For over 30 years Oberlin has offered its student body the opportunity to participate in club sports. The 14 teams on campus offer a variety of ways for Obies to get involved. Co-op chefs, off-season varsity athletes and science center lurkers might be teamed together on any particular playing field.

These student run organizations provide an experience that is unique to club sports. “The background of club sports is independence,” said Director of Club Sports Eric Lahetta. They offer the freedom that does not exist in varsity athletics. Each team is allowed to create their own mascot, the fencing team wears rainbows on their arms during matches and until last year, the hockey team’s most loyal fan was a five foot papier-mache penis.

Similar to other organizations on campus, club sports send in a budget proposal to the Student Finance Committee (SFC), and wait until they receive a portion of their needed funds. Two years ago, on top of money received by SFC, the athletic department provided each club sport with a $500 budget.

Many teams depended on this money to run their team. “We can easily spend $3,000 for travel, easily, per semester. Our tournament fees are $150-350, depending on the tournament,” said junior ultimate captain Liz Harrison.

One year ago the athletic department funds were slashed to $75 per team, and this year club sports received no money from the department. The initial budget cuts were made by the athletic department while George Andrews spent a one-year stint as athletic director. The administration had their reasons. “Certain club sports [were] not using their funds,” said Director of Recreation Betsy Bruce.

Regardless of the reason for cutting the budget, many club sports participants were angered. “The athletic department spends more on shoes for one varsity team than it does on club sports,” said senior frisbee player Braden Paynter.

Outside of monetary issues, many of the club teams have grown frustrated with various promises from the athletic department. No specific assurances were made by the athletic department. In their first meeting of the school year, this was declared the “year of club sports” by the department. For several months, no actions were taken to move towards defining or reaching that goal.

In late November at a meeting with the club sports captains, Lahetta requested that all teams submit a budget. As of today, rugby is the only one out of the 14 club teams to have complied with the request.

Trust between many of the club sports captains and the athletic department has become increasingly shaky from last year. The athletic department’s only accommodations to the club teams were use of school facilities (excluding the $75 as a significant help).

Throughout the past year, several events have spurred on more tension between the two sides. Last February the hockey team received an adamant request from the athletic department to ban a five foot papier-mache penis, a fixture of their home matches, from appearing at future games. This request of the athletic department angered many players since the penis belonged to the fans and not the team.

Last semester the ultimate frisbee team was attempting to host a home tournament when they met resistance from the athletic department, due to concerns about parking availability for the football fans that weekend. The tournament went on to be a success, but not after unnecessary turmoil was created.

During the fall semester of 2003, the women’s rugby team was reprimanded after several players took a naked run around the field during post game celebrations.

The athletic department rushed to the aid of the previously unnoticed cheerleading squad only after junior cheerleader Jan-Margaret Llorens suffered a mild-concussion from a serious eight-foot fall from a stunt.

According to an anonymous source, the athletic department asked the team to create a wish list that could include any necessities to assist practice safety — including a coach, appropriate equipment or adequately safe facilities, a privilege foreign to all of the other club teams.

Many of the captains insist that until the athletic department reestablishes their budget, they have no right to censor their actions.

Despite the recent struggles, Lahetta and Bruce have attempted to improve the relationship between the two sides. Bruce recently aided the hockey team when they were in need of equipment for beginning players. Bruce placed a call to Hamilton College, whose Division III hockey team donated their old pads, helmets and skates.

Bruce also schedules the time slots for Jones Field House. For this module, 41 hours are allocated to four in-season varsity sports. The out-of-season varsity sports are scheduled to receive 12.5 hours, split between four sports. Three of the club sports — men’s ultimate, women’s ultimate and women’s rugby — utilize the indoor turf in the Field House and receive 14.5 hours. However, these times are mostly off-peak, consisting of the first or last time slots, which can start as early as 8 a.m. or end as late as 12:30 a.m. Lahetta attributes the limited amount of Field House space to “coaches taking advantage of the non-traditional sports seasons.”

Many club teams argue that they should receive priority over out-of-season varsity sports. The odd times in the field house for club sports have made game preparation difficult. “It is already extremely difficult to prepare for a match with only one practice a week,” said junior rugby captain Rachel Lindy. “Limiting time spaces can make it nearly impossible. If we only have three indoor practices before a game it is essential that everyone be there. With an 11 p.m. Friday night spot, there is no way we could be close to prepared.”

Senior frisbee captain Rachel Auerbach echoed similar sentiments. “It’s hard to get excited about practicing if you’re running around at 11 p.m.,” she said. “I can’t get my team to come out on a Saturday night before concerts. We try to frame it as a pre-party where we drink water. The sports which are in-season should have more priority than the varsity sports not in-season.”

Lahetta has taken on the role of website management for club sports. Provided that they turned in the necessary information, all club teams now have school web pages with updated schedules and rosters, and some teams — such as hockey, men’s ultimate and women’s ultimate — have links to teams’ personal websites. “It’s been a project I’ve had,” said Lahetta. “Each sport has the opportunity to have their own site.”

While Lahetta and Bruce have improved the situation, the dance continues as club sports close themselves off to requests of the athletic department, while the department continues to offer vague solutions. “We’re in limbo right now,” said Lahetta regarding the athletic department’s stance on the issue. “We’re researching what’s best for all parties.”