San José State club sports has been hit with a loss of funding.
SJSU club sport is overseen by the Student Union, Inc. which is a non-profit that maintains three facilities at SJSU, according to the SJSU website.
Club sport athletes compete at the intercollegiate level where athletes have the opportunity to play against teams all across California and the entire nation.
Business administration senior Erik Rodriguez, president of Men's Lacrosse, said he has first-hand experience in understanding the importance of having funding.
“It goes towards team equipment such as helmets, gloves and pinnies,” Rodriguez said. “Additionally, it will go towards team transportation and lodging during away trips.”
The SJSU Men’s Lacrosse club team had a successful season in 2023 making it into the Western Collegiate Lacrosse League and finishing their season as semi-finalists, according to an annual report from the Student Union.
For the 2022-23 semesters, the Student Union expenses totaled up to $12,203,144. Only 7% of these expenses came from club and intramural sports programs, according to the same annual report.
The Student Union’s revenue totaled up to $13,229,912, which left $1,026,768 in net gain, according to the same report.
Rodriguez said the Student Union also received less allocation compared to the previous season.
“We saw a loss of $2,000 compared to (a total of) $16,400 we received last year,” Rodriguez said. “This is a huge blow.”
Rodriguez said along with funds allocated by the school, club sports charged their athletes dues to help cover more expenses.
He said dues are an athlete’s membership fees to be a part of a club sport. These fees typically cover tournament registrations, traveling expenses and merchandise.
“Our team will have to raise player dues, which is unfortunate since SJSU Lacrosse historically keeps dues low,” Rodriguez said. “We will have to make cuts on some things such as new shot clocks and new player equipment downgrades.”
Marketing sophomore Nathan Engelbertson said Spartan Wrestling will have to raise money to maintain the club.
“Previously, we raised funds through amazing alumni and club dues,” Engelbertson said. “This year, we are hosting fundraising events at local restaurants and any funds we generate at our tournament.”
Engelbertson said the budget cut has already negatively impacted the team because the team may not be able to go to some competitions this year.
“With a larger budget we would compete in more tournaments, and afford to pay our coaches to train us longer,” said Engelbertson.
Biomedical engineering sophomore Gabriela Mora, treasurer for the Women's Water Polo noticed the budget is what they expected.
“When we had our budgeting meeting, we were granted what we had asked for,” Mora said.
For the 2024-25 season, Women’s Water Polo is recognized as a club sport in SJSU.
“We are still trying to plant our roots and get in touch with the league that we are a part of,” Mora said. “Most of our budget goes towards our league fee, (which) is one of the biggest things that we need to pay for.”
Director of Spartan Recreation Ryan Fetzer, was contacted but did not comment in time for publishing.
“Beyond the finances, we are excited for our season to start and see how far our team can go this year,” Rodriguez said.
