The focus at UCSC is obviously not on athletics seeing as how the University doesn’t even have a football team. The gym is rather small, and the teams don’t draw huge crowds. The fields, however, have the best view of perhaps any practice area in the country. It is an unusual day when you don’t see students on the field playing soccer and running around the track while taking in the gorgeous ocean views. Newcomers to the campus are sure to “ooh and ahh” over the athletic fields, but the students here denote the playing fields as simply “a view.” The Banana Slugs are not widely known for their school spirit or their school pride.
However, club and intramural sports are very popular on campus. There are many sports clubs, which are between varsity sports and IMs in terms of commitment and competition levels. There are strong clubs for ultimate Frisbee, rugby, cycling, baseball, men’s soccer, equestrian, and more. Clubs are for people who love the sport, yet don’t want athletics to take over their lives. There is an enormous intramural program at UCSC, and on any given Friday afternoon, the beautiful fields are packed with students. The leagues fill up quickly, so you have to register your team early or else file to be a “free agent” who could get called by teams that need extra people. While varsity sports are not an emphasis at UCSC, there is still a large interest in recreation. A major problem with putting athletic programs on the back-burner is that there is the lack of outside funding. Even at the varsity level, teams have to do major fundraising to help their team survive. For club sports, players have to pay for their own uniforms, transportation, and so on. Playing intramurals costs money, as well. However, most students who are involved in any sort of athletic activity in Santa Cruz generally seem to think it is worth the money.
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Athletics at University of California - Santa Cruz
Athletics at University of California - Santa Cruz
hgustafs
Environmental and Marine Sciences '13
3.1
B-
Eh
Santa Cruz isn't really known for our athletics though the rugby and tennis are fairly good.
May 07, 2012
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Athletics at University of California - Santa Cruz
F
There Are No Athletics at UCSC
There are no athletics at UCSC. There is no school spirit. Athletes are looked down upon by the rest of the campus. There is no football team. We are the Banana Slugs for goodness sake.
Feb 22, 2012
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User rating for University of California - Santa Cruz - Athletics is
2.3 out of 5
based on 33 user reviews.
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