The Club Sports Dilemma

Taylor Woods spent his college career fighting for playing time in two ways: first, as the perennially-benched wide receiver on the football team, and second, as the captain of the school's club lacrosse team.

Woods came to W&L a lacrosse player; back in Houston, he'd played on his high school team and done well enough to try to walk on the team at W&L.

But that was Houston. W&L's team is comprised of the not-necessarily-best players from the best lacrosse regions in the country: New York and Maryland. The coach told Woods he could be on the team, but he would never play.

Woods decided he'd rather not.

He joined the football team, he said, for the motivation of working toward a goal. He enjoyed being part of a team and working out in the gym with a purpose.

Lacrosse was always his love, however, and he stepped almost immediately into a leadership role on the club lacrosse team.

"I had trouble just putting it away for four years," he said. He wasn't willing to be on the varsity team and never touch a stick.

The club lacrosse team is a haphazard alliance of players like Woods, kids who were good at high schools that didn’t have good teams, or kids who were good in regions that aren't good at lacrosse.

It's supposed to be a chance for those kids to compete against other schools just as the school's NCAA team does.

That's not how it worked out for Woods. He was responsible for organizing the match-ups with other schools, buying equipment and hiring referees and trainers. Often, he said, he would set up games with other schools, organize everything and reserve time on the school's turf field, only to have an NCAA game rescheduled to take up his field time.

"It's a high cost for an uncertain enterprise," Woods said.

Sorting through the school's bureaucracy wasn’t easy, he said, and the team played only four games in this, Woods' senior year.

Wilson Field is under construction, and the school has plans for more fields, but Woods said he wasn't getting his hopes up for the future of club lacrosse.

It isn't taken seriously by the school or even many of the players, he said.

People at W&L are "too socialized," Woods said. The Greek system creates an environment where students always have something to do, he said.
"They’re not looking for new ways to define themselves," he said.

Woods isn't alone in his struggle. This year, the school’s rugby team was invited to the NCAA tournament, a fact that went largely unrecognized by the university. The accomplishment was achieved with little help from the university, as well. The players organized the team themselves and played on fields off campus, because no field space is available for them to play here.

For Woods, the struggle has meant a big disappointment during his college sports career – more so than his career as a benchwarmer for the football team.

He joined the team freshman year with no football experience.

"I realized my limitations with other sports," he said. Woods is 5 feet 11 inches, and he's lanky, but he moves with the athletic grace of someone who has spent their life playing sports.

In high school, he played basketball as well as lacrosse, but decided to give football a try in college.

Not playing wasn't a disappointment, he said, because he came into the game "neutral," never having played before.

He stuck with football, he said, because his friends were on the team and he liked the fellowship.

"It does take a certain type of person to stick with varsity athletics without any playing time," he said.

Still, he said, club lacrosse should have filled the sports void left after high school. Instead, it was a constant struggle.

"When you're scrapping for fields, it's different," he said. "The possibility wasn't open to us to become a serious team."

Links: W&L athletics
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