University of Texas Austin - Cactus Yearbook (Austin, TX)

rec. sports UTSCA, The Quiet Victories \A/ ithout varsity status or extensive University funding, sports clubs still found a way to flourish on campus. UT sports Club teams ranged from soccer to lacrosse, water polo to bowling and archery to wrestling. More than 1,000 individuals participated in 40 active sports clubs on campus. Forming a sports club was simple, perhaps account- ing for the large participation. All it took was a few interested people and a little time and energy. Clubs which ranged in nature from competitive to instructional to purely recreational were available. Funds for sports clubs came from department finances, membership dues, on-campus fundraising activities, off- campus donations and budget requests made through the Sports Club Associa- tion of the Division of Recreational Sports. Although sports clubs did not receive the funding enjoyed by varsity sports, there were still teams which excelled on the national level. The sailing team, hailed by Crusie Magazine and Yacht Racing Magazine as the country ' s best collegiate group, was a prime example. Competing against the varsity teams of the Merchant Marine Academy, Tulane, the Coast Guard Academy, Yale, Harvard and the Naval Academy, the UT team showed that varsity status and comfortable funding was not neces- sary to become nationally ranked. The sailing team competed in and won the Loop National Championships in Cleve- land with a score of 14 points, 8 points better than New York Maritime, which finished with 22 points. Another winning sports club which competed in out-of-town meets was the High Rollers basketball team, consisting of players in wheelchairs. " A lot of peo- ple around campus don ' t even know we exist, " Coach Charlie Dalrymple said of the High Rollers. Yet it was hard to ignore this unique basketball team. In the few years since it became a sports club, the High Rollers have emerged as one of the better wheelchair teams in Texas as well as one of the youngest. Although the season started rather slowly this year, the High Rollers were tied for first place with UT-Arlington after a tournament with UT-Arlington and Houston. The High Rollers ended their season in second place behind UT-Arlington. Although the High Rollers played bas- ketball mainly for enjoyment, the lacrosse team played with reckless abandon. Player-Coach Dave Cersonsky said, before the team ' s season opener with Texas A M, " Our attack men are killers and we have young midfielders with lots of wind . . . We have good feeders at attack and intimidating defense. " With many returning players, the lacrosse team was ready to oust defend ing SWLA college division champs Texa Tech. Although they took games from Oklahoma, Baylor, LSU and Texas A M A University of Texas student uses this gymnastics sports club practice to perfect his routine before a meet during the fall. . I 72 Recreational Sports