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Sport Clubs Benefitting Duke Students
5/13/2016 12:42:00 PM | Athletics
DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University's Recreation and Physical Education department provides students on campus with an opportunity to participate in a variety of sport clubs each semester, as 37 separate teams were made available during the 2015-16 academic year. Comprised of approximately 1,300 students, the organization is the second largest student group on campus, allowing individuals to develop relationships with other students, while also establishing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle and developing transferable life skills. As Duke's Sport Clubs continue to thrive in Durham, members of the recreation and physical education department recently met with Jim and Audrey Gorter to discuss the successes of sport clubs from this past season, as well as the future vision of the program.
The Gorter family established an endowment 28 years ago in memory of former sport clubs and ice hockey president Kevin Gorter, who tragically passed away in a car accident shortly after his graduation from Duke in 1987. Kevin's parents, who recognized the benefits club sports afforded students at Duke, remain staunch supporters of the program and annually provide generous donations in honor of Kevin. Motivated by a conversation Kevin once had with his father, the gift provided by the Gorter family offers sport clubs with additional funding that helps cover costs beyond the daily expenses incurred by each organization.
During his playing career, Kevin helped guide Duke's club ice hockey team to the national tournament. The excitement of punching a ticket to the national competition was overshadowed only by the question of where the funding would come from to make the trip a reality for the team members. Jim Gorter, in an effort to alleviate the stress and additional burden of Kevin's team trying to find the necessary funding, volunteered to donate money to the men's hockey program. With this in mind, the Gorter family has continued to provide a substantial gift to club teams at Duke for postseason travel.
In addition to the Gorter family endowment, Duke Sport Clubs have continually increased their fundraising efforts over the years. A majority of clubs participated in a letter writing campaign this past academic year, with over 300 donors contributing $250,000. Successful fundraising has allowed the sport clubs at Duke to decrease the dues students pay out of pocket. This funding also creates opportunities for students to gain the myriad benefits afforded individuals who participate in club sports, while keeping the initial cost of participation relatively low. As Mike Forbes, Director of Sport Clubs and Risk Management at Duke states, providing an affordable outlet for Duke students to participate in healthy activities is paramount in their personal development.
“There's always the benefit of relaxation release,” Forbes said. “Duke students are under enormous pressure to be the best at everything they do, especially academically. They have high expectations placed on them by their parents, their peers, their counselors, their neighbors. We offer a place where they can release that tension through sports. Ninety percent of our participants were athletes in high school, so they are looking for an outlet to continue that passion.”
The tension release through competition can also take students to new and interesting venues. One of the most unique opportunities provided by Duke's Sport Clubs is the chance for students to participate in a “dream trip” experience, which recently allowed 12 teams to compete at a variety of locations, including five international sites. Seventeen members of the running club traveled to Rome, Italy, while the martial arts club made a trip to Seoul, South Korea. The rugby and men's soccer programs travelled to the Bahamas and Trinidad, respectively, and the field hockey club rounded out the international competitions by participating in contests held in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In addition to the five international locations, seven other club programs - ski and snowboard, men's volleyball, men's rowing, men's ultimate frisbee, women's ultimate frisbee, women's lacrosse and outing - hit the road for various intracontinental competitions across the United States, including Telluride, Colo., Los Angeles, Jacksonville, Fla., Morgan Hill, Calif., Santa Barbara, Calif., and Bend, Ore. Involvement in these particular sport clubs allow students to explore and become immersed in new cultures not only across the country, but also throughout the world.
“The men's soccer team in Trinidad and Tobago completed clinics,” Forbes said. “Previously, the baseball team has gone to the Dominican Republic and built dugouts for the local baseball teams. We try to have the students participate in civic engagement when it is possible.”
The personal development of those involved in sport clubs goes well beyond civic engagement opportunities, however. The clubs on campus are almost solely run by students, with the individuals on the teams developing the schedules, hiring the coaches, determining practice times and running the day-to-day operations of each team. Such responsibilities help students learn additional, transferable life skills that are applicable for future occupational endeavors.
