Club Vs. Varsity – What They Stand For

I recently attended two different sporting events here at Michigan: a varsity hockey game and a club rugby game. The hockey team was up against the University of New Hampshire, and ended up losing a tough battle, 5-1. The rugby team was playing good ol’ little brother, Michigan State, who they ended up dominating 34-7. Not to my surprise, both games brought different crowds. The two events had similarities and differences, all of which kept me thinking about the roles of these two sports, and on a broader level, their respective levels’ (club and varsity) roles to the University.

I found a plethora of connections to Eric Dunning’s The Dynamics Of Modern Sport. Dunning discusses the roles of the sports for many different participants: spectators, populations, and the athletes themselves. All of these are relevant here, we have student-athletes, plenty of fans go to games, and the population in this case would be the University as a whole. Dunning discussed the “interdependant polarities” of sports, mainly between spectators and athletes, and what the intentions and purpose of sports are.

Yost Ice Arena, where the Varsity hockey teams plays

I would argue that the role of a Varsity or Club sport for the spectator is entertainment, no matter the level of competition. When it comes to sports like Hockey, some fans are so-called “Die hards” for the team. They live and die by the team’s success and failures. Even though this may not lead to positive entertainment all the time, it is still entertainment nonetheless. For the University, Varsity sports produce a high level of income. Yost Ice Arena has a capacity of 6,637. When games sell out, which they often do for somewhere between 15-30 dollars per ticket, Michigan brings in somewhere around $120,000 in one night. At the club rugby game however, you don’t need to buy tickets, and the only sort of financial exchange at the game is the snack table. Therefore, for the University itself, as a financial institution, club and varsity sports have different roles.

For the actual athletes, the roles of varsity and club sports seem to to overlap. (Some people may disagree with this, but I believe that) Athletes all play for their own self benefit. Sports allow them a means to separate from the real world for a moment. Whether or not someone is getting on national news for playing a varsity sport, or simply joining a club team for their own enjoyment and desire to continue playing their sport, the athlete still finds pleasure in playing the sport, assuming they haven’t undergone burnout yet.

So here is where we’re at for the roles of Club/Varsity sports:

1. To the University: Varsity is $$$$, Club is $0
2. To the Spectator: Both Varsity and Club provide entertainment
3. To the Athletes: Both Varsity and Club provide pleasure

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Quick point I want to make:

Another note I want to touch on is Dunning’s point about crowd-pleasing. Dunning mentions that when a player competes in front of a crowd, the act of playing and the pleasure from such playing often comes from crowd-pleasing, and less from the actual enjoyment of the sport. For example, we often see basketball, football, or soccer players showing off or doing big elaborate celebrations in front the crowds when they score. This was not the case at the rugby game. The rugby players weren’t playing for the fans (of which there were probably about 400); they were playing for their own pleasure.

So maybe we can expand my previous list, specifically #3. This isn’t the case for all Varsity athletes, but if you think about certain college athletes that have made a big name for theirselves for reasons other than their athletic skills, you could (and I will) make the argument that some Varsity athletes use their sport a means to fame, not just personal pleasure. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve never heard of a college’s club athlete making it onto TMZ.

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Back to the main point.

What I feel is the most important thing to recognize from my above list is that sports have different meanings when it comes to the personal level. Those who are engaged in the sport, whether that be watching or playing, feel the effects of a win or a loss. On the other hand, the University still makes big bucks whether or not the hockey team wins or loses, and will continue to make zero dollars if the rugby team is successful or not.