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After hearing from Executive Vice President and Provost Mark Thompson that club sports were on the horizon at the State of the QUnion the past few years; members of Quinnipiac’s unaffiliated club sports teams never imagined that this change would come so soon.

At this year’s State of the QUnion, Thompson said, “the next time I talk about [club sports] it will come with a specific commitment and a date in terms of types of sports we will offer to get started and when they will get started.”

The news came last week in an announcement on Instagram from President Judy Olian.

“Club sports are coming in 2019-20, students have been clamoring for this for year,” she said.

In her announcement, she gave one student a special shout out. Quinnipiac junior, Caitlin Wardlow, although not a member of club sports herself, went to Olian’s office hours to advocate for those who are.

“My one goal from the beginning of this was to just help them and maybe get them some funding, maybe get them some field time,” Wardlow said. “That was what we originally talked about in the office hours with President Olian.”

Wardlow admits she did not do this alone.

“It wasn’t just me, it wasn’t a single-handed kind of ordeal. I did have a lot of help Luke Ahearn’s on SGA, Brandon Vattima used to be on SGA, they have been fighting for a decade,” Wardlow said. “SGA has been trying so hard, and it’s because of their effort that I was inspired to do this.”

With this news, many club athletes have taken to the social media to express their excitement.

Luke Ahearn, junior and member of New Blue Rugby, wrote in an Instagram caption, “It’s a great day for Quinnipiac, for club sports, and it’s always a great day for New Blue Rugby.”

Some others expressed their excitement a little differently. Sophia Marshall, sophomore and member of QFC (Quinnipiac’s unaffiliated club women’s soccer team), said she was in the middle of class when she first heard the news.

“I started running around the room, like legitimately, I couldn’t stop smiling,” Marshall said. “I had to take a sprint down the hallway because I was so excited.”

Even the alumni of these organizations have expressed this is a dream come true for them. In an Instagram post on the Sleeping Giant Lacrosse page, Jesse Laico, one of the founding fathers of the team, expressed how proud and happy he is for the players who get to experience this change.

“One of my dreams when I started this team in the Fall of 2012 was to wear the blue and gold, to have Quinnipiac written across my chest, to have the Bobcat on the side of my helmet,” Laico said. “That never came to happen while I was at school, but I couldn’t be prouder, I couldn’t happier for the guys that get to experience the fact that they’re going to be affiliated with the university.”

Members of New Blue Rugby also got some calls from alumni.

“I got some calls from alumni, congratulating us, just super excited,” Ahearn said. “Everybody’s just looking forward to the future.”

While these club sport athletes are excited, their future is still uncertain. There are still many details that have yet to come out, such as, what the application process looks like for these unaffiliated club teams to become university affiliated, where these teams will be able to practice and play and if they will have to change their team names.

Stay with Q30 for the latest on this story.