UMaine club sports focus of Press Herald article
The Portland Press Herald published the article, “Club sports provide serious competition at UMaine.” According to the report, 619 students play on the 31 club sports teams at the University of Maine. The article featured the stories of club sport athletes including Samantha Frank, a wrestler; John Golder, who plays rugby; and Melissa May, a member of UMaine’s newest club team, water polo. “You have your varsity sports, they’re usually the top-tier sports at a university. Then intramural sports, which is just students playing against other students on campus. Sports clubs are the middle ground,” said Dale Russell, coordinator of UMaine’s sport clubs and youth programs. “Clubs can be just as competitive and just as serious as varsity sports.” Club sports at UMaine include traditional sports such as hockey, softball and volleyball, which compete nationally, but also unconventional options like badminton, fencing and crew, the article states. “Coming in as a freshman, I didn’t really know too many people. It’s a big school. So the team was like my friends and my family. It kind of brought me back to high school sports,” Frank said.