Earlier this semester ETSU graduate Jesse O’Hatnick sent a letter to the East Tennessean to express his concerns about the cycling club he had been a part of during his time here.
Jon Walker, director of Campus Recreation, said that the university provides the team with the maximum amount of money that has been allotted to those types of programs.
When O’Hatnick first came to ETSU in 2003 he said that there was no formal sports club program. It was in his first year that he helped start up a cycling club at ETSU. The club still operates today and Walker said has plans to host another fall race in 2008. O’Hatnick said it is expensive to keep the club operating and entered in competitions.
To illustrate just how much money goes into upkeep, O’hatnick said that last fall it took about $20,000 for the club’s traveling expenses, entry fees, maintenance of trails, etc. Of this, the university provided $3,000.
Walker said that this is as much money as the school can give to an individual club sport. This money comes from the school activity fee that all students pay. Not only does this money aid club sports, it also pays for the entertainment brought each semester as well as equipment for the CPA. “We want to provide the best possible experience for the largest number of students,” he said.
ETSU looks at the cycling club as a good leadership program, both O’Hatnick and Walker said. The biggest reason that it does not receive a larger amount of money from the school is because it is not an NCAA-sanctioned sport like basketball or tennis.
Walker has looked at the amount of money many other universities provide their club sports with and he said that $3,000 is comparable.
“We give our best possible support in the budget and advice,” Walker said.
Walker referenced Harvard’s crew team. It too, he said, is a club sport that obviously functions well and has plenty of funding. This, though, is not due to the university supplying it with money – the program is supported by alumni.
The ETSU cycling club also has to have outside money. Fundraising is a must to keep to club going. One of the ways they earn money for the club is by hosting a fall race and charging for it. For last year’s race, O’Hatnick said that the club raised about $4,000.
With the $3,000 the university provides, Walker said that the cycling club can do what they want with it to help the club.
O’Hatnick said that he thinks hiring on a coordinator would help the team very much.
Walker is not opposed to this. He said that there are paid coaches for club sports in the country but that none of them are paid directly by the university.
They are employed by the club itself and make their money through alumni support and fundraising.
If the cycling club wanted to take some of the money that the school provides the team with to pay a coach, Walker said that would be their choice.
The cycling club travels to a number of different places around the nation each season for eight different races, including nationals.
In the past they have competed in North Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and Georgia. Last year’s race that was hosted by the ETSU club set a record attendance for a conference race in the Southeast.
“It’s a strong program,” said O’Hatnick.
On top of competing and fundraising, the club members also put in between 200 and 300 hours of personal time annually to keep up their cycling trail at ETSU.
The team is still working to raise money for next fall and seasons to come.

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