Club sports are one of the many reasons students look forward to joining a social club. This year, soccer joined the lineup and became a highly anticipated option for the men’s social clubs.
With this being the first year in a long time that the men could sign up to play, many students anxiously waited for the first games. Unfortunately, Tuesdays and Thursdays this season saw a whole new meaning of “April showers” and the soccer tournament was brought to an end due to inclement weather.
Junior Sam Morris, a member of new men’s social club Lambda Chi Theta, looked forward to bringing his club together and expected more for this season.
“Club soccer is a great idea and it can really bring a club together,” Morris said. “Although, if I’m being honest, April can be a tough time to try and play outdoor games. With game cancelations we didn’t really get a season at all. I’m not sure how this can be improved or avoided, but I am thankful we got somewhat of a season.”
Not only did the cancellation of soccer games come as a surprise and disappointment to the men, the women’s clubs were also saddened to see the season fall short. Talk of games being conducted on Saturdays came quickly after the dismissal of Tuesday and Thursday games, but with careful consideration it was decided to end the soccer season entirely.
For an athletic director, the season was a challenging one to plan for. Sophomore Averie Albright, sports director of the women’s social club Ko Jo Kai, hoped to watch her club compete this year and also looked forward to the addition of men’s soccer.
“I thought that it was super difficult because we would post about games every other day and then we would have to turn around and post again that games were canceled,” Albright said. “I hated it because people made plans around the times their games were and they never ended up happening. I think adding men’s soccer was a good choice. They are really fun to watch just because men are so fast and aggressive.”
Overall, due to excessively wet fields and hazardous playing conditions, men’s and women’s club sports director, Jim Gowen, decided that conditions would simply not allow for the finish of the soccer tournament.
“This season was not what was expected,” Gowen said. “Due to winter weather in March, spring break, rain and wet fields and Spring Sing week, we were able to complete 12 matches and a half of two others. Because of these factors and next Monday being the start of Dead Week, the soccer tournament could not be completed.”
