2008 Woodie Awards
Club Sports: 2008 brings team revival
Amara Grautski
Issue date: 4/7/08 Section: Sports
In 2006, Northeastern's club tennis team had fallen apart. It was hard enough getting players to commit to a match - forget about winning.
But 2008 is a new year, and the latest breed of Huskies has ambition in its blood.
Eight men and women from the club tennis team will head to nationals in Cary, N.C., later this month. The club gained a wild card slot despite losing to Brown University in the regional competition. A national title would mean even more to the coachless Huskies, who have taken pride in being a student-run team.
"When we go to tournaments, most of the clubs have coaches, but we didn't have a coach," said Fiona Donegan, a freshman on the team.
Donegan said although the students run the practices themselves, everyone takes them seriously.
"We get a lot done. We don't just fool around in practice," she said. Donegan paused before adding, "Well, I mean, sometimes we do."
Sophomore club member Tim McIvor said being student-run motivates the team.
"It kind of makes it feel like, you know, we're doing this all on our own and there's a lot of pride to it and … more enthusiasm from it," he said.
Scott Seiffer, a sophomore and vice president of the team, helps organize practices and is also responsible for finding funding for the trip to nationals.
"For all club sports, there's $10,000 if you make the national tournament," Seiffer said.
However, that amount is a bit misleading, he said.
"Of course, that's split up among all 40 club teams that qualify for nationals, and most of them have bigger budgets," Seiffer said. "Their nationals are more expensive, in that they're bringing more people or they're farther away."
The team got the rest of its funding from the United States Tennis Association (USTA), which helped pay for airfare and hotel expenses.
Although often referred to as one of the team captains, Seiffer, who believes much of the team's success comes from working as equals, was quick to dismiss the title.
But 2008 is a new year, and the latest breed of Huskies has ambition in its blood.
Eight men and women from the club tennis team will head to nationals in Cary, N.C., later this month. The club gained a wild card slot despite losing to Brown University in the regional competition. A national title would mean even more to the coachless Huskies, who have taken pride in being a student-run team.
"When we go to tournaments, most of the clubs have coaches, but we didn't have a coach," said Fiona Donegan, a freshman on the team.
Donegan said although the students run the practices themselves, everyone takes them seriously.
"We get a lot done. We don't just fool around in practice," she said. Donegan paused before adding, "Well, I mean, sometimes we do."
Sophomore club member Tim McIvor said being student-run motivates the team.
"It kind of makes it feel like, you know, we're doing this all on our own and there's a lot of pride to it and … more enthusiasm from it," he said.
Scott Seiffer, a sophomore and vice president of the team, helps organize practices and is also responsible for finding funding for the trip to nationals.
"For all club sports, there's $10,000 if you make the national tournament," Seiffer said.
However, that amount is a bit misleading, he said.
"Of course, that's split up among all 40 club teams that qualify for nationals, and most of them have bigger budgets," Seiffer said. "Their nationals are more expensive, in that they're bringing more people or they're farther away."
The team got the rest of its funding from the United States Tennis Association (USTA), which helped pay for airfare and hotel expenses.
Although often referred to as one of the team captains, Seiffer, who believes much of the team's success comes from working as equals, was quick to dismiss the title.
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