Club sports teams score high marks for performance

Several of the 40 club sports teams at Colgate – most recently the men’s squash team – have reveled in record-breaking seasons this year, putting these often overlooked clubs on the radar screen.

The men’s squash team, led by senior co-captains Tripp Madsen and Ek Wongleecharoen, recently celebrated such a season with an upset win over Northwestern University to secure the Chaffee Division National Championship.

The team – student run, coach-less, and with many players who had never entertained the idea of playing squash before this year – competed in the Collegiate Squash Association’s National Championship held at Yale University in early March.  Colgate had suffered a heartbreaking loss to Virginia in last year’s finals, and was determined to erase those memories.

The team dominated Bard College (Annondale-on-Hudson, N.Y.) in a decisive 9-0 victory in the first round.  Colgate took on Penn State in the second round; it had fallen to the Nittany Lions earlier in the year, 7-2.  But the Raiders swept Penn State and advanced to the final round.

Colgate played Northwestern University in the championship contest. The teams were tied 4-4 going into the final match.

The decisive match featured seventh-seed sophomore Brad Marschalk, who had been voted most improved player by his Colgate teammates the night before.  Marschalk and his opponent battled through five games, and faced a 9-8 tiebreaker.  Marschalk’s middle of the court drop shot proved to be the winner, and he won the match by a point.

“I was aware of the 4-4 tie going into my match, and knew what was riding on its outcome.  After every mistake, every point won, and every missed opportunity, I was thinking of my teammates.  We all worked so hard all season long, and my frame of mind was to not let the guys down,” said Marschalk.

“This was my first year playing club squash at Colgate, and it has been amazing.  Participating in sports on any level at Colgate instills further school pride,” he added.

Other club sports teams have enjoyed similar seasons, including the men’s rugby team and the co-ed water polo team.  Both earned bids to championship matches, feats virtually unheard of in years past.

But the accomplishments of club teams have received scant attention, according to Don Palmateer, chairman of the Department of Recreational Sports, resulting in spotty attendance at many of the teams’ matches.

“It is a total tribute to the students involved and the leadership of the clubs that teams like squash and water polo were so successful,” Palmateer said.  “To see the struggle that goes on every year with some of these teams, it’s so great to see a breakthrough like this occur.”

The clubs are student-run, and team captains must orchestrate practices, schedule matches, and deal with budgetary issues.

But many players say a love for their respective sports keeps them returning.

“We play squash for the love of the game, and that makes Colgate different from other teams (we play).  There is no coach to make you run or make you come to practice.  People come to practice because they just want to play the game,” said Wongleecharoen.

Twenty-one percent of students are involved in a club sport at Colgate; roughly the same percentage that plays a varsity sport.  Money tends to be parceled out to varsity sports as opposed to club teams, Palmateer said.  He says that is entirely understandable, but admits that it puts financial pressures on some under-funded clubs.

The men’s rugby team ardently raised funds for their trip to Ireland over spring break, as well as contributed their own money.  Palmateer promised the students he would reimburse each student half of the cost of the trip; he has almost reached his goal.

Regardless of budgetary issues, Palmateer and student competitors feel strongly about the importance of club sports on campus.  The benefits to the campus and the student body, Palmateer says, are significant.

For instance, he said team captains develop leadership skills that last a lifetime.

“In my mind, developing those skills is a very important part of what we do at Colgate.”