Fun Children’s Network Volleyball Tournament.
Carley Tantlinger|Marlin Chronicle
Beach Volleyball Club
Club and intramural sports are a fundamental part of any college, especially for those who may not want to continue competing collegiately but still want to participate in athletics. Recently, beach volleyball has started to come onto the scene at Virginia Wesleyan. Though not an official club under VWU UREC, this club brings together people who love to play volleyball.
“Last year, some of us would just go and play beach volleyball for fun, and it just got me thinking about how we have the court but no one’s utilizing it, and so then I was just like, I’m going to try and do this,” junior Cara Caruso, leader of the beach volleyball club, said.
The club had its first meetup in early September and there were a decent amount of students that came out. Since the group is not an official club at the moment, most participants are coming out to just play volleyball, much like an open gym instead of anything structure based.
“It’s been a way bigger thing than I thought it was going to be,” Caruso said. She mentioned that other schools have volleyball clubs and that transitioning the club from a summer beach volleyball club to a winter indoor volleyball club is probably what she wants to do next.
“If we transition to indoor then we can actually get a club activated and start playing other schools,” Caruso said.
The National Collegiate Volleyball Federation (NCVF) sponsors a national championship for collegiate volleyball club teams. The championship is hosted every April, and before the championship, teams compete regionally against one another. There are also tournaments for summer volleyball that are typically hosted at the beach. With their eyes set on becoming an official club, there are opportunities to compete collegiately as a club. Caruso expressed that she is open to these ideas going forward.
“Not only is Beach Volleyball Club a good chance to learn a new sport, but it is also an opportunity to meet new friends,” Caruso said.
If anyone is interested in joining they can contact Cara Caruso or reach out via their instagram page @vwubeachvb.
Club Soccer
Featured Image: Senior Eric O’Dea, a member of VWU Club Soccer, has
possession of the ball during a game against
Old Dominion University. Emily Moody|Courtesy
Club soccer has always been a popular recreational activity for college students. In college, club soccer is typically made up of people who have either played soccer in high school or just like the sport but don’t want to play collegiate. At Virginia Wesleyan, Club Soccer has become popular as there are many students that have participated since it started last year.
“I played soccer all throughout high school and when I came here I didn’t want to keep playing super competitively, but it was kind of weird going from soccer every single day to no soccer at all. So, I talked to a bunch of people that sort of felt the same way and we wanted to build a club where we could all go out and play a couple of times a week without a real huge time commitment or skill requirement,” senior Ethan Labelle said.
The Club Soccer team is not restricted to only those who have played soccer. Labelle expressed that people of a variety of skill levels have come out to play with them and that if anyone has the desire to learn and beginner-level soccer experience, then they should come out.
Carley Tantlinger|Marlin Chronicle
The club practices two times a week and anybody can come out. For games, the club picks a couple of people to play as a team.
“All the teams we’re playing against are just men’s teams but we show up Co-ed. We sort of take who can come plus the best 17-18 people that will give us a chance to play. A lot of our games are kind of far away, so it’s hard,” Labelle said.
As mentioned, the club team does compete against other schools. Last year, their debut match was against Longwood University where the team lost 1-0. This year, they’ve played two games so far. Their first game was against Old Dominion University and the game ended in a tie 3-3. In the second game, they played against the University of Mary Washington and the team suffered a loss.
Going forward, Labelle mentioned expanding the club, into a men’s club team and a women’s club team. He said that women’s club soccer teams have reached out to them to try and schedule games, but they don’t have a full women’s team. “It would be cool to have those two separate teams, so we could schedule games and play friendlies,” Labelle said.
If anyone is interested in joining they can contact Ethan Labelle or reach out via their Instagram page @cs.marlins.
By: Shirell Washington
sawashington@vwu.edu
