This past weekend, the Virginia men's rugby team piled in a bus for 12 hours to face - and lose gallantly to - a nationally-ranked varsity side from Kutztown University. The water polo men traveled to James Madison University to participate in a tournament involving schools from all over the eastern United States. And every morning since then, the University's best (non-varsity) rowers have beaten the rising sun to crew practice.
All of these clubs require intense practice and disciplined work ethic, and all feature the inter-collegiate competition and camaraderie that make sports like college football and basketball so popular. But without varsity status, these organizations compete without major University backing and NCAA regulation; there are no recruitments or scholarships, tutoring or special meal-plans, televised games or professional ambitions in the world of club sports. It is competition unadulterated by money or fame, driven by nothing more than some strange human need to pit ourselves against others in a sport we love. And as illogical as it might be to derive enjoyment out of that, in spite of the significant time commitment and post-game soreness, club sports thrive at the University.
As Virginia varsity sports come under intense scrutiny, with a new head basketball coach and offensive coordinator designed to pull the Cavaliers out of the bottom half of the ACC and into the national conversation, perhaps it's time to reexamine the trajectory of college sports. College athletics currently require a massive national organization and five billion dollars a year to orchestrate, more than the GDP of Laos. The nation's top football programs can bring in over $50 million in one year, which equates to about almost a million dollars of revenue per unpaid player. Al Groh will receive $1.875 million this year, before taxes, to maybe steer our Cavaliers to eventual success. Nick Saban, the football coach at Alabama, earns $4 million a year - significantly more than the school's annual scholarship budget. It is impossible to deny the perverting effects of this type of money on the nature of the game. Student-athletes should be less concerned with professional scouts and scholarships than the game itself, but it would be na
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