The Class Trustee Open Forum was a meeting to remember for club sports participants and enthusiasts. Appealing to the trustees was a step forward in the 14 teams’ effort to achieve athletic equality.

The board members were welcomed by an overflowing King lecture hall. Those who could not find a seat doubled up or filled the aisles. Among the sea of people were approximately 180 club sports players dressed in their respective team jerseys, assuring that their demands for what they see as basic health and safety measures were not only heard, but seen.

“We made a real impact on them,” said senior Alia Kate, the president of the rugby team, who delivered the speech. “They were very keen on what we said and did not really realize the extent of the problem.”

Club Sports’ letter to the editor, published in the Review the following day, addressed their two main concerns and asked for continued support from students and faculty. The teams are “requesting access to professionals trained in sports medicine” and “access to team transportation to and from club sporting events.” According to the letter, insufficient funding has placed immense and unfair responsibility on the team captains, as they have been forced to play the roles of doctors and transportation providers.

The forum was the latest in a three-week whirlwind of meetings with individuals and organizations, including Student Senate, Student Union, Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard and Director of Recreation Betsy Bruce.

The recent movement is more unified now than in the past. Kate explained that previously, senior captains have occasionally spoken out when a player was injured, asking the club advisor to dig up the issue about having trainers. However, the issue was always forgotten by the time the captain graduated.

This school year, the teams have made it a priority to work together. “It is by far the most organized the club sports have been, all 350 of us,” said junior ice hockey president and captain Matt Hollenbeck.

As both a club sport and varsity sport athlete, Hollenbeck understands what having a trainer is like and feels that the situation is unfair.

“It is kind of absurd [which] sports are varsity and [which] aren’t and what treatments you get. Just because there is ‘club’ in front of our names doesn’t make us any less student-athletes,” said Hollenbeck.

According to club sports leaders, inequality between club and varsity sports severely jeopardizes the health and safety of students. While varsity athletes have access to a staff trainer, club athletes have only a captain’s prognosis and a limited medical kit provided to some teams by Student Health to treat bone-crunching tackles, swollen eyes, pulled muscles or head-to-head collisions.

With injuries commonplace in sports, team captains say they are forced to make health decisions no student, teammate or friend should have to consider. Since they organize the team line-up, deciding whether or not to allow injured athletes to play falls on the captains’ shoulders. Since there are no trainers and Student Health is limited in its assistance, captains say there are few viable options.

“It is a liability issue,” said senior Ilana Garcia-Grossman, captain of the women’s Ultimate Frisbee team. “There are daily occurrences of injuries. I want to be there for them but it is a hard decision. I may guess what their injury is [incorrectly] and tell them they should continue.”

Another common diagnosis method is the “locker room poll,” which captains say is common among club sports teams. If there is an injury that the captain does not know about, he or she will poll the team to see if anyone has had a similar injury.

Teams are starting to take matters into their own hands. Kate explained that she had women’s rugby players fill out their own medical history and insurance forms so the team could have a better idea of injuries.

“We want to be prepared to be as safe as possible, but we can only go so far as students,” Kate said.

The other major issue for club sports is the lack of transportation. Bus prices force teams to drive personal vehicles to their away games. Captains say that fatigue from waking early and playing multiple games makes the late night drives home potentially dangerous.

“We’re driving long hours when we are tired,” said Garcia-Grossman. “There have been incidents with our own cars.”

Garcia-Grossman recalled an instance two years ago in the fall when one car left at four in the morning and crashed with a semi-truck. Though no one was killed, three people suffered concussions and one was helicoptered out, unconscious.

Limited medical kits and transportation resources are partially due to a limited budget. The Student Finance Committee allocates $5,000 a year to each club sport. While this may sound significant, captains say that it barely covers equipment and practice costs. This year SFC decided to enact a 12 percent budget cut to club sports, dropping funds to a maximum $4,400.

The Athletic Department forks out $500 a year to club sports, an amount Kate and company said is given to varsity teams for one away game.

The budget lands particularly hard on ice hockey. Hollenbeck explained that it costs the team $300 per practice in an Elyria ice hockey rink.

“We can’t really ever afford to practice,” Hollenbeck said.

However, Hollenbeck admits that there is uncertainty about whether club sports fall in the category of student life or athletics. Clearing this ambiguity could help decide how club sports will address their problem in the future.

“What we are afraid about is [that] the meetings [will] deteriorate and mean nothing,” said Kate.

Hollenbeck feels that it will come down to what people are willing to sacrifice. Could club sports players give up the freedoms of a student-run organization to gain athletic equality?

Club leaders are eager to press on despite this uncertainty. Garcia-Grossman sees the fight for club sports as an issue that will affect the next generation of players and is eager to implement changes.

“Nothing infuriates me more than watching a girl bleed, and seeing two girls administer tests to her. Immediately I think, should I take her to Student Health or Allen? It is not our responsibility to have our friends’ fate in our hands,” she said.

After fall break, Student Life and the Athletic Department will sit down and talk about where club sports fall in the college lifestyle. Kate, Hollenbeck and Garcia-Grossman hope President Marvin Krislov will be there as well. They are confident that Krislov, a proud club sports supporter with a background in health and wellness and extensive experience as a lawyer, can help turn around the situation.

“We want to expand facilities, have new trainers and get a fleet of busses,” said Kate. We have the support and we have the manpower behind us with Student Life, the Athletic Department, alumni and the trustees. We are pursuing action with each one to achieve our common goals.”

If club sports have come this far in three weeks, there is hope for them in the future. After all, 350 students are counting on it.