“What we offer on top of [tension release] are leadership opportunities,” Forbes said. “I have a young lady this year who was in charge of the Ski Club. They had a $175,000 budget, so she was running a small organization with 75 kids. It gives them an opportunity to be more than just students. They can be leaders and business people. We look at it as a living laboratory to be leaders.”
In addition to success on the playing surface, students who participate in club sports on campus are equally proficient on the academic side. At the conclusion of the fall semester, all 37 teams owned a GPA of 3.29 or higher, with the average sitting at 3.51. The Dancing Devils led all teams with a GPA of 3.70.
Sport clubs at Duke also are dedicated to creating a safe competition environment for its participants, as evidenced by the recent addition of concussion testing. During the 2015-16 academic year, ten teams completed the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Test (ImPACT), which provided additional information to assist in identifying and correctly diagnosing concussions if such an event were to occur in competition.
“Concussion testing is a hot topic right now, from a safety and risk management point of view,” Forbes said. “If you have a high impact sport, you need to do it. [The testing] educates our coaches to be aware that if there is a head injury, to treat it seriously. The education of coaches teaches them to treat every injury seriously because they can have repercussions.”
The future looks bright for club sports at Duke. John Syme, a rising senior studying electrical engineering and a current member of the Duke club men's rowing team, was recently elected Sport Club President for the 2016-17 academic year. Applying the vision of cohesion, competitiveness and cash (through fundraising), Syme hopes the sport clubs program will continue to provide students at Duke with a wide range of activities to choose from, developing a community in the process.
“It's an opportunity for students to push their comfort zone and then work in a team environment that's competitive and fosters an interesting sense of community where everyone is working together,” Syme said. “[Sport clubs] bring a bunch of different people across campus together, which is one of my favorite things. It's a great time to mix with people who aren't in the same fraternity, sorority or major. You all work together for a common goal of sport, while having a good time doing it.”
With Syme preparing to take the reins of the Duke Sport Clubs, he hopes his three areas of focus can help promote its mission.
“There are a number of different organizations, so it would be nice to have these organizations, instead of being silos, mingling and forming one cohesive unit,” Syme said. “On the competitive side, I see our sport clubs repeating a lot of the success we had this past year. We want clubs to take more onus for their funding and have the ability to reach out to alumni networks, parents and other supporters and be able to fund the activities they want to do, as well.”
The success of sport clubs on Duke's campus is undeniable, and with the continued support of the Gorter family, the vision of Syme, and the invested interest of students on campus, the benefits of the programs will continue for years to come.
The Gorter family established an endowment 28 years ago in memory of former sport clubs and ice hockey president Kevin Gorter, who tragically passed away in a car accident shortly after his graduation from Duke in 1987. Kevin's parents, who recognized the benefits club sports afforded students at Duke, remain staunch supporters of the program and annually provide generous donations in honor of Kevin. Motivated by a conversation Kevin once had with his father, the gift provided by the Gorter family offers sport clubs with additional funding that helps cover costs beyond the daily expenses incurred by each organization.
During his playing career, Kevin helped guide Duke's club ice hockey team to the national tournament. The excitement of punching a ticket to the national competition was overshadowed only by the question of where the funding would come from to make the trip a reality for the team members. Jim Gorter, in an effort to alleviate the stress and additional burden of Kevin's team trying to find the necessary funding, volunteered to donate money to the men's hockey program. With this in mind, the Gorter family has continued to provide a substantial gift to club teams at Duke for postseason travel.
In addition to the Gorter family endowment, Duke Sport Clubs have continually increased their fundraising efforts over the years. A majority of clubs participated in a letter writing campaign this past academic year, with over 300 donors contributing $250,000. Successful fundraising has allowed the sport clubs at Duke to decrease the dues students pay out of pocket. This funding also creates opportunities for students to gain the myriad benefits afforded individuals who participate in club sports, while keeping the initial cost of participation relatively low. As Mike Forbes, Director of Sport Clubs and Risk Management at Duke states, providing an affordable outlet for Duke students to participate in healthy activities is paramount in their personal development.
“There's always the benefit of relaxation release,” Forbes said. “Duke students are under enormous pressure to be the best at everything they do, especially academically. They have high expectations placed on them by their parents, their peers, their counselors, their neighbors. We offer a place where they can release that tension through sports. Ninety percent of our participants were athletes in high school, so they are looking for an outlet to continue that passion.”
