The Spectrum: USC fails to provide adequate support for its club teams

As we enter the fourth week of the spring semester, most of us are preoccupied with feelings of unpreparedness about our upcoming midterms, primarily attributed to heavy procrastination in the weeks prior. We’re concerned about how we’re going to balance our 16-unit semesters with cooking a healthy meal every night. Now imagine, on top of all these stressors, having to balance a minimum of 15 hours of weekly training, practice and competition. I’m not talking about only USC’s famed Division I athletes — these are struggles shared by the 2,500 club and team sports athletes at USC.

According to the official USC Recreational Sports web page, the University boasts 58 student-run club teams. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that this athletic aspect is one of the University’s standout deciding factors for prospective students. I still vividly remember stepping on this campus for the first time, and listening to my admissions tour guide boast about the availability of sports and athletic activities for people of all skill levels, as we walked past Cromwell Field. Having played tennis for more than half of my life, the opportunity to compete at just one level below that of the Division I team was one of the primary motivating factors for me to attend USC.

However, the harsh reality of competing in such an organization became evident very quickly. Contrary to the benefits Division I players and teams receive, members of highly competitive club teams hardly receive any support, if they receive any at all. Despite spending several hours each week practicing to be the best, these club athletes are not granted any support, whether it be through earlier class registration or proper practice spaces on campus. The club council website itself says that the athletes compete “at the highest levels” — yet why are they so far below D-I athletes in terms of benefits?

If students are held back from participating in club sports because of finances, then that is a loss for the University as a whole. USC greatly benefits from the contributions these clubs make to the social atmosphere, so choosing not to support them is a lose-lose decision. This is not to say that Division I athletes are not deserving of the benefits they receive — because they are. However, club athletes should also be allotted some support by the University so they can pursue athletic opportunities at USC.

For example, take our award-winning Bollywood dance team, Zeher. In their eight years of competing, they have placed in the top three at several top-tier national dance competitions, including Bollywood Berkeley and Tufaan, a contest in Illinois. While many of us were still winding down our winter vacations, members of Zeher, much like the Division I athletes who compete in the spring, were on campus spending up to 10 hours daily practicing for a week.

The problem, however, is that the team doesn’t even have its own place to practice. On several occasions throughout the semester, DPS restricted Zeher from practicing in their usual spots — Taper Hall and Mudd Hall — because security had no prior knowledge of their presence. In addition, the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance cannot give the group any studio space due to the team’s club status. Put simply, it is difficult to justify having a university team compete at a national level without being given a consistent practice space in one of our on-campus dance studios.

But another issue extends far beyond this, and applies to nearly every club team fostered on campus: monetary support. For a majority of club teams, each member is required to pay dues within the first few weeks of joining, which is supposedly expected to cover the costs of travel, uniforms and supplies for the entire academic year. However, with prices of accommodations and rental spaces continuing to rise each year, these dues have not been sufficient. Captains and executive board members of club teams are saddled with the burden of finding options that fall within, or close to, the budget determined by the amount of dues collected — options which are often uncomfortable and inconvenient. The University does provide a $500 stipend per semester, but that is barely enough to cover the cost of uniform, let alone travel or accomodations.

Considering the contributions club sports and teams make to the USC community, it’s a shame that the University is selling them short. Division I or not, they are student-athletes nonetheless. It’s time the University matches its words with actions and tangibly supports the organizations it reveres during the admission months. We must respect the spectrum of athletic talent and capabilities and support the organizations we otherwise use as selling points.

Nithya Rajeev is a sophomore majoring in human biology. Her column,“The Spectrum,” runs every other Tuesday.