Traditionally, club sports at Samford have obtained funding through the Student Government Association (SGA), but at the start of the school year, Campus Recreation decided to change the system.
Prior to this academic year, there were few requirements to gain necessary funding for a Club. Leadership of a team would fill out the forms required through SGA at the beginning of each semester, explain what kind of funding they needed and what it would be used for and then SGA would allocate to clubs as needed.
Now Campus Rec took over administration and funding of club sports under Assistant Director of Intramural and Club Sports Robby Robertson.
One of the major changes is the introduction of a tier system for the different clubs. The system creates four tiers, with tier one being the lowest level of funding for clubs who do not participate in many competitions and tier four being the highest level for the clubs that travel and compete more.
Robertson said that to be in the fourth tier, “you have to have at least ten practices or ten outings, either one of the two or a combination of both.”
There are also requirements that are brand new to teams this “We want clubs to have at least 75 hours or more of community service,” said Robertson.
This new system has caused many clubs to alter their fundraising setups operations. Each club will be expected to fundraise 75% of their overall budget.
Club tennis treasurer Haley Pedigo and vice president Abby Bell said that this change was unforeseen and does cause them to have some struggles in continuing operations.
“I feel like the biggest difference is now it’s more streamlined,” Bell said.
Both club sports and Campus Rec recognize that this will take some time to change and that there will be things to work out. Robertson and other club leaders had a meeting to discuss the matter.
“A bunch of people who raised their hands and were like, ‘Hey, like you have this specific thing in there. That’s not going to work for our club. Here’s why. Can we change it?’ And the answer is yes,” Bell said.
Clubs and Campus Rec will continue to work to make sure each organization gets proper funding.
Staff Reporter
