Whether you want to continue your high school sports adventures or try something new, the University has plenty of options. Regardless of their level of athleticism or age, anyone is welcome to join any of the University’s 36 club sports.
Club sports don’t just offer students a way to be active — they offer a community and lifelong connections.
Eddie Flannery, president of Illinois Club Pickleball and sophomore in ACES, shared that Club Pickleball has a strong social network.
“I definitely think (Club Pickleball) is worth it because you meet a ton of different people … and it’s a ton of fun,” Flannery said. “I’ve met a majority of my friends through pickleball, and I’m so glad I had that opportunity.”
Club Pickleball offers both a competitive and recreational team. Its competitive team requires tryouts and often travels for tournaments. Friend groups are welcome to join the recreational team and play against each other in practices or in its once-a-semester charity tournaments.
Oftentimes, equipment is provided for club sports members.
“You don’t even have to buy your own (rugby) ball — we have a bunch of them, and we’ll always lend them out to new players,” said Miranda Zanca, member of the Illinois Women’s Rugby Football Club and senior in LAS.
Being a relatively physical sport, many people are intimidated by the thought of participating in rugby. Zanca argues against this notion, believing that every body is a rugby body.
“Anybody can take a hit, anybody can make a tackle — it’s more of a mental thing and a technique thing than anything else,” Zanca said.
Additionally, club sports have extremely welcoming communities.
A recent decision by National Collegiate Rugby banned transgender women from participating in NCR-registered matches and practices. This decision was reversed nearly as soon as it was announced, with multiple NCR-registered rugby clubs rallying against it, including Illinois.
“I think that a huge core value in the rugby community is acceptance,” Zanca said.
Club sports are run by busy students, for busy students. Sam Sy, president of Illini World Taekwondo and junior in Information Sciences, emphasizes this.
“Our policy is ‘Come when you can,’” Sy said.
IWT’s demonstration team is open to all and welcoming toward beginners. However, its forms and sparring teams have varying belt requirements.
“For sparring, you have to have a general sense of martial arts or have some martial arts experience for safety reasons,” Sy said. “Forms is more focused on refining what you already know rather than teaching new stuff.”
Additionally, Sy noted that club members can accomplish much with a few years of consistent effort.
“If you start with us now, you can get your black belt by junior or senior year, which I think is pretty cool,” Sy said.
Good things come with time and practice, something that Andrew Tobin, president of the Illinois Triathlon Club and junior in Engineering, can attest to.
The club offers optional practices seven days a week, every week, with each practice focusing on one of the event’s three portions: running, biking or swimming.
Triathlons are a challenge, but the community here also represents the fun side of competing.
“Every practice, you’re talking to your friends and spending time with your friends, and it’s just so cool,” Tobin said. “We can teach you everything you need to know, kind of get you started, and then just by putting in the time and coming to practice, you can get to a really cool place.”
The moral of the story? The University’s club sports are inexpensive and have much to offer if only you give them and their communities a chance.
“It’s not as scary as it seems,” Tobin said.
