Dialog - UA Faculty & Staff News ? UA Sport Clubs: A Shared Passion

April 16th, 2012 - Filed under: Cover Story

By Kristen Moore

There are more than 20 sport clubs offered by University Recreation within the Division of Student Affairs. Sport clubs provide high-quality, structured, competitive and fun recreation activities that give participants the opportunity to?experience physical, social and emotional growth in a safe learning environment. Housed in University Recreation rather than the athletics department, sport clubs are organized?and managed by students.

Sport clubs, however, often require more of a time?commitment, are more expensive and are more competitive than intramural sports.

?Sport clubs are a great way to stay involved on campus but still play the sport you love at a competitive level,? said Ryan Barletta, a senior chemical engineering major and?current Bama Hockey president.

Ann Francis, a junior nursing major, has been riding horses since she was four years old. When she transferred to UA in fall 2010, she expressed interest in continuing to ride horses to a UA administrator. After having conversations with University Recreation, University administrators and Andy Kocher, the owner of Westminster Farm in Northport, the?concept of an equestrian team became a reality. Francis,?who now serves at the president of the equestrian team,?said that interest in the team grew quickly, from an initial 11 students to a current 42 members. With new emails from interested students daily, the equestrian team is going strong.

Team members practice once a week for two hours in small groups of three or four depending on their class schedules and riding levels. Practices are led by head coach Kocher and hunt seat coach Christie Saunders. The team meets monthly and completes more than 200 community service hours collectively each semester.

Ann Francis

Diane Harrison, advancement officer for the alumni and corporate relations office in the Culverhouse College of Commerce, is the equestrian team adviser. She said that the students? experience on the team will help them become stronger students, citizens, family members and future employees. ?My hope is that members of the UA equestrian team will learn the importance of hard work, dedication and endurance in every aspect of their life.?

Francis said she feels that she is developing those skills?in both academics and on the team while also building a strong network of friends. ?My favorite thing about being?on the equestrian team is our barn days. Barn days are?team bonding days when we all come together and clean?the barn, do teambuilding activities and get to know each other even better than we already do.?

The Bama Hockey team was developed in 2005, and?has faced many challenges since its inception. With no?hockey rink in Tuscaloosa, team members drive 56 miles to and from Pelham to practice and play in Pelham Civic Center. Despite challenges, the original 15 men who began the?team had the goal to build tradition, and that is what they instilled in their teammates. ?The men before me taught?me that we had to take ourselves seriously if we wanted?others to take us seriously,? Barletta said.

Ryan Barletta

Student officers are tasked with the responsibility of?raising and managing money, organizing buses and hotel rooms for weekend trips, setting up practices and meetings, and keeping the team going.

?There is a huge time commitment from the officers,?captains and coaches. It is challenging to manage the team and keep up with schoolwork, but I have learned so much about time management, communication and relationships while being on the Bama Hockey team,? Barletta said.

He and current head coach Mike Quenneville are proud of where the Bama Hockey team is today. As one of the top hockey sport clubs teams in the SEC, their ultimate goal is to make it to the Hockey National Championship. Quenneville?s other goal is to find funding for the hockey program to reduce the high cost for students and to provide them with safe transportation to and from Pelham Civic Center.

Francis and Barletta have devoted much of their lives to an activity they love. Although the sport clubs they are involved in are very different, they have a few common?factors ? they create a strong bond among team members, provide them with major responsibilities, and give them a?safe learning environment to grow as an athlete, a student and an individual.

?I have learned a lot of life lessons being on the Bama Hockey team,? Barletta said. ?And most importantly, being a part of this sport club let me meet my best friends.?

Francis expressed the same feeling:??I will leave UA with a strong network of people that I learned from and grew so much with. We will always share that?common bond.?

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