The Student News Site of Colorado State University

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

The Student News Site of Colorado State University

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

The Student News Site of Colorado State University

The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Print Edition
Letter to the editor submissions
Have a strong opinion about something happening on campus or in Fort Collins? Want to respond to an article written on The Collegian? Write a Letter to the Editor by following the guidelines here.
Follow Us on Twitter
Unlocking the Digital Treasure: A Dive into Cryptocurrency Exchanges
Unlocking the Digital Treasure: A Dive into Cryptocurrency Exchanges
March 7, 2024

Ever wondered, amid all this digital currency buzz, what is the value of Ethereum today? It's a question that sparks the curiosity of many,...

Sport clubs suffer in year of COVID-19

IM fields at night
The Colorado State University Intramural Fields are left in the dark during a power outage on Feb. 18, 2020. (Addie Kuettner | The Collegian)

The COVID-19 pandemic rocked the world of sports, and while Colorado State University has watched their NCAA sports navigate the pandemic, there has been one community that has yet to take the field. Sport clubs at CSU have not seen competition since February 2020. 

As the spring semester begins its final stretch, there is hope throughout the sport clubs community that there will be a fall season for all the devoted athletes that have remained hungry for competition throughout the last year of uncertainty.”

Sport clubs across the University were forced to halt all competition, then practices, then any type of in-person activities at all. The latter of the restrictions has remained in place all throughout the 2020-2021 school year and has voided any hopes of a return to competition. 

Ad

“This is my first year without sports since I started high school,” said Alex Tate, travel and safety officer and long stick defensemen for the men’s lacrosse team. “It really sucks a lot of us won’t play lacrosse competitively or at this level ever again.” 

The men’s lacrosse team is one of roughly 30 sport clubs on campus, almost all of whom suffered a similar loss of competition.

“I just miss seeing everyone — the camaraderie,” said Andrew Reynolds, president of the CSU disc golf team. “I mean, it’s fun going out there, playing with everyone, the rivalry and just seeing all the homies.” 

Family is a consistent theme when talking to sport club athletes. For many, they would not have found the communities and friends they hold so dear without their teams. 

“I just miss being on a team in general,” said Michelle Kaczmarek, president of the CSU women’s hockey team. “I mean, we’re literally a family, so it’s been really hard not seeing them every day. That’s definitely been the hardest thing through all of this.”

The one year anniversary of no competition has been rough to watch come and go for sport club athletes, as it has been a reminder of missed opportunities and experiences.

“The one-year anniversary was recently, like, Feb. 28, 2020, and that was the last time we got to skate as a team,” Kaczmarek said. 

players raise hockey sticks in rink
Colorado State University women’s hockey players face the crowd and raise their hockey sticks after the Rams’ 4-2 victory against University of Utah at Edora Pool Ice Center Feb. 15, 2020. (Anna von Pechmann | The Collegian)

These teams are not subject to the same amount of funding that NCAA programs receive, as the majority of travel and other expenses are funded by membership dues. These athletes embody the spirit of competition because of the love they have for their respective sports and they pay yearly to do so. 

Another team that was forced to halt operations during their season is CSU’s club baseball program, which announced on Feb. 9, 2019 via Twitter that CSU canceled the 2021 spring season. The president of the club, Daniel Terao, discussed CSU’s Pandemic Preparedness Team and how they had initially asked the team for a detailed practice sheet for review in order to hopefully devise a track to return to the field. Then, after a couple weeks, the PPT decided to not allow any sort of practice or workouts.

The four seniors on the team did not know at the time that their last two games of that season would be the last ones they played in the CSU uniform. Terao is among those four seniors who were ready to field a highly competitive team in 2020. 

Seniors losing their last year of competition is an unfortunate byproduct of this lost year and has many searching for alternate forms of competition post-graduation. 

Ad

men play lacrosse
A player takes a shot on goal during the fourth quarter of Colorado States season opener against Oregon State in Loveland in 2019. The Rams defeated the Beavers 14-4. (Matt Begeman | Collegian)

The lacrosse team faces a similar problem to the one that surprised the baseball seniors. Tate had to look in new directions to get his lacrosse fix. He and 15-20 players on the squad looked into joining the University lacrosse men’s league after graduating in an effort to continue playing the sport they love for as long as they can.

Despite not being able to compete as a team, the disc golf program looked to the positive side of things when it comes to their sport.

“At the beginning of the pandemic, disc golf rapidly grew in popularity,” Reynolds said. “It’s an easy sport — you can go out by yourself; it’s COVID(-19) safe, and it’s just enjoyable.” 

While Reynolds was one of few that was able to continue to play his sport individually, other aspects of his team still suffered. With the rise in popularity, many expressed new interest in joining the team, but because no in-person activities were allowed, many athletes were forced to join the team in a purely virtual setting. 

As the spring semester begins its final stretch, there is hope throughout the sport clubs community that there will be a fall season for all the devoted athletes that have remained hungry for competition through the last year of uncertainty. 

Bailey Bassett, Tyler Meguire, Scott Nies and Taylor Paumen can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @baileybassett_, @TMeguire , @scott_nies98 and @TayTayPau.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover
About the Contributor
Taylor Paumen, Content Managing Editor
Taylor Paumen is the 2022-23 content managing editor for The Collegian and has been with the newspaper since February 2021. She started out as a volleyball recap reporter and was promoted three months later to sports director. Now going into her fourth year, she is working on finishing a major in journalism and media communication and a minor in sports management.  As The Collegian's content managing editor, Paumen takes care of approving content for the week, guiding the directors and editors of each desk and occasionally supplying her time to the cannabis and sports desks when they let her. When she first joined The Collegian, her time covering volleyball games was tough, as COVID-19 had just taken over. Games were fanless, but she knew it was where she wanted to be. Now as content managing editor, she loves learning things outside of the sports world and strengthening her skills. Now, fans are back, and working in the newsroom to create a weekly paper is her new passion. Paumen is most grateful for the memories created with the entire Collegian team and their work together to create the best content.  When coming to Colorado State University, Paumen started as a health and exercise science major but quickly tried to find something new. She found writing and sports were her passions, and The Collegian welcomed her with open arms, reassuring her that this is where she was meant to be.

Comments (0)

When commenting on The Collegian’s website, please be respectful of others and their viewpoints. The Collegian reviews all comments and reserves the right to reject comments from the website. Comments including any of the following will not be accepted. 1. No language attacking a protected group, including slurs or other profane language directed at a person’s race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social class, age, physical or mental disability, ethnicity or nationality. 2. No factually inaccurate information, including misleading statements or incorrect data. 3. No abusive language or harassment of Collegian writers, editors or other commenters. 4. No threatening language that includes but is not limited to language inciting violence against an individual or group of people. 5. No links.
All The Rocky Mountain Collegian Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *