Monday, October 5, 1998
Most dedicated Bruin athletes aren’t football, basketball
stars
COLUMN: Club team participants must deal with difficult task of
gaining respect for sport, in addition to staying competitive
Two years ago, on a muddy intramural field in the middle of
February, I met the most dedicated UCLA athletes I have come
across.
No, it was not the football or soccer teams (even though both
squads practice and play at the highest level of competition).
These players on the IM field exemplified something about sports
which is sometimes forgotten in the professional ranks.
These players play for no glory.
These players play for the feel of victory and camaraderie.
They play for the sacredness of the individual sport.
They play to retain the integrity of the athlete’s heart.
These players were on the lacrosse team.
I had just received the club beat for the Daily Bruin and
thought I had been sentenced to another level of Dante’s Inferno,
but I carried out my assignment and it took me to the IM field.
Rain was slowly falling from the heavens and there they were,
hustling, running, smashing into each other.
Blood slowly dripped from the corner of one player’s eye, but he
paid no mind as he continued to bash, and when practice ended he
gave the person who caused the blood to pour a high five.
Rain was no problem as the sweat from each player created more
moisture than the darkened clouds.
After practice each player was more than willing to talk about
lacrosse, but none talked about any individual achievement. It was
all about teamwork.
At UCLA, sports such as lacrosse fall from the fabric of Bruin
society. Club teams are deemed less important, but these club
players represent all that is holy about sports.
Their Bible is playing the sport for fun and to play to the top
of their game. Rather than play for the financial rewards that
athletes may reap in the future, most players realize that they
will never again play the organized sport once they graduate.
Hell, the crew members get up at four in the morning and drive
to the Marina Aquatic Center to practice and return before any of
us have woken up. The cycling team must pay for traveling, and UCLA
has had the national champion in collegiate cycling the last two
years.
The ultimate frisbee team must contend with gaining respect and
paying for travel as well.
True, each club team receives a small amount of money from the
Wooden Center, but for lengthy travel the money ends up coming deep
from the players’ pockets. The lacrosse and rugby teams travel from
San Diego to San Francisco to compete, and it puts a dent in the
pocketbook.
However, no complaints arise from the club teams as the players
play for their own personal gratification, not for status.
This is what sports should be about, professionally and at the
college level.
This is what the Home Run Race, Kerry Woods, David Wells’
perfect game and the postseason has brought back to baseball. No
team has bought their way to the front, like the Florida Marlins.
Rather, each team has paid their dues and have won the
old-fashioned way: pitching and clutch hitting.
For this same reason, the NBA may lose a big batch of their
fans. Why wait for a sport where the players do not play because of
a monetary difference? Where the average salaries are in the six
figures, the love for the sport should drive the professional
athlete to continue.
If varsity sports are the brains and money of UCLA, then club is
the heart and soul.
The intramural field is the hidden gem of Bruin lore. It’s where
a passerby can see frisbees fluttering about, where scrums abound,
and where laughs and passion go hand in hand.
These club teams are very well put together, as evidenced by the
UCLA ice hockey team. They, as many club teams, have hired a
full-time coach to improve their skills. Before the Bruins were a
laughing stock, but now they can draw even with the big boys from
up north.
This is what UCLA clubs are about. This is who you see late in
the evenings running around on the IM field.
These players know that only their relatives and friends will be
standing up with them during the national anthem because there is
no publicity. But they still stand tall with pride.
I just thought I would reintroduce the UCLA campus to some of
the real sports stars who get forgotten. The athletes who make
sports what they should ideally be: sports.
Rocky Salmon is a football beat writer who is buying his Padres
World Series tickets now so he can watch them beat the Indians.
Email him at [email protected] Rocky Salmon
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© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board