Sport Clubs

Alcohol Awareness and Education within Club Sports

April 10, 2011

Getting your teams to “Make Smart Choices”

Kate Durant
Club Sports Program Coordinator
Student Activities
University of Connecticut

Underage Drinking, Alcohol related illnesses, students being rushed to the hospital, hazing and drunk driving accidents are a common occurrence on college campuses. Students suffer the consequences of fines, community service, probation of their organization, being expelled from the university, or worse – life altering injuries. The University of Connecticut Club Sports program focuses on turning our students athletes into student leaders. One distinct aspect of our programs is that they are exclusively student run. We form student committees consisting of volunteers from our various teams which collaborate to run six on-campus events. One of these events focuses on Alcohol Awareness and Education.

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Creating Accountability in Sport Clubs

April 08, 2011

The Important Role of a ‘Code of Conduct’

Gabriel Valenzuela
University of Southern California

In the Spring of 2006, shortly after the unfortunate events involving the Duke Lacrosse team, administrators at the University of Southern California (USC) felt that it was necessary to examine the operations of the club sports program in three specific areas: hazing, sexual harassment, and alcohol & drug abuse. The university believed that an internal examination would be a very important learning opportunity for all club sports participants. In fact, US Lacrosse, the national governing body for the sport, took it one step further and issued a press release on 4 May 2006 about the need for each individual, program and university to view the incident as an opportunity for personal accountability.

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Sport Clubs Survey

April 08, 2011

Results of an Informal Survey conducted at the 2007 NIRSA Sport Clubs Symposium

Ian McGregor, Ph.D.
President, McGregor & Associates

An informal ‘risk management’ survey was conducted by the author at the NIRSA ‘Sport Clubs Symposium’ held in Milwaukee in June 2007. The results are summarized below. The survey was not in any way scientific, and the results should be viewed merely as a ‘snapshot’ of what is happening in Sport Clubs across North America. Total number of individual responses: 83.

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International Travel: Recognize and Minimize Risk and Liability

April 07, 2011

Tom Roberts
Director, Campus Recreation and Wellness
University of Richmond

Traveling internationally for Sport Clubs can be an exciting adventure but also creates many unpredictable risks and potential liabilities. From a liability standpoint, institutions might choose not to assist with arrangements for international travel because of high risk concerns. Ironically, this is exactly the kind of situation where Sport Clubs would benefit from the assistance and guidance of the administration. There are a number of conflicting concerns in deciding whether to assist with international travel arrangements for students, and fear of legal liability should not necessarily govern this decision.

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DEVELOPING SPORT CLUB TRAVEL POLICIES

April 07, 2011

Chris Muller, Assistant Director, Intramurals & Sport Clubs,
University of Texas at Arlington

To develop an effective travel policy for your Sport Club program, first determine what you want to accomplish with the implementation of the policy. Steven Covey, in his The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, implores people to “begin with the end in mind.” Get some direction from your department or others within your institution as they may have previous experiences or knowledge with travel. The key priority is developing and implementing reasonable controls that will keep students safe and minimize risk for your institution. Review of current travel policies within your institution, other in-state and nationwide peer institutions, can provide insight — and a good starting point.

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AFTER THE ACCIDENT

April 07, 2011

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT AFTER A MAJOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT

Chris Tapfer
Emergency Management Coordinator
Washington State University

INTRODUCTION
Each year students and staff participating in collegiate recreation programs log thousands of miles traveling to compete in sport club matches, outdoor activities, or extramural competitions. Even with the best planning, preparation, and procedures in place, the possibility always exists that a vehicle accident will occur and individuals could be injured. Until you have this happen to your program, you can never be sure what to expect and what the impacts will be. In a span of ten years, I have worked with two major vehicle accidents involving sport club teams. Each incident had different outcomes and each became the driving force for significant institutional changes for student travel.

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