If you played sports as a kid, chances are you once dreamed of having the opportunity to play in college with hopes of making it to the pros.
Though many athletes came to terms with just how unlikely it is to achieve that childhood dream long before they stepped foot on campus, many stumbled upon Clemson’s club sports programs, which allow the majority of our University’s athletes to continue their careers at their dream school, albeit at a recreational level.
For many of Clemson’s club athletes, though, the reality is this: nobody cares.
They should, though. Club sports provide endless opportunities for students at Clemson, yet they all come at the cost of the student.
You have a home game? You’re on some off-campus field nobody has heard of. Have an away game? Gotta drive yourself there. Want equipment? Buy it. Want people to come to your games? Tell a friend, but good luck getting them to show up when the game is an hour away.
Club athletes put in hundreds of hours of practice and film, a level of dedication that is easily comparable to Clemson’s varsity athletes, yet they are hardly acknowledged. Not only are they ignored on social media, but they receive no recognition from athletics, extremely limited funding, and, in some programs’ cases, are even barred from using the Clemson logo on their uniforms.
The club ice hockey team serves as an example of this. The 2023-24 season was the club’s most successful in program history. The team posted a 17-12-1 record — the very same club that hadn’t had a winning record in any of the then-current players’ careers, including a 3-11-1 record just three seasons prior — and advanced to the College Hockey South Division II title game as well as the AAU National Tournament quarterfinals for the first time in program history.
And the team did it with half its budget from the previous season, most of which it spent on reserving ice time for one day of practice per week at a rink in Greer, South Carolina — over an hour from campus.
Despite playing an hour from Clemson, the team sold out its only home contest against the South Carolina Gamecocks that season with over 400 tickets on Nov. 3, 2023. Throughout that entire season, the Tigers sold over 700 tickets across their nine home games — now imagine how much more support the Tigers would receive from the Clemson community if they were backed by the University?
Needless to say, unlike varsity athletes, these athletes get the opposite of preferential treatment; they’re poorly represented by the University and vastly undervalued. Consequently, club sports don’t receive the same kind of attention from the students.
For example, just one day before the team’s biggest game of the season, Clemson men’s club lacrosse saw its practice field reservation canceled. The Tigers had to scramble for a solution, eventually finding themselves at Clemson Elementary School.
Clemson faced off in the club lacrosse Palmetto Bowl against South Carolina a day later. Because the game was played on a central campus field in Columbia, there was a large student turnout. It was a great atmosphere, unlike any home game for Clemson since the 2022 Palmetto Bowl matchup. In that game, the Tigers had the opportunity to play at Historic Riggs Field instead of their usual LoConte Field, and around 3,000 fans showed up as a result.
One thing is clear about club sports: the passion and the talent are there. What’s missing is the support from the school and the rest of us.
Kane Fox is a freshman communications major from Wilton, Connecticut. Kane can be reached at [email protected]
Kelly Kaelblein is a senior English major from Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Kelly can be reached at [email protected]
