The Sport Clubs of Wayne State College are eagerly awaiting their return to their respective competitive field this fall.  The 2020 academic year, amidst the coronavirus pandemic, shut down all but one club from competition in the fall semester. Given the circumstances, the students turned their attention to recruitment and continued to hold the line, practicing, and growing their club numbers in the hopes of getting competitions in at some point down the road.  Overall, the club sports program grew, adding three clubs during the year - baseball, esports, and shotgun sports. 

During the fall of 2020, esports was the only club that was able to compete due to the low-risk nature of gaming.  Participants competed on campus, in the Den, while practicing social distancing and wearing face masks. The spring semester looked different, where the college allowed clubs to compete if their governing body or league allowed them to do so. This allowed baseball, men's rugby, men's volleyball, shotgun sports, and women's rugby to get out and compete. For rugby, it was over a year since stepping foot on the pitch. Selma Taylor, a women's rugby player, felt devastated when their fall season was canceled. "We wanted to play for the seniors who didn't get to play their last game," Taylor said. Being able to play in the spring meant everything to her. With a limited competitive pool, their governing body, the National Collegiate Rugby, combined all divisions to create a league. Knowing this, Taylor knew they had a lot of work to do being the defending national champions in the small college division. Playing against division one programs, they were "more motivated to get things moving.  A lot of long nights and hard practices" Taylor said. "I felt blessed to be able to play another season."

Some other competitive clubs weren't so fortunate. "Everyone was bummed out that we couldn't compete," said Ryan Zoucha, the wrestling club president. "Last year was a building year for us as we only had two returning wrestlers from the year before." The year was not for waste as the program has found a new home for practices. Partnering with the Wayne Wrestling Club, the collegiate club will now have more space to train.  On top of the practice facility, the club purchased a new competition mat to host home duals throughout the year. To say the program is excited to return is an understatement. "We have a very young team this year", Zoucha said. "The bulk of our wrestlers will be freshman and sophomores who haven't yet had experience wrestling at the college level.  However, most of these wrestlers were very successful in their high school careers."

Wayne State College offers 11 sports clubs for all students to participate in.  If you are interested in joining a club, please fill out the interest form located under the 'Inside Recreation' tab on the right side. The mission of the Wayne State College club sports program is to engage the campus community to remain healthy and active by participating in sports.  Whether an experienced veteran or looking to try out something new, club sports are open for everyone to enjoy.  These student-led clubs, with the support of Recreation Services staff, offer opportunities to compete against other institutions, while maintaining a safe, inclusive environment.