Hofstra’s ultimate frisbee cub has waited a month to officially practice. // Photo courtesy of Jacob Lewis.
Several of Hofstra’s club sports teams reported that they have had difficulty holding official practices and games this semester due to a delay in the University paperwork that appoints the teams’ coaches.
Many teams, including both the men’s and women’s ultimate frisbee teams, the tennis club, the ice hockey team and the women’s rugby team, have experienced setbacks in holding official practices due to the delay.
Max Underhill, a senior television production major and one of the co-captains of the men’s club ultimate frisbee team, said the team submitted their practice request form at the end of August, and it was not approved until the last week of September. Underhill reached out to his supervisor to inquire why there was a delay. The response he received was that the human resources department had not filed or processed the paperwork.
“It’s hard to understand what that means,” Underhill said. “I just wish there was a little more communication … If they’re having trouble processing our paperwork, just be upfront with us and tell us what’s happening [and] if there’s any way we can help speed up the process.”
An official statement from Karla Schuster, the assistant vice president of University Relations, said, “Because of the additional [COVID-19] protocols, approval of clubs sports practice and competition schedules has taken a little longer than expected in some cases. In addition … many teams had to hire new coaches, who must undergo a background and vaccination check before teams begin operating.”
Giselle Rodas, a junior criminology major and captain of the women’s club ultimate frisbee team, had a somewhat similar experience to Underhill. Her club planned to have the same coach as the year before and she was unaware that they needed to re-approve the coach.
“They emailed me almost a month into the semester saying that [we] needed to re-request her as a coach,” Rodas said, who added that their coach still came to practices, but was not receiving payment from the University.
Even though many of the club sports teams were not approved to have official practices until recently, some of them have been unofficially practicing on the intramural fields. According to Underhill, this has been challenging without a coach and without field lights.
“We’re all practicing and when it gets dark out, we have to wrap up,” Underhill said. “It’s hard to practice these sports in the dark.”
Underhill said that the team also had to miss a tournament because they were not approved to go.
“We were planning on going to a tournament and play games against other schools this past weekend, but we had to cancel because Hofstra couldn’t approve our coach in time,” Underhill said. He added that the teams typically play about four tournaments each semester but will only be able to do two or three because of the delay.
Some teams are still waiting for approval from the University to host official practices and games.
“Our club is having the same experience as other club sports teams and we share similar frustrations about coaches still not being hired by the school,” said Alyea Wood, president of the club tennis sports team. “So, we are unfortunately unable to have official practices.”
Most of the teams had their coaches approved as the month of September ended, allowing them to hold official practices and tournaments. However, some still feel frustrated with the University for not signing the paperwork sooner.
“We care greatly about our sports and being a team,” Underhill said. “It’s unfortunate that Hofstra is having trouble recognizing that.”
