Ohio University has its own competition for an entity to become a club sport. This year, four new organizations have en tered the race.
Golf, track and field, men’s la crosse and synchronized swim ming will all begin a one-year probationary period as OU club sports. After their probationary periods, the teams will be evalu ated and awarded a “full-time club sports status” if they meet the criteria, club sports supervi sor Benjamin Justice said.
“For each team that wants to become a club sport, they have to go through a trial-and-error period,” said Justice, a senior studying integrated social stud ies and education.
The clubs will be evaluated by the Club Sports Executive Council based on the club’s community involvement, total participation in the club sport, and success of the club among other criteria.
Evaluations are made at the end of every school year.
There are four “tiers” of com petition in club sports and each receives a different level of fund ing. The green tier receives the highest level of funding, fol lowed by white and red.
The bottom tier, the “instruc tional tier,” is for teams that don’t compete against other schools and don’t receive funding.
“(Funding) varies through out the year depending on how many teams there are (at OU),” Justice said.
The four new sports will be gin in the red tier and, assum ing they pass their probationary period, will join the white tier, a classification that includes most of OU’s club sports.
“There’s a lot more commit ment in this upcoming year in all aspects and we will be a force in the club division,” said Jon Blohm, a sophomore on the club lacrosse team.
Club sports compete sepa rately from NCAA scholarship athletes. OU’s club sports in particular do not just play Mid- American Conference oppo nents but any school that is in their respective division, Justice said.
