A year ago, I had the distinct pleasure of serving as The Chronicle’s sports editor. Over the course of my 12-month tenure, my single greatest frustration was our inability to report on Duke’s club sports teams. Indeed, the reason for this was understandable, and one I supported—the community’s newspaper ought to cover the varsity teams that represent it—but I’ve always lamented the lack of attention provided to “volunteer athletes.”
Such was one of many motivations behind this month’s piece on the club ice hockey team. A collection of individuals with uniforms, facilities and a league membership, the squad collected a conference title a year ago. Sport, and all of its metaphoric significance, is more widely observed on the varsity level (more competitive, more talented, more celebrated, too), but is equally compelling in club athletics.
I am certainly not advocating a displacement of varsity sports with club athletics. But programs can co-exist, as they do at Duke and elsewhere, with some semblance of symbiosis. Consider, the women’s varsity basketball and volleyball teams have each picked up athletes from club squads in recent years. Even Mike Krzyzewski’s men’s basketball program—the nation’s best for 18 years and counting—pulled a player in from the intramural ranks two seasons ago.
For Duke Club Hockey, however, there is no higher level of competition than the one it’s currently at. This is their varsity equivalent, and their representation of the University is no less significant or less worthy of this community’s sincerest regards.
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