When Interest Isn’t Enough

In an editorial in today’s Quad News, Quinnipiac’s independent student newspaper, editor John Hood expresses frustration that Title IX concerns are impeding students’ ability to create and participate in club sports. It’s unfortunate that Title IX, which is supposed to ensure that no one is denied opportunities based on gender, is causing those who played varsity high school sports and wanted to continue to play recreational athletics at Quinnipiac to not play at all.

Hood elaborates:

Quinnipiac currently enrolls 5,900 undergraduate students. According to collegeprowler.com, about students 447 of those nearly 6,000 play a varsity sport. That is a measly 7.5 percent of the undergraduate students that get to bear the Quinnipiac name on their chest.

What about the other 92 percent that aren’t lucky enough to score a position on a varsity team? That’s where club sports come into play.

Club sports were first brought up in March during a weekly SGA meeting. However, the talks were put on hold due to the ongoing Title IX lawsuit and have resulted in students still having to settle for intramurals.

Quinnipiac offers 20 intramural sports to all students, faculty and graduate students at the school. While the intramural program is successful, a game is not guaranteed due to the immense amount of forfeits.

However, there is a huge hole left inside an athlete that intramural sports can never fill. That hole is the pride in representing your school. Club sports allow students to not only represent the school but also feel like they are a part of a team.

Let’s hope administrators at Quinnipiac University wake up really soon to this enormous problem: Enabling Title IX to turn kids who have an expressed interest in sports away from what they love most.