The West Virginia University ski team has qualified for the national competition of the United States Collegiate Ski & Snowboard Association this week in Sunday River, Maine.
There is one problem: the team does not have enough money to attend.
The Sports Club Federation National Fund gives the team $750, which isn’t enough to cover two racers.
The entry fee is $380 per skier plus travel expenses.
"I realize this is a club sport , and it’s not affiliated with the athletic department, but for skiing, it is very competitive," said WVU ski team Vice President Bryan Church. "Most of the schools that have collegiate skiing are in the organization that we are in."
Some of the universities within the Allegheny Collegiate Ski Conference, which are traveling to Nationals, are Virginia Tech, Penn State, Navy and Fairfield.
"It is a very competitive level, so to have us qualify for a national competition is pretty prestigious," Church said. "Not being able to go is disappointing, especially when your school doesn’t give you more than $750."
West Virginia ski team has done fundraising throughout the season, so most of its fundraising wells are "dried up."
The team has to pay to register racers for the regular season competition along with hotel fees, but the members of the team have to come up with lift ticket money for each race, which can be expensive depending on where it races.
The team also carpools to races and pays for gas to get there.
"There needs to be more funding because (the sport) is definitely underfunded," Church said. "Out-of-pocket expenses are huge for the sport, and the team just does not get enough money to be able to cover everything that they need for the season."
The team received $3,600 from the SCF for the season, which was more than it received last year due to the increase in budgets.
The funding is still only about 10 percent of what they spend overall in one year, Church said.
"This year we had a race near Buffalo, N.Y., in Hornell. We also had races in Poconos, Pa., which is five hours away, so everything gets pretty pricey," Church said.
Despite qualifying for the National competition, the team is disappointed it is unable to make the trip due to financial problems.
"We’ve kind of gotten used this situation of not having the money that we need to go," Church said. "It’s pretty disappointing. You work hard, and you get to a certain level in your sport, and you can’t compete, because it’s not a golden sport, because you don’t have a revenue sport."
Church ran for the athletic council on the Student Government Association last year to try to help club sports raise money.
When asked about the SGA elections that occurred last week and if they would have an impact on club sports funding for next year, Church said he is unsure because the SGA is "very limited in what it can do."
He said it is all up to what the school wants to do. If it doesn’t want to give the team money, then it’s not going to, according to Church.
"What the student government wants isn’t going to change anything," he said. "It’s nice to have that support, but in the long run, instead of student representatives, it’s going to take a huge number of the student body petitioning to get more funding.
"It’s a long process. There are so many different issues; it would be nice to get one of the issues taken care of. If the rugby team gets a new facility or something, that would be a step forward."
The ski team finished second overall in the Allegheny Collegiate Ski Conference including a regionals appearance last week.
The team’s three seniors, which include Church, will not get an opportunity to compete at nationals.
"We’re disappointed about that," Church said. "We’re now out of eligibility."
The ski team did make Nationals two years ago and was able to get enough money to go, but Church said it still did not get a lot of money then either.
The Mountaineers finished 13th in the nation two year’s ago.
"It’s a lack of respect for the club sports, because we don’t bring in money. We’re still out there carrying the gold and blue banner, but since we’re not rolling in the checks and sponsors, we’re not getting any money," Church said.
"It’s a big deal for these student-athletes who don’t get to compete. We have to follow the same rules for eligibility that the NCAA follows, but we just don’t get the same credit that the bigger sports do."
25 comments
It is sad, the ignorance of people when it comes to the importance of club sports. The ski team making it to Nationals is just another marketing tool for West Virginia when it comes to attracting new students.