The tension release through competition can also take students to new and interesting venues. One of the most unique opportunities provided by Duke's Sport Clubs is the chance for students to participate in a “dream trip” experience, which recently allowed 12 teams to compete at a variety of locations, including five international sites. Seventeen members of the running club traveled to Rome, Italy, while the martial arts club made a trip to Seoul, South Korea. The rugby and men's soccer programs travelled to the Bahamas and Trinidad, respectively, and the field hockey club rounded out the international competitions by participating in contests held in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In addition to the five international locations, seven other club programs - ski and snowboard, men's volleyball, men's rowing, men's ultimate frisbee, women's ultimate frisbee, women's lacrosse and outing - hit the road for various intracontinental competitions across the United States, including Telluride, Colo., Los Angeles, Jacksonville, Fla., Morgan Hill, Calif., Santa Barbara, Calif., and Bend, Ore. Involvement in these particular sport clubs allow students to explore and become immersed in new cultures not only across the country, but also throughout the world.
“The men's soccer team in Trinidad and Tobago completed clinics,” Forbes said. “Previously, the baseball team has gone to the Dominican Republic and built dugouts for the local baseball teams. We try to have the students participate in civic engagement when it is possible.”
The personal development of those involved in sport clubs goes well beyond civic engagement opportunities, however. The clubs on campus are almost solely run by students, with the individuals on the teams developing the schedules, hiring the coaches, determining practice times and running the day-to-day operations of each team. Such responsibilities help students learn additional, transferable life skills that are applicable for future occupational endeavors.
“What we offer on top of [tension release] are leadership opportunities,” Forbes said. “I have a young lady this year who was in charge of the Ski Club. They had a $175,000 budget, so she was running a small organization with 75 kids. It gives them an opportunity to be more than just students. They can be leaders and business people. We look at it as a living laboratory to be leaders.”
In addition to success on the playing surface, students who participate in club sports on campus are equally proficient on the academic side. At the conclusion of the fall semester, all 37 teams owned a GPA of 3.29 or higher, with the average sitting at 3.51. The Dancing Devils led all teams with a GPA of 3.70.
Sport clubs at Duke also are dedicated to creating a safe competition environment for its participants, as evidenced by the recent addition of concussion testing. During the 2015-16 academic year, ten teams completed the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Test (ImPACT), which provided additional information to assist in identifying and correctly diagnosing concussions if such an event were to occur in competition.
“Concussion testing is a hot topic right now, from a safety and risk management point of view,” Forbes said. “If you have a high impact sport, you need to do it. [The testing] educates our coaches to be aware that if there is a head injury, to treat it seriously. The education of coaches teaches them to treat every injury seriously because they can have repercussions.”
The future looks bright for club sports at Duke. John Syme, a rising senior studying electrical engineering and a current member of the Duke club men's rowing team, was recently elected Sport Club President for the 2016-17 academic year. Applying the vision of cohesion, competitiveness and cash (through fundraising), Syme hopes the sport clubs program will continue to provide students at Duke with a wide range of activities to choose from, developing a community in the process.
“It's an opportunity for students to push their comfort zone and then work in a team environment that's competitive and fosters an interesting sense of community where everyone is working together,” Syme said. “[Sport clubs] bring a bunch of different people across campus together, which is one of my favorite things. It's a great time to mix with people who aren't in the same fraternity, sorority or major. You all work together for a common goal of sport, while having a good time doing it.”
With Syme preparing to take the reins of the Duke Sport Clubs, he hopes his three areas of focus can help promote its mission.
“There are a number of different organizations, so it would be nice to have these organizations, instead of being silos, mingling and forming one cohesive unit,” Syme said. “On the competitive side, I see our sport clubs repeating a lot of the success we had this past year. We want clubs to take more onus for their funding and have the ability to reach out to alumni networks, parents and other supporters and be able to fund the activities they want to do, as well.”
The success of sport clubs on Duke's campus is undeniable, and with the continued support of the Gorter family, the vision of Syme, and the invested interest of students on campus, the benefits of the programs will continue for years to come.
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