BY ANDREW MONSON
EASTON — Stonehill football and basketball date back to Stonehill College’s founding in 1948.
The club sport program is a relative infant in comparison.
Club sports started in the early 90s after the school’s first sports complex was built in 1988.
For the first 20 years of club sports at Stonehill, teams played but it was not organized and could not be expanded.
Until now.
In 2021, the athletic department hired Kevin McCluskey as assistant athletic director for recreational sports.
McCluskey’s job with recreational sports also sees him cover the club sports programs and in his own words, “Acts as their bank.”
The inside world of club sports is a logistical nightmare, especially when you are just getting started according to Melody Allen, the coach and co-captain of the club softball team.
This year Stonehill Club Softball is starting its debut season.
Allen said it has taken nearly her entire Stonehill career to launch the team.
“This team has taken four years to get off the ground. I began pushing for a club softball team my freshman year and while the team was able to play its first two scrimmages last season, it was only this month that we were officially placed into the college club softball league,” Allen said.
Even after getting into a league Allen said, it was still difficult to get started as a team.
The problems go deeper than just finding players and leagues.
Money is important in everything nowadays, especially sports, those involved in club sports said.
Without money there is no way to provide equipment or even travel to games and unlike varsity athletic programs, club programs must make their own money to run and cover the costs to operate, McCluskey said.
Most club sports money comes through sponsorships and general fundraising which is more difficult to obtain without a product to show in return, making it difficult for a new team like club softball and club baseball to raise money Allen said.
“Since we are still a new club, we lack funding like most of the other teams have. We lack equipment, practice locations, and while I like to think I am doing my absolute best, a real coach who is not attempting to play and practice at the same time,” said Allen.
There is a silver lining, according to McCluskey, and it might be related in part to a change in Stonehill athletics. It is the move to Division One.
This year Stonehill made the jump to Division One athletics, a move that has shined a new light on the school and has boosted its popularity amongst student interest.
Since the announcement of the move, the number of incoming students has hit levels that have never been seen in school history, and with more eyes on Stonehill, that means more students looking for ways to become active members of the student culture and getting involved.
“I think that for the most part, the amazing freshmen class has increased the ability to advertise the team, and has helped us find our new additions,” said Allen.
McCluskey and Allen said students interested in club sports sometimes do not know how to find how to sign up.
“Most students came up to me and were shocked a club team even existed and had no clue where to even look for how to get involved, even with it being on the athletic department's main website,” said McCluskey.
If you have any interest in getting involved in any of the 19 available club sports, email kmccluskey2@stonehill.edu or visit stonehillskyhawks.com.
Summit Photo by Andrew Monson
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