are
not eligible. Some leagues may prohibit all but undergraduate
students from competition.
Answer:
It's as simple as just showing up. Almost. Each club dictates what
it takes to be an official member of the club. Usually that means
showing up to a certain percentage of club activities. Beyond that,
all you need is to have turned in an eligibility form, and you're a
member.
Answer:
The short answer to both is no. Clubs are not permitted to hold
tryouts for the purposes of making roster cuts. Anybody who wishes
to belong to the club may do so. Experience is likely to get you
more playing time in our competitive clubs, but it is not
necessary.
Answer:
That depends on the club, and your level of involvement. Many of
our clubs have no out-of-pocket expense to their members. Some of
our more active clubs do require that members chip in for travel
expenses, which are generally not fully funded by club budgets.
Answer:
That depends on the club, and how active you want to be in it.
Most clubs practice two or three times per week, and compete once
per week during their competitive seasons. Members who attend more
practices are most likely to travel to away competitions and
recieve more playing time, but all clubs understand that everyone
has other time committments. Having a leadership role within the
club will certainly increase your time committment, but generally,
a student who is fully invested in the club will spend between 5-10
hours per week engaged in club activity.
Answer:
Most clubs practice in the afternoon and evening. Practice times
change throughout the year, so the best thing to do is to refer to
a club's web page.
Answer:
Before you attempt to start a new club in our program, you should
first know that we don't duplicate any varsity sports. If you're
still interested, then the thing to do is get yourself chartered
with the Student Union. (They will provide the guidance on that
process.) Once you've established yourself as a club, demonstrated
the ability to sustain interest, and met our other criteria, you
can request to petition the Club Sports Council. The Council is
made up of seven club leaders, and is the body that approves any
changes to the program.
Answer:
Yes. For liability purposes, a new form must be turned in each
year, and for every different sport.
Answer:
Bring it in to the Club Sports office. Off-campus banking is
prohibited, so all financial transactions are handled by the Club
Sports Coordinator. Your money will be accessible as soon as you've
dropped it off.
Answer:
Fill out and submit a purchase request
form. All purchases must be done by the Club Sports
Coordinator.
Answer:
First, call the hotel and make the appropriate arrangements. Book
everything just as if you were going to pay for it, but let the
hotel know that someone will contact them to arrange payment. Then,
contact the Club Sports Coordinator, who will make payment
arrangements. You are likely going to have to provide your credit
card information when you book the rooms, but your card WILL NOT be
charged. If possible, the department credit card will be used. If
not, then we will pay by check. Be advised that if a check is
required, it takes at least three weeks to get a check to any
vendor.