Club Sports FAQ

This is the most popular question at our first-year student orientation sessions. Intramural sports are leagues offered for Ferris State students only. These leagues generally last 4 weeks with one game per week, and a tournament at the end of the 4 week season. Club Sports are University recognized student organizations that are student-run and student-funded. Typically, these are year-round clubs that compete in intercollegiate competitions on a local, regional, and national scale.

Contact information for the individual clubs can be found by selecting the “Club Sports Directory” to the left of the page. Additional information can always be found by calling the Rec Sports Office at 231-591-5304 or emailing [email protected].

The Ferris State University Club Sports program gives each student an opportunity to take part in the leadership, responsibility and decision making process of club activities. The success of the Club is solely dependent on the organization, management, professionalism and leadership shown by the club officers, advisors and coaches. It is created for students, by students, under the supervision of the Assistant Director of Intramurals and Club Sports, and University Recreation staff. Club members nominate student officers who run the day-to-day operations, which include scheduling practices, activities and games, working with league and conference officials, making all travel arrangements, and the financial management of the club. Club Sport officers will develop transferable skills that employers value.

There are currently 30 active club sports at Ferris, and the diversity between clubs is one of the highlights and attractions to our program. Some of our clubs are strictly competitive, recreational, or instructional, while others offer some combination of instruction or recreation along with a competitive factor as well. For example, many clubs allow members the opportunity to practice at Ferris and the choice of whether or not to travel and compete in off-campus competitions. You don't need prior competitive experience, however it depends on the club and their members to decide who competes with the team. If a club decides to make this decision there will be tryouts held and they will have reasoning as to why they cut people based on their performance on the sport and nothing else.

Typically, yes there are some costs associated with joining a club sport. The University does provide funding. However, this usually does not cover the entire costs of club operations including travel, equipment, officials, and/or league fees. Many clubs charge annual dues in addition to fundraising and soliciting sponsorships and donations for their expenses. Dues vary depending on the club, and it is solely the decision of individual clubs on how much to charge its members.