Did you know that there are over 50 sport clubs here at Ohio State? These are teams that are not affiliated with the NCAA, but still compete against nearby (or distant) schools, have their own conference and participate in challenging post-seasons. These club sports programs allows students to continue playing, even if they did not get the opportunity to play for the varsity team at their university or chose to avoid the serious commitment that comes with doing so. They provide a continuation of team unity that these athletes felt with their high school athletics and an opportunity to remain competitive without giving up an entire college experience to one sport.
In addition, 12 of these teams are made up solely of women, with many more being coed. While some of these teams have coaches and have a supervising board overseeing their operations, some of these teams are entirely student-lead. So in this new age of female empowerment, I want to highlight women who are managing their team and interacting with higher-ups at OSU and the organizations that oversee the entire operation of the sport across many schools. To be specific, this is a profile on Maddie Crew, the current President of Ohio State Club Softball.
Maddie is in her final year at Ohio State and has been a part of Club Softball for four years. In her years with Club Softball, she has held positions of Vice President and Apparel Chair all while in pursuit of a Security and Intelligence major and minors in Spanish and Criminology. This past year has been the most time-consuming, however. The major duties of the President is scheduling (opponents and field time), coaching the team, writing lineups and the overall management of team morale. These roles carry throughout the school year.
The involvement of Club Softball begins with the Fall Involvement Fair, which serves as the major recruitment of new players. Following that is tryouts and the initiation of practices. The team typically plays two to three series’ of games in the fall and two to three in the spring. All of these games factor into a record that could qualify the team for Regional competition and potentially Nationals later that spring. This amount of management can take up a lot of time in a student’s schedule, especially if things go awry. When asked what her overall experience has been with club sports, Crew responded:
“I had expected it to go a lot more smoothly than it has. It has been frustrating at times, which can happen with any role we have.”
However, she works to overcome so that the team is not deterred in the process. But still, even with the best intentions at heart, some of us still slip up which is why I asked Crew how she manages her responsibilities with the club and school.
“I have to make a schedule for myself and insure that I follow it very strictly because it can be easy to fall behind in both softball and school,” she said.
This is an example of a woman that took on her leadership role in a prepared and focused way. Determined to achieve the best for her team, Maddie Crew pushed herself to be responsible in juggling all of her responsibilities while playing every game with passion and desire to win. This is why it was no surprise when I asked her about her overall experience with Club Softball, she said, “It was the best decision that I ever made in college. I have met the most amazing people while also getting to play the game I love.”
So, if you’re sitting there reminiscing about the good old days and thinking about jumping back in to that sport you left behind, I encourage you to look into the Club Sports program at Ohio State. In fact, there are many current and past Club Sport athletes that will say the same, including Maddie Crew,
“Do it. Absolutely do it. I have had the time of my life.”
OSU Club Softball will be playing in their Regionals tournament April 20-22 in Annapolis, Maryland.
Pictured: Maddie Crew
Full disclosure: I am a member of the OSU Club Softball Team!
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