It’s hard to tell who spends more time on the rec field, sports clubs or ground squirrels.
There are 16 sports clubs under the banner of the Sports Club Council (SCC) at Cal State Monterey Bay (CSUMB), among them rugby, soccer, dance, volleyball and even a sailing team..
But SCC president Zach Phillip says that the school still lacks facilities and support for these intramural sports clubs.
“We are probably over-performing the level that we’re funded and the conditions of our facilities that we use,” said Phillip.
Their most pressing upgrade is the rec field, which Phillip says is in very poor shape. The field, located behind North Quad and the police station across that large asphalt expanse, is not regularly used by the rest of campus except for occasional school ceremonies. It’s accompanied by a Conex box for gear storage, and a large chainlink fence, but the field itself is in poor shape.
“We have five clubs using that field, and it’s a grass field. And right now, on one half of the field, I would say there’s about six ground squirrel holes. And we’re not talking about little holes, we’re talking about ground squirrel holes that are probably, I would say, at least a foot long,” said Phillip, “so right now, what clubs have to do when they have a game is take a big mound of dirt on the side on the field, and they have to fill all those holes before a game starts. Themselves.”
Phillip says that even to maintain the grass field to an athletic standard would be $50,000, annually. Using artificial turf is another option, but that wouldn’t fix the problem of initial expense, not to mention, the field lacks proper lighting, meaning clubs are at the mercy of daylight for their practice times. But that number almost dwarfs their entire yearly budget.
The role of the SCC is to support, govern and fund the operations of these 16 sports clubs, which they do using their $48,000 annual budget from Student Organization and Leadership Development, the same body that funds Associated Students. That number was recently raised to $55,000.
Storing gear is another problem, especially as clubs attempt to match the athletic rebrand. “At their student recreation field, there’s a 20ft by 8ft Conex Box right now that serves as storage for men’s and women’s rugby, men’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s soccer, and all the field supplies, and all the intramural sports supplies as well,” said Phillip. That single box simply isn’t meeting their storage needs. Recently, they received funding for a second from Associated Students, their sister organization, but that project is still in the works.
Another barrier is that they lack a dedicated staff advisor like Associated Students or the Inter-Club Council* Instead the role is filled by Director of Recreation Rick Dawson, who Phillip describes as being forced to work three jobs at once. Phillip makes sure to give Dawson all due credit, he’s doing more than his best, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem.
“Most of the major communication between administration and sports clubs is stopped when Rick is gone,” as Phillip puts it.
Many sports clubs are thriving, but with only 377 followers on Instagram (compared to Otter Sailing’s 622), Phillip wishes they could have more visibility.
“I didn’t even know the Sports Club Council was a thing until I had to start a club, and that was something that took me two years to find out,” said Phillip.
“It’s a great opportunity for people to have and create a community and play sports that they love to do, but they don’t have to do it super competitively and not to the level where they have to dedicate their life to it,” said Phillip, “I think that can be a really big draw to the school, and I think that’s something that’s missing.”
*Sean Tubo is currently president of the Inter-Club Council.