In the (sports) club at Chico State

By Kevin Snyder

If you’re feeling a little bit out shape, miss feeling part of a team, of if you were an athletic stud in high school pining for the glory days of old, then Chico State’s recreational sports department has your remedy.

      Ø   Chocha Pride

      Ø   More clubs than a deck of cards

      Ø   Students give it a shot

With two different types of sports clubs, along with many intramural leagues, Chico State has the solution for everyone from former jocks to those just interested in learning about a new sport.

Chico State intramural sports gives students an opportunity to compete in a league with very minimal time commitments. At least five intramural sports are offered per semester. Different divisions are formed based on factors such as gender and skill level. Students can form their own teams, or if a student is having trouble putting together a roster they can be placed on a team as a free agent.

Chocha Pride

Chico State senior Jeff Brennan has played several intramural sports a year with largely the same group of friends since his first year, going by the name “The Chochas.” The list of intramural sports Brennan has played while at Chico State includes flag football, indoor soccer, dodgeball and softball.

“When we started out at freshman we would get killed by all the older teams,” Brennan said. “Now that we’re the old guys we finally get to be beat up on all the young guys.”

Brennan missed one year of sports while studying abroad in Chile, but insisted that his friends keep him updated on the teams’ status.

“When I was in Chile I would always make sure my friends updated me on how my Chochas were doing,” Brennan said

Brennan played football in high school, and now looks to intramural sports as his best option to play with a minimal time commitment.

“It gives you a chance to compete with your friends and it only takes about an hour a week,” Brennan said. “At this point I just want to play the game and go home, not practice.”

More clubs than a deck of cards

Chico State’s sports clubs offer a selection of 27 different sports and activities for students to choose from. Everything from inline hockey, rugby, martial arts, underwater hockey and even bowling are all open for students to participate in. Sporst clubs offer students an alternative to intramural sports, physical education classes, and intercollegiate athletics and currently have over 600 members.

Recreational sports clubs are more focused on the participatory aspect of sports and less on the competitive nature, according to the Chico State Recreational Sport Clubs Web site. These clubs offer a wide variety of options such as badminton, sailing, kayaking and wrestling. Unlike other sports clubs, these don’t receive any university funding and don’t compete in an intercollegiate schedule. Participation is open to all students, faculty and staff.
      Competitive clubs, as the name implies, are just one tier below Intercollegiate Athletics. Theses teams, which include soccer, waterskiing, and volleyball, generally practice or play games four to five times per week and require students to submit to grade checks. Competitive Clubs also do a rather sizeable amount of traveling, necessitate a fairly generous devotion of time to the club and require that each club has a coach.  Despite the high level of commitment all sports club teams are open to people interested in the sport.

Students give it a shot

This year Chico State senior Matt Faraclas decided to practice with the men’s soccer club. Faraclas was nervous that all his years removed from high school had diminished his soccer skills.

“I just wanted to see how I stacked up against the guys on the team,” Faraclas said. “It was fun playing, trying to keep up with guys at that high of a level.”

Faraclas played in several games and even went on a weekend road trip with the team.

Debbie Schuster is the president of the women’s field hockey team and finds that participating in a competitive club is well worth the time commitment.

“The most rewarding aspect of playing my sport is the girls,” Schuster said. “My team has a diverse bunch of girls and the one thing we have in common is field hockey.”

Field hockey season goes from the first weekend of October through November. The team spends six hours a week practicing, with games on the weekend. Even with those time commitments, Schuster said that team members rarely sacrifice school for their sport.

“They know that school comes first and if they have to miss practice to study for a midterm then that is what they have to do,” Schuster said. “They are student-athletes, not athlete-students and the reason they came to Chico is for an education.”

For those students looking for something to do, Chico State has a wide and varied amount of athletic outlets. From the competitive to the silly, to those looking to stay in shape and to those looking to improve their social lives, Chico has the sport to satisfy a variety of wants and needs.

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