I was delighted to see Rachel Carter's article about sports clubs in The Daily Tar Heel ("Explaining Club Sports Coverage" April 9). In an ongoing effort to publicize the accomplishments of club sports and their respective athletes, I was excited to see an article that addressed the reason that such a large portion of our campus has received little to no recognition. However, instead of receiving an answer to this issue, the article did little but remind me of my frustration with such an endeavor.
Club sports are, before anything else, clubs like any other group on campus. We meet, discuss issues and have trips to various venues. Instead of meeting with other schools or groups, we compete against them.
Similarly to other groups, we have our occasional highlights, and this is where Ms. Carter and the DTH staff have fallen deaf to our call. Club sports participants are athletes: student-athletes. Oftentimes, we pay out of our pocket for expenses such as hotels, car rentals and food. The whole time we struggle with this, we find time to play games, and some of us play well.
However, the greater UNC community has not been able to hear of such accomplishments. The Carolina Team Handball Club has sent representatives to international competitions in Brazil, Iceland, France and, most recently, Atlanta. We play with and against some of the world's elite players at our competitions and consistently interact with these players, accomplishments that not many of Carolina's varsity athletes can claim.
Yet, for every one of the releases we have sent, the DTH has not had the courtesy to respond to let us know they have received them, let alone to bring them to press. I can only speak for the group that I know, but I am sure you can just imagine the type of accomplishments that club sports athletes have made. These are achievements that are both a part of sports and a part of our larger society. These are real accomplishments by real people.
Club sports has not asked the DTH to cover all of our events. There are far too many and too wide of a range of venues for this to be possible.
What we have asked, though, is for the DTH not to exclude us and our accomplishments simply because we are not "varsity," "money," or whatever caliber athletics that the DTH wishes to cover. The DTH needs to recognize that we are members of the UNC community before anything else. As well, we are members of the said community doing many dynamic and applaudable actions. Ms. Carter has noted that a change is on the horizon, and I applaud her vision. She notes that "The sports desk still isn't going to cover club sports, but that doesn't mean this paper is going to continue to ignore the efforts of hundreds of UNC students." Sadly, this is exactly what has happened to the thousands of past and present members of sports clubs that have had significant, newsworthy accomplishments. If the DTH insists that it will "treat the (sports) clubs like most clubs on campus and cover them as such," it is past time for them to do so.
Until then, Ms. Carter, et al, you will be receiving many more e-mails and letters from us.
Myles Bacon
Junior
International Studies
President-elect
Sports Clubs Council
