WILL KARR
Editor in Chief
As a result of athlete Jason Winston’s injury, Max Hamilton, president of the Blackhorse Rugby Team, believes that there should be a designated person and central office on campus who oversees club sports in the future. While NCAA sports go through the campus Athletics Department, as clubs, club sports have been overseen by the Student Association (SA), which is a separate non-for-profit organization from the university. However, Hamilton mentioned that multiple offices on campus currently work with club sports.
“I think there should be a position created for club sport oversight. I think SA does all they can realistically do because they have a lot of other clubs to deal with, so club sports often have to fend for themselves,” Hamilton said. “I think there should be an appointed position for someone who acts as an advisor for club sports and has oversight, as well as maintains safety … their whole job would be centered around club sports.”
However, Hamilton said that the Blackhorse Rugby Team has found a momentary safety solution for themselves in the meantime.
“I have had to edit my club doctrine so that the e-board determines if it is a hitting or a non-hitting practice. If it is a hitting practice, one person has to sit out and maintain safety, who is certified in basic CPR/first-aid training,” Hamilton said. “… Rachel [Martin], Mark [Suida] and I agreed [at our March 21] meeting that it should probably be a contracted person in the future. So our temporary fix for the rest of the semester is that one person on the team sits out and watches.”
Hamilton and his teammate Isiah Goodrich said many players on the team are already certified in first aid and CPR, which has made this change and transition easier. However, if players were not already certified, they would have to pay money out of their budgets for those services. Goodrich emphasized that many club teams might not have the funds to get all their players certified if it were required for all club sports to do so.
Hamilton said that Angela Pucciarelli, assistant director of athletics, suggested that the rugby players could all become certified in first aid as a possible solution. However, Hamilton explained that he believes that club athletes should not continue to be held responsible for the health and safety of their peers.
“I think that is a reactive method to avoiding the crisis [the Athletics Department] is currently in now. That is not a proactive safety measure in my opinion,” Hamilton said. “I should not put my fate in another student’s hands. I think that should be left to a contract, so there’s accountability and it avoids the gray area.”
One of the things Pucciarelli said in her initial email to Hamilton is “trainers are not under contract with SA to be there for anything outside of NCAA sports.” Therefore, Pucciarelli indicated that there is no contractual obligation for a certified athletic trainer to help a club athlete. Hamilton believes that having students themselves be responsible for helping other students with no contract between the two could lead to responsibility and accountability issues down the road.
Hamilton explained how the National Collegiate Rugby League that the Blackhorse Rugby Team participates in requires teams to have emergency medical trainers (EMTs) at the games and tournaments they host or the ones they travel to. The team often utilizes volunteer firemen from Jamestown when they host events here on campus.
Although the team brings EMTs to all their official events on campus, they do not and are not required to have them at their practice sessions. Athlete Jason Winston’s injury occurred at a practice.
“I don’t necessarily bring an EMT everywhere we go. But, the next step is probably finding somebody for practices or having somebody who can sit in their office on call and respond to medical emergencies for practices,” Hamilton said.
Club sports have often been held responsible for both finding and paying for their own medical personnel. Eli Mulville, vice president of the Men’s Hockey Club Team, said that the majority of their team’s funding comes from dues and personal fundraising efforts.
Mulville said that even before the team heard about Winston’s injury, the team was considering finding and hiring their own medical personnel more regularly. However, he explained that club hockey is an “expensive” sport to play already and hiring trainers would add additional costs for players and to an already small budget. While many club sports are funded entirely through student activity fees, club hockey athletes pay a large sum of out-of-pocket costs to play the sport. Overall, Mulville said that he would like to see more funding and support given to all club sports.
“People get hurt and there are injuries that come along with playing the game,” Mulville said. “… We haven’t had any injuries at our practices yet. But, we went to nationals a few weeks ago and had a few injuries since we were playing everyday .… We had trainers there, which was where the idea for trainers was brought around again. I just think it’s not worth the risk.”
Mulville said that the team has had difficulty finding trainers for events in the past, forcing them to change plans. Mulville believes that club athletes should not continue to be held responsible for finding and having their own medical and safety personnel in the future. He believes there should be some sort of designated oversight.
“We had a hockey game last year. We had to actually cancel because we didn’t have an EMT, and it was our responsibility to both find one and pay for it. That was the first lightbulb moment where I was like this isn’t right and how it should be,” Mulville said.
Mulville added, “We are a completely student-run club. Our coaches are students and everyone is a student .… We can handle that responsibility, but many of us don’t know where to get (an) EMT from. Part of what clubs are is students having responsibilities and having those leadership roles. But, when it comes to health and safety, I think there should be different safety precautions and measures put in place.”