The Thunderbird Sports Clubs just added five new teams to their roster for the 2016-2017 season. The quidditch, water polo, cycling sport, dragon boat and equestrian teams will all be making the switch from AMS Club to Thunderbirds Sports Club (TSC).
The TSC, which was launched in September 2015, represents UBC sports teams that are officially sanctioned by UBC, but are non-varsity sports. Before the expansion this year, the TSC represented 12 teams from a wide spectrum of sports including ultimate frisbee and alpine skiing.
“It's an opportunity for AMS clubs to get involved with athletics, differentiate themselves from the recreational side of things and pursue a competitive stream,” explained Olivia Yung, sport club coordinator.
To become a sports club, teams must compete in a non-CIS and non-NAIA league, must be student run and based at UBC, and must be financially self sustaining. In return, UBC helps with marketing, provides coach honorariums and national championship travel subsidies.
“What Thunderbirds Sports Clubs does is fill the void between just regular clubs and varsity. For people who aren't varsity level or don't want to be, but still want to play competitively, this fills that middle ground,” said UBC Quidditch president Elizabeth Benoy. “We're really happy to be getting an opportunity to develop our club, try something new and help develop our sport in the region and in Canada.”
For the quidditch team, being a TSC team will allow them to travel more easily to competitions and helps solidify them as a real team for real athletes.
For UBC's dragon boat team, being accepted into the TSC will help them grow as a club and continue to increase the presence of their sport in Western Canada.
“It solidifies that dragon boating — despite it being a young sport — is being recognized as something that students can go to to be a competitive student athlete,” said Kan Cheung, team president. “Having that TSC status will really help us move forward in trying to solidify the presence [of dragon boating] on the West Coast."
TSC teams have competed in a variety of local and national competitions this year with the sailing team coming second at nationals and both the alpine and cross country ski teams competing in Western Canada championships.
“The plan right now is to still expand. It's an application process — any clubs that are interested in joining the stream can apply starting in the fall.” said Yung.