Without any given reason, Santa Clara University banned competitions for Santa Clara Club Sports and intramurals this Fall. These include 17 club sports with 480 student athletes and multiple intramurals with almost 4,000 student participants. Each club team has a different reason the Fall season is important: for some, their main competitions happen in the fall and not being able to play means missing their season. For others, the Fall season is how they develop and retain rookies in order to have a best shot at a winning season later in the year. For many students, intramurals is the way they connect with a group of friends or get out to be active. A group of Club Sports Captains and Presidents have joined together to get to the reason this ban was put in place and protest its implementation.

After a year out due to COVID, as Club Sports captains, we were excited to get back to the field, play the sports we love and represent SCU. D-1 sports have already practiced and competed across the country this year without any restrictions besides the whole school mandated vaccine requirement. When we saw that other student athletes were able to play safely without much concern, we thought our chances of return skyrocketed. But SCU’s Club Sports ban came down without reason. At first, as captains, we thought they banned us for COVID-19 reasons, a more understandable excuse. But what we found out is that competitions are banned and over 50% of undergraduates cannot participate in sports only because our school does not give adequate resources to campus recreation. While students still pay a huge price tag for an education and experience, this school removed an outlet that is beneficial to learning and mental and physical health, taking away from the college experience.

As club sports leaders we were informed that there is no reason COVID would enforce this harsh of a penalty on club sports and intramurals, especially as all students are vaccinated. We were told that the only reason these sports are not happening is that campus recreation is not given enough funding, resources and free reign so they do not have the capacity to file the forms and arrange the fields necessary for sports to happen. This ridiculous excuse and embarrassing money management by the school is the only reason Santa Clara students miss out on the experience they pay for.

Even though more students play Club Sports than D-1 at SCU; and even though D-1 student athletes cost the school over $6 million in scholarships alone while Club Sports and intramural athletes pay to play; and even though Club Sports have had as many nationally ranked teams as our D-1 program in the past years; SCU does not value its Club Sports and intramurals. D-1 sports are not as important of a part of the Santa Clara experience, but for over 50% of students, campus recreation is. Yet, the school can find the money to not only support our D-1 athletes exceptionally well, but build them a brand new $25 million athletic center. But the school cannot ‘find’ the money for another support staff or student worker for campus recreation, a meager price tag compared D-1.

As club sports captains, we are asking you to help us fight back, put pressure on SCU, allow us to play, allow us to represent this school and force this school to support its students.