Club Sports: Underappreciated Student-Athletes
A chat with Jack Glen, president of U-M’s men’s club ice hockey team
—By Sam Farber
Lexington, Kentucky: 2:30 AM: Sunday, February 3rd, 2024: The final buzzer sounds as the University of Michigan’s Division II men’s club ice hockey team is defeated by the University of Kentucky by a score of 4-1. The players on the Michigan team weren’t happy with their performance that night, as they knew that this Kentucky team was one they could beat. Making a six-hour drive just to lose a game isn’t necessarily fun for everyone, but according to Jack Glen, team President, almost all of the players would be willing to do it again the next weekend.
Club hockey is a different world from the sports we normally associate with NCAA Division I schools such as Michigan, with luxury buses and facilities. U-M’s club team is part of the Tri-State Collegiate Hockey League of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA), which is not affiliated with the NCAA. Throughout the fall and winter, the club hockey team travels every two to three weekends to play games. Usually, when they don’t have to travel very far, the team splits into small groups and drives themselves in minivans that they rent from the university. But for longer journeys, they travel together in a bus, which they also pay for themselves. Glen said that the total expense for the team is around $100,000 a year, with most of the funding coming from the players.
Who is Jack Glen?
As an avid hockey player throughout his childhood and teenage years, Glen knew that he wanted to continue playing the sport he loved in college. NCAA Division I hockey programs such as U-M’s only accept the most exceptional players in the country, so Glen ruled that out. He knew that the level of competition in ACHA club hockey would be something he could keep up with. After he got into the University of Michigan, Glen was dead set on trying out for the team. He made the team his freshman year and became the president as a junior.
As a sports management major in the School of Kinesiology, Glen has found a way to combine his two passions. As the president of the team, he oversees the eight-member board and acts as a general face for the organization in anything they do. As a player on the team, he gets to play at a competitive level while representing the University of Michigan on his jersey.
Funding club hockey at U of M
Each member of the team has to purchase sticks, helmets, skates, pads, and jerseys with the block M on them. The team treasurer collects the annual dues from each player, which are then used for buying ice time at local rinks for their practices, travel expenses including transportation and hotel stays, paying their coaching staff, and paying to play in the ACHA Division II league. According to Glen, each player on the team had to pay $2,600 in dues to be on the team for the 2023-2024 season. Glen mentioned that there are a few other sources of revenue, as they get some gift money from alumni which was about $4,000 for the year. The team also gets a small amount of funding from the university athletic department.
Although the team does not receive much funding from the university itself, Glen said that university president Santa Ono “has covered the cost for all club sports facility rentals on campus, which is an amazing thing.” When the team is practicing or playing their games at Yost Ice Arena, they don’t have to pay for that ice time, but all of the practices and games that aren’t held at Yost are paid for by the team members.
Sacrifices worth making
Like the Division I sports teams at the University of Michigan, players on club teams sacrifice a significant amount of time and energy while representing the university wherever they play. Members of club teams are also paying meaningful amounts of money just to participate. Each player on the club hockey team has to try out for the team and is aware of its expenses. For some students, paying an extra $2,600 on top of their tuition, housing, and general living costs may deter them from joining.
Student-athletes of club sports teams that travel for half of their games often have to miss full days of class. Glen said that players on club sports teams “get an official absent note from club sports every time we’d have to miss class to travel.” Glen noted traveling for games throughout the season does not necessarily interfere with his academic success, but he does have to set aside a lot of time for it.
“Being on the club hockey team is a big commitment, but it’s definitely worth it,” said Glen. The team has allotted practice time on Monday and Wednesday nights every week during the season. Monday night practice goes from 10-11:30 PM, which makes it difficult for some players to regularly attend. Practice is not mandatory, but players who attend are rewarded with more playing time during their weekend games. The club hockey season starts at the beginning of the fall semester in September and extends through late February, with the possibility of going into March if the team has a good enough record to play in the nationwide tournament of the ACHA league.
Issues with traveling and university funding
The team often rents minivans from the university for their away games because that is the cheapest mode of transportation available. Students are responsible for driving these vans, which may pose a safety issue. Glen jokingly said that one time when he was driving in one of the university vans, he “drove to Cincinnati with the headlights turned off. ‘Stealth mode’ is what we call it.” The team frequently drives back to Ann Arbor from another city late at night because it is cheaper than staying in a hotel for an extra night. Club hockey games are typically played late at night because at Michigan and other schools that have multiple hockey teams, ice time at earlier hours is reserved for the Division I teams.
According to Tony Garcia of the Detroit Free Press, the University of Michigan athletic department “reported a $17.1 million operating surplus for the 2021-2022 fiscal year.” Most of this profit comes from football and men’s basketball, and the money is then used to fund other university-affiliated Division I programs that don’t generate enough revenue to cover their own expenses. Covering the cost of sports programs that aren’t profitable is something that the school does every year.
When asked if the university should cover all expenses of club sports teams or at least more of their expenses, Glen said, “I think there are probably steps to get to that point. I do think it should be done. I mean the school has an $18 billion endowment. It really wouldn’t be that much money overall to cover all the club sports costs.” It would be safe to say that members of all the club sports teams would agree with this statement.
An article from the Michigan Daily reported that the total club sports annual expenses add up to about $1.4 million, and that “the University only directly funds about 6%” of that total cost. Glen says that there is $80,000 each year which is divided across all club sports at the University of Michigan. Glen’s team received $4,000 of that, which he says they are grateful for, but he would like to see more money coming from the university athletics program.
When asked about the benefit that club sports teams bring to campus, Glen said, “I think it gives the general student body a chance to continue to play real sports. In club sports, anybody can try out, anybody can play.”
Feature Photo: Jack Glen, President of U-M Division II Men’s Club Ice Hockey, by Vinny Larson