What do Senior Shannon Henderson, 7th grader Beau Kunzelman, Junior Chyanne Lindquist, 8th grader Remington Christie, Sophomore Emma Monaghan, and Freshman Alexa Satkowiak all have in common? It isn’t that they are all a part of a school team, but that they are all a part of a club team.
Whether it is referred to as Amateur Athletics Union (AAU), travel, or club, many middle and high school athletes participate in athletics on their own time and school coaches are seeing the benefits of it. Varsity volleyball coach Christina Villegas sees the impact of exposure to different coaching philosophies, additional training methods, and higher competition levels.
“Within my sport, I have noticed a growth of volleyball IQ. Not only having more tools, but knowing when to use them,” Villegas said.
Erin Schutes, owner of Livingston County Wildcats (LCWC), coaches four volleyball teams during club season. LCWC has 11 teams in total. Schutes was also a previous JV and Varsity coach at Skyline High School in Ann Arbor. She, too, believes that club sports can have life-changing effects on student-athletes.
“Kids use sports as their escape from tough home situations, difficulties with learning, and various other things all the time. Club offers them an outlet and the opportunity to create relationships and lifelong friendships,” Schutes said.
Although club sports have many benefits, they are not all positive. Club sports can have different rules from school sports. This can cause confusion between athletes, coaches, referees, and parents. Junior Infinity Bills plays school volleyball at Stockbridge and plays club volleyball for LCWC and she has witnessed this confusion firsthand.
Statistics shown by the Evanstonian proved that in 2018 87% of high school graduates who decided to play college sports after high school participated in a club sport before graduation. In addition, at Stockbridge, there are 13 boys on the undefeated eighth grade basketball team. Out of those 13, eight of them played a club sport at some point in their life.
“Club has an impact on younger athletes so the talent at schools is higher at a much younger age,” Schutes said.
“At a tournament, this one coach and another coach were going at it with each other because there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the rules,” Bills said.
Club athletics are also very time consuming. Some tournaments are held for three days, starting on Friday. This causes athletes to miss school. Club sports continue throughout the summer as well. Freshman Ava Lucas plays both high school and club softball.
“It takes up a lot of time and a lot of summer, but that’s what I want to be doing,” Lucas said.
Not only do athletes have to find the time to participate in club sports, but they also have to travel to get to club facilities.
“Geographically, Stockbridge athletes have choices to find club teams that meet their needs. The only disadvantage is sometimes it comes with a travel requirement,” Villegas said.
Club sports can also become a financial burden. In order to play club sports, athletes are required to pay to be a part of the team. Many times this includes paying for equipment tournament fees, uniform cost, travel expenses, etc. According to Project Play in 2023, 43.5% of children ages 6-17 play a sport when raised in a household thats average yearly income is over $100,000 a year. When raised in a household with an average yearly income of less than $25,000 a year that number is at 25.1%. Junior Tayla Trapp is concerned that club sports do not provide all athletes with the same opportunities due to lack of money.
“Not all people have the opportunity to play because you have to pay money,” Trapp said.
