With primary focus on the team and regulation-level sports on campus, alternatives can be lost on the backburner. The club sports scene is something that many still have not been exposed to. For those in it, however, the experience provides the same kind of excitement with a vast difference in the required workload. One avenue of this can be found in our women’s club soccer team.

“I’m not the type of person that would put too much pressure on myself when I’m already stressed out about schoolwork,” said Sonya Mistry, a third-year player who joined the team in her first year. “I think club sports was a way for me to still enjoy the sport that I love without having all that weighted pressure.”

Student-athletes for the regular teams normally have to conform to NCAA scheduling and training regimens.

There are also other binding school priorities that can drain the average person in this context. Here, the ability to manage all of them is a lot lighter. They are inevitable: a student can’t escape them in this space. However, it is like a chain reaction, as a person can focus on the tasks at hand and bring their best to all of their environments.

The mindset for the team on the soccer field for practices and games is also shaped by how the team is governed on the part of its coach. For the past four years, Coach Bizila has served as the women’s club soccer team coach along with the role as an Interim Director of Sports & Fitness.

When attending the Club Sports Awards Banquet on May 7, a massive round of applause with chants of “Brittany” amplified the atmosphere in the Rockland Banquet Hall. The overwhelming display of praise and excitement filled up the room, and it was for a core reason. Everyone is human, and getting to the root of that makeup is what breaks that invisible barrier in the dynamic.

Bizila explained that her honesty and communication brought to the table are what allows her to foster true bonds with her players. She has done this through general approaches at practice where she may need help, and she also opens the path for 1-on-1 meetings and interviews throughout the season and at the end of the year.

“I feel like that’s been one of my goals is to really just be as communicative as I can be with them, being honest and upfront with them, and knowing my why with them definitely eases the tension and the stress for them,” Bizila said.

Her relatability with the players is something that takes work to build towards, and she’s been successful with it despite the small population of participants. It comes from a good place, as she herself played Division III soccer for Bethany College in West Virginia and also played in the NAIA for an Iowa program as a grad student.

With all of these things in mind, the players recognize that above all else, she’ll provide as much effort as possible. This mentality is then reciprocated on the playing surface as a part of the NIRSA conference.

Once that camaraderie is established, it becomes contagious in a sense. The chemistry spreads down amongst the players as they spend this time with each other building connections on and off the field. In turn, this can merge into other bonds formed at gatherings and dinners with other members of club sports.

Mistry cites that get-togethers of this kind truly allow them to exercise social connection with other players, including those from the men’s club soccer team.

“We’ve created really strong bonds with some of them,” Mistry said. “It’s pretty cool.”
Their purpose is not just to pass the time and commit to something they aren’t interested in. There’s a genuine care intrinsic to the dialogue and shared experiences that these players are living.

The team has faced struggles between their smaller population and scheduling conflicts with the NCAA regulation teams at the school. That reality hasn’t stopped them from forging team practices that are beneficial to health and game-planning.

“I try to keep up with the scheduling as best as I can,” Bizila said. “Our facility scheduler, his name’s Cullen Moore. Him and I meet weekly just so that we’re on the same page.”

Between social media, the school’s club sports website, and word-of-mouth, there are several ways in which attention can be given its proper due to these teams and the club sports realm as a whole.

“It [exposure] could benefit us because it could tell people the story of what club sports is through [other] people,” Bizila said. “Rome wasn’t built in a year, so it’s definitely one of those things where we have to build the foundation and then just keep adding and tweaking things.”

A lot could change in the event that these sites are improved and rebranded for a more modern feel and appeal to the audience. The logistics behind scheduling should be emphasized in this regard. Schoolwide outreach could also see a massive rise that gives up the visibility the sport is looking for.

Each player and squadron has their own story to be told. For them, there’s an entry into an unknown period of time with plans to revamp the structure further as well as the graduation of four players on the team. Some others will command the responsibility with them moving on to life after college.

New team captains and core players will emerge throughout the year to fortify the roster and its positioning within the club sports realm and the fabric of the school as a whole. One thing that will not change is the unwavering passion for the sport. As long as there are players coming in, they’re sure to have a great time.