The disparity between ASU’s sports clubs and their governing body is expanding. Some clubs believe they don’t get sufficient support.
This is where former men’s soccer coach Tim Marchisotto is critical of the Sun Devil Sport Clubs’ system. After three seasons, he abandoned the system and resigned from the team in spring 2012.
“It’s a two-way street,” Marchisotto said. “(SDS) is holding us to standards, so why can’t we hold (them) to the (same standards)? Something is only a problem if there is a solution. So, what are the solutions?”
Marchisotto said he unwillingly dealt with “it.” The “it” was an adverse relationship that came in many forms for Marchisotto.
For each practice — after first competing for field space — Marchisotto would drag the goals on the field.
What’s even more disconcerting is he bought them himself.
“There’s a money issue,” he said. “To coach this team has cost me a ton of money. I don’t think people know marginally the sacrifice we make to play at a high level.”
The Sun Devils looked to climb to top-tier competition this year. The club advanced to a regional championship last year when they lost to UA.
Marchisotto places partial blame on SDS. The championships were in Flagstaff, where the club soccer team was the No. 1 seed. Having a bye in the first round, Marchisotto wanted the team to watch the UA club team play.
Marchisotto said he did not get the travel funds he needed and applied for. As a result, his team did not see UA play.
Instead, the club traveled back and forth to Flagstaff each day. Marchisotto said he saw the fatigue in his players from the constant travel and said it’s a reason why they lost.
“It was really disheartening,” Marchisotto said. “It’s like the school doesn’t want anything to do with you. There’s a lot of hope for the clubs, but how do you expect people to buy in if a club isn’t how it’s supposed to be?”
Since the loss, the men’s soccer roster has become scarce with a total of 14 players. Between these players, fundraising is less.
No players want to fundraise. They did not want to pay the cumulative $910 in dues for the year, despite the fact fundraising can reduce their payments.
“We’re hurting (ourselves),” Marchisotto said. “To make additions, you need to make subtractions. We’re in a contentious relationship (with SDS). This needs to change.”
Bioengineering junior Zachary Scarano, a member of the men’s lacrosse team, said the lack of support is hurting their chances to compete as well.
“They do what they can,” Scarano said. “I wish there was more school support.”
For the 2011-12 season, the men’s lacrosse team was given $12,900 to use for necessities like travel and equipment. Scarano sees the team’s expenses outweighing its income.
He reminisced to earlier in the season, when the lacrosse team traveled to New Orleans for a tournament in late February. The Sun Devils could only bring 25 of their 44 players because of travel costs. Scarano said the lack of players was a setback for the team.
“It was rough having a small bench,” Scarano said.
Lacrosse coach Chris Malone remembers it messing with his head too. Looking across the field to Texas — which had 50 players — could have been the deciding factor of the 4–3 defeat. Still, there is a bigger picture to be seen.
“Everyone works hard to practice, right?” Malone said. “When we score on the goal, all guys score on the goal. We’ve shown that we deserve (increased funding).”
The men’s lacrosse team has established itself as a perennial contender. The club made national championship appearances in the past two seasons.
“I feel like we have that national presence,” Scarano said. “We’re recruiting people to come to ASU. At this point, something has to give.”
SDS has prepared for 18 teams to advance to championship play. According to club records, 25 percent of teams were championship bound, but that number has now increased to 33 percent.
The successes of ASU’s club sports have the potential to outshine those of its NCAA-licensed teams.
SDS’s initiative to rebuild should not be short-changed, though. Men’s lacrosse has seen an increase in their budget since 2008. Malone said he is thankful for that, but he realizes “no one’s going to hand you everything.”
Even so, players like Scarano look for a little more backing from SDS.
The club association knows this.
“Right now, (SDS) needs to provide more resources to our clubs,” SDS President Nathan Chadburn said. “I want teams to compete as much as possible. We do the best we can to make the most influence.”
For each of the past two years under the current system, the Undergraduate Student Government has allocated a total of $200,000 among the 35 clubs. Depending on USG’s budget, the grand total can fluctuate, but it has been stable recently.
Each August, the teams have to supply their rosters, schedules, past budgets and estimated budgets to SDS. Based on certain criteria — how many registered ASU students are on the roster, the level of competitiveness and budget outline — SDS determines how much money to allocate to each team for anticipated expenditures.
The SDS also looks at dues. Yearly dues for clubs range from $25 to $3,200 this year. Chadburn said dues should be the main source of funding for the teams, and if the clubs’ dues are not supporting the entire club, they should be raised to compensate for expenses.
“We’re not the financial support for these teams,” Chadburn said. “We don’t find it appropriate to give teams more than what the teams are already making (in dues and fundraising) themselves. We don’t even give them half.”
SDS does offer reimbursements for the following expenses: travel, equipment and affiliation costs. Affiliation costs stem from the organizations the clubs play for. For example, the men’s lacrosse team pays to play under the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association.
“(The allocation is) to help them get there,” Chadburn said. “But, when a student is paying $3,200 in dues, there needs to be something done.”
The leftover funds this year from fines administered to clubs that violate policy will go back to the teams to pay for essentials. Any club is a candidate to receive these funds.
Chadburn’s goal is to primarily reduce the stress of dues on students. Also a member of the rowing club, Chadburn sees firsthand the struggles students face. To pay for schooling and dues, he sees some of his players working two jobs on top of doing homework and attending practices.
SDS is in the process of rewriting its system and is working on communicating more efficiently with its clubs.
The organization is developing a sponsorship system. SDS is making individual portfolios for each of the 35 clubs and will collectively represent the clubs and their successes. Thereon, SDS and its clubs specifically can market themselves to acquire sponsorships.
This key change looks to be fully established by August 2012.
“I feel sad (Marchisotto) left that program with that pessimistic of an attitude,” Chadburn said. “We can’t afford to bring bad attention to sports clubs. It’s my job, as President of the Sun Devil Sport Clubs, to figure out the issue.”
Reach the reporter at bcapria@asu.edu
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