Club sports are a topic of discussion for both high school athletes and college recruiters.  With over 460,000 collegiate athletes, an overwhelming majority will say they participated in club sports.   

There are some claims there is a paywall certain groups must jump over to be recognized by colleges and if it is healthy for a teenager.  Two Wayne State College athletes, sophomore volleyball player Elly Larson and senior softball player Kortney Buresh, played club sports and high school.   

Club sports come with fees for trying out, equipment, travel and meal fees.  Families who are unable to afford these fees are unable to give their child the exposure a family who is unable to find the funds for clubs.  

“I don’t have an exact number for you, but my parents put a lot of time and money,” Buresh said. “You could have weekends where you would stay at hotels.  I would say thousands of dollars.” 

The amount of time put into club athletics is something some people are not aware of.   

“You are pretty much play softball from indoor tournaments beginning in February to tournaments going into August so it’s a time commitment,” Buresh said. 

After listening to Larson’s story from Wahoo, Nebraska to WSC, the process she went through is different than a football player or basketball player.   

“I never was looking at anyone in high school until going into my junior year of high school,” Larson said.  

 For an athlete to get recruited in volleyball, Larson said coaches will scout players who play on club teams.  Club teams are teams a high school player can play on, usually hand-picked by the coaches of those teams, who want to compete at a higher level than varsity athletics.  

Larson raises a fair point. In a study done by the NCAA, 91% of all volleyball players in college competed in varsity and club volleyball.  This is a similar trend between most women’s sports with over half of all women’s sports included in the study competing in club sports.   

“Compared to other sports, volleyball recruits very early on,” Larson said. “These days, college coaches are looking at sophomores, freshmen, and I’ve even heard of some middle schoolers getting scouted.” 

Most athletes do participate in both high school and club sports.  In both men’s and women’s basketball, according to the NCAA, over 90% of athletes compete at the high school and club level.  The only sport athletes compete only at the high school level is track and field for both men’s and women’s, golf, and football.   

However, this is not to put down a high schooler from competing in club sports.  If you are planning to play sports in college, participating in club sports is essential.  

“Our club director would help so we would have been recruited,” Larson said. “They set up our film in a website and I could like a school and they could see that I liked them.” 

Larson and Buresh agreed recruiting is more effective in club sports than high school sports.   

“You are playing against the top players from other states,” Buresh said. “I played against players who were committed to division one schools and those coaches would be watching them, but they would watch me too.”   

“I saw how much improvement I had and were able to bring back to our high school team,” Larson said. “Some of my friends even did it with me.”   

Club sports are what most high school athletes compete in.   The exact period varies depending on the sport.  For softball, the season lasts over six months and flows into the high school softball season.  In order to compete in club sports, there are some sacrifices one must make.   

“If you are in a club sport and want to play at the next level you have to miss out on some stuff,” Buresh said. “There was a lot I had to miss out on.” 

Club sports are becoming the main way a high school athlete tries to move to the collegiate level and get recognized.  Inherently, there is nothing wrong about club sports. 

“It’s just how you personally look at it,” Buresh said. “Value yourself more than your sport.  It can be unhealthy, but you have to look at in-depth and take a look at yourself.”