Blog #5

Campus Recreation Programs

The National Club Baseball Association (NCBA) is the oldest and largest organization that operates under the parent organization, National Federation of Collegiate Club Sports Leagues, L.L.C. (CollClubSports).  CollClubSports is a compilation of governing bodies which oversee collegiate club athletics. They both fall under the Campus Recreation Programs type of modern leisure-service delivery system. In the above picture the different organizations that are under CollClubSports are all on display.  Most of the people I spoke with that were running the tournament had a variety of degrees but Recreation and Leisure Study degrees were the most common.  I spoke with one guy more than the rest and he said that he had been a former player that applied to the main office in Pittsburgh, PA and became a regional director.  On the CollClubSports website, they have there goal on their homepage. It says,  

"We are driven to provide collegiate student-athletes with the opportunity to participate in competitive, organized collegiate club athletic leagues, and to continually enhance this experience for all participants.

We strive to accomplish this by building lasting relationships based upon trust, commitment, dedication, understanding, and strong lines of communication.".

I was unfortunately unable to find the NCBA goal on its website but I can tell you from now being a former participant in of the ECU Club Baseball team, it has to be similar to that.  I had an unforgettable experience and truly gained another family.  I consider ever person I played with and coached a brother.

Commercial Recreation Enterprises (Tampa Bay Rays)

While in Tampa for the NCBA World Series, some of the guys and myself decided to drive over to St. Petersburg, FL to catch a baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays.  The above picture was from our original seats.  We paid $30 a piece, but later found out through other patrons that we would probably be able to walk around because of a low attendance average this season.  The picture below I took as we were leaving because we had to get back to Tampa to see one of the players participate in the home run derby.

I searched high and low on the MLB website as well as the Tampa Bay Rays website, but was unable to find a goal.  I can make an assumption and say its like other Commercial Recreation Enterprises and they want to provide a fun safe environment for people to come watch quality baseball and cheer on their favorite team while making a profit.  They definitely do that, I don't think I've ever heard of someone leaving a baseball game disappointed that they went to. Unless your favorite team looses of course.


I'm sure my comparisons are quite biased but I just have spent way more hours being involved and participating in the NCBA than a Major League Baseball game.  They both deal with recreation and leisure through baseball.  One difference I feel as though the people who work for NCBA have more passion just because its smaller and more hands on.  I'm not saying the people who work in the front office for the Rays don't have passion, but I helped numerous NCBA employees rush on to a field to put out a giant tarp.  Employees of both organizations get paid but, I feel that though the Rays provide a very important leisure service, the profits made are mainly for salaries.  When looking at job opportunities they're a lot more with a Major League Baseball team rather than the NCBA.

Campus Recreation Programs

CAMPUS RECREATION

-picture of the field before practice on May 22nd at The University of Tampa's Baseball Field

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I took this photo of the fence behind the first base dugout at The University of Tampa's baseball field.  I thought this might be a good way to show some of the Campus Recreation club sports.  In this picture they have a banner for club: baseball (division I & II), softball, track & field, and football. In the book it says that campus recreation is carried on within an educational setting and is designed to augment academic studies. This is true but at the same time, it has important responsibilities in terms of promoting the overall well-being of students, helping to reduce negative or destructive forms of play, extending and enriching academic learnings, and contributing to other college and university goals.

This picture shows the bracket of the tournament and was on the fence as soon as you walked in the gate.  If you look closely under the rankings, it shows  us (ECU) as the #1 seed.  Personally I felt that this left us at a disadvantage and put a target on our back.  We hadn't been in that situation all year, almost flying under the radar.

2014 NCBA World Series Day1 Game 2, #1 ECU vs #8 Wisconsin

The two pictures above were taking before our first game.

2014 NCBA World Series Elimination Game, #1 ECU vs #5 Texas, by far one of the best teams we have ever played against as a program.

This was the field the evening we were supposed to play Cal-Berkley, we had to meet the campus recreation employees early the next morning to help get the tarp off.  The people who ran the tournament worked their butt off for us. At the same time it seemed as if they shared the same passion to be out there that we as players and coaches did. 

2014 NCBA World Series Semi-finals (final four) #1 ECU vs #6 Cal-Berkley, this picture was taken during the national anthem. Its one of the few pictures that has all of the other coaches and I in it.

 We ended up losing to Cal-Berkley in the semi-finals.  It was a tough loss to take but as a program we took it off the chin with our heads raised high.  It is quite an accomplishment to be in the top four teams out of 126 club baseball programs.  This year was our second trip to the NCBA World Series in the past 4 years.  This just shows how strong our campus recreation programs are and hopefully the campus recreation employees are just as proud as we were.  The program wouldn't be where it is without the help of the campus recreation employees that help with the budgeting and making sure we had enough money for all of our trips and funds available for umpires, fields, and equipments.  They may be behind the curtain but I hope they know how much it means for the other guys and I to be able to still play, or in my case coach, the game/ sport we grew up playing and love soo much.  In my time at ECU the club team has been just one big family and has been absolutely essential in my development as a person and a student and this wouldn't have been possible without Campus Recreation.

2013-2014 ECU club baseball family photo