By Desmond Ford
Jambar Contributor
Sports are a way for people to create memories and accomplish goals. Youngstown State University provides club sports for students. Some club sports include men’s lacrosse and women’s rugby.
Some clubs play against various universities in friendly competition. The feedback Kayli Ezzo, a YSU graduate student who runs the club sports and camps, gets from the students is that they enjoy being around each other and competing at a high level.
Quincy Jones, a member of the men’s lacrosse team and a senior information technology major, said he enjoys building a bond with his teammates and feels like the team can do something special this year.
“Basically, since I’ve been on the team we’ve been growing closer and we’ve had people join the team that really will help out this season,” Jones said.
He said that team president Ricky Koewacich tries to do everything he can to make sure they have a successful season.
“This should be our best season yet,” Jones said. “I feel like we’re brothers [and we’re] going to go far this year. ”
The number one rule for a club sport is to just to have fun and build special memories that will last a lifetime. This gives the students something they can have and something they can be remembered by.
Saralynn Davis, a junior psychology major, said she has had a great experience with the rugby team.
“My experience with YSU rugby has been amazing. I came from swimming here at YSU freshman year to joining the team as a sophomore the following year,” Davis said.
Ezzo said she enjoys every bit of what she does for club sports.
“Before my career at YSU, I was a NCAA women’s lacrosse coach for seven years. What I got out of coaching was fostering strong relationships and positively impacting students’ lives,” Ezzo said.
With club sports, students can coordinate and organize whichever sport they would like to play. Each club is represented by a club president.
“Clubs create their own bylaws, functional rules and elect their own leadership. Beyond some oversight, everything is run by and for themselves,” Ezzo said.
There are a total of 12 different club sports currently, and each are run differently.
“It’s important to remember our participants make a commitment to organize and govern their own club,” Ezzo said.
YSU club sports take pride in what they do and encourage students to get involved. To learn more about club sports or start a new club sport, visit http://cms.ysu.edu/administrative-offices/campus-recreation-and-wellness/club-sports