The Climbing Club at Butler University offers the opportunity for climbers of all skill levels to enjoy their hobby and hone their skills.

It is not just for the hardcore adventurist or athlete. Anyone who is looking for camaraderie or to strengthen their body and mind can join.

For $20 a semester, students have access as part of their membership to Climb Time Indy, the most well-respected indoor rock climbing facility in Indiana.  This access takes the place of the need for weekly meetings.

“Quite simply, it’s a workout that doesn’t suck,” senior Elliot Johnson said. “I joined because I was out of shape, and I like the flexibility of it.”

Efforts are made every semester to go on longer-distance trips, such as Red River Gorge in Stanton, Ky., where members have the opportunity to climb on natural formations.

These expeditions are well received by the group of more than 20 individuals.

“You feel a lot of accomplishment whenever you climb a formation you never have before,” senior Joe Tucker said.

President Tim Miller stresses the ease of getting involved.

“If you have a heart for adventure and staying in shape,” Miller said, “climbing is the sport for you.”

Butler’s ultimate frisbee club holds pickup games for more relaxed players who are just trying to have fun, but it also offers a chance to play on a travel team that competes at the intercollegiate level.

The club opens its arms to all individuals no matter their skill level. Senior Andrew Erlandson, president of the club, encourages newcomers to come play so the upperclassmen can pass on their knowledge.

“We have a number of experienced players, but most of these are seniors and juniors,” Erlandson said. “Therefore, we are interested in passing our knowledge on to freshmen and sophomores who will carry the team on in years to come.”

Freshman Peter Ceko heard about the club at Block Party and signed up to be on the email list because he thought it would be a great way to be active on campus.

“A bunch of my friends wanted to go one day, so I went with them,” Ceko said. “They showed everyone some basic moves. It was a good way to meet a bunch of new people.”

The club has practices at 6 p.m., and they are open to everyone, not just club members, on the lawn by Schwitzer Hall.

Junior Jarrid Ronnebaum said he likes to take advantage of the club and its practices for a few reasons.

“My favorite thing about the club is getting better at frisbee and getting exercise in a form that is actually fun,” Ronnebaum said.

As the seasons change, the practice schedule for the club will be altered as well.

“In the fall, we practice Monday through Friday while the weather is still warm,” Erlandson said. “As it becomes cooler, we play three or four times a week. During the winter, we play once a week in the West Gym.”

The club receives funds from the Club Sports Council, which is funded through the Student Government Association and student activities fees, Erlandson said.

The team travels roughly once a month to compete against other teams, with about 15 members who travel regularly.

The club has been in full swing already with daily practices. As always, the club welcomes new member to compete.

Friday nights at the Forum at Fishers are reserved for one thing: bonspiels.

Bonspiels are curling tournaments, and though it may come as a surprise, Butler has its own club curling team that competes at the Forum.

Juniors Michael Strauss and Steve Bruno, president and vice president of the team, respectively, revived the club curling team two years ago after it had become inactive due to a lack of interest.

“I had only played, like, once before, but its something I was interested in,” Strauss said. “We started practicing with a bunch of old people at the Circle City Curling Club downtown just to learn how to curl.”

Since then, the team has grown to 15 current members with 10 potential members.

Many of the members are like Strauss, only playing once or maybe never before. Junior club treasurer Kyle Werner got his interest in the sport from watching it during the Winter Olympics. He tried it out and said he now loves it.

“It involves technique and strategy,” Werner said. “And it’s my one chance at going to the Olympics.”

The team recruits at Block Party and then hosts a “learn to curl” event, where they teach a person how to curl. This is how sophomore Alan Butler got involved.

“It was something I would not usually do,” Butler said. “But my first throw at the learn to curl was right on the button in the house.”

The button is similar to the bullseye on a dartboard. The object of curling is to get the stone closer to the button than your opponent.

Butler said his first curl was lucky, but Strauss said that curling takes a certain technique, although everyone can learn it.

“We have had a 260-pound football player at a ‘learn to curl’ and then we have (Werner) at 5’6” and 130 pounds,” Strauss said. “Anyone can be good curler if they try.”

Last year the team competed at the Midland’s bonspiel and is hoping to expand this year.

The team is working to get bonspiels in Tennessee, Columbus and other places around the Midwest.

It will officially start the first weekend in October.

If club sports do not spend all of their grant money this year, they could find less funding headed their way next year.

Butler University’s club sports teams have used $4,000 of the $10,000 that the Student Government Association grants committee gave to them this year, said Dan Schramm, SGA’s vice president of finance. Schramm said club sports grants can supplement a team’s regular budget and are useful if the team has to travel.

Schramm said club sports teams should apply for grants soon if they need funding because the grants committee could repurpose some of the money next year if it isn’t used.

“If that’s money they can use and will use, then it should be allocated to them,” Schramm said. “If not, maybe they don’t need it.”

Robert Beckett, treasurer of the Club Sports Council and men’s volleyball team, said this creates a problem because it causes clubs to spend more money than they must. Beckett said that’s something the executive council of the men’s volleyball team has been discussing.

“We don’t want to just go throwing money around for nothing,” Beckett said. “What we’re realizing is if we don’t spend this money, one, our budget’s going to get reduced, and two, we’re not going to live up to our club’s full potential.”

Faith Lindsay, allocation coordinator for the Club Sports Council, said she sees harm in the reduction of club sports grants.

“It would be a problem,” Lindsay said. “I don’t want them (students involved in club sports) to feel like they can’t go to a regional or national championship.”

Lindsay said reduced grant money could put limitations on teams’ accomplishments.

“It’s hard to know if you’re going to make it,” Lindsay said. “Some years are rebuilding years for teams, and other years you just don’t know.”

One club in a rebuilding year is Butler’s Shotokan Karate Club. The Butler University dojo was formed in 2001 but is currently  inactive.

Karate Club president Avery Stearman said the recent loss of two key members has jeopardized the vitality of the club.

While the club could continue to exist in a partnership with an outside group from the Indianapolis area, Stearman said she wanted more Butler students to take ownership of the group.

“Getting the word out is difficult and has been a struggle since I’ve started,” Stearman said. “Typically students interested in karate come find us, not the other way around.”

Stearman said that karate club is not the only club whose advertising has failed to garner student body interest.  Stearman said she thought that several other teams appeared inactive.

“There are too many clubs for the amount of students we have,” Stearman said.

Eric Kammeyer, Butler’s assistant director of recreation, said getting the word out is “the biggest missing piece” within club sports.
Kammeyer said the appearance of certain clubs as inactive is a result of confusion caused by SGA.

“That’s something that needs to be cleared up with SGA,” Kammeyer said. “The PuLSE Office decides who is inactive for club sports. SGA has its own use of inactive status.”

Kammeyer said a club sports representative to SGA who misses three meetings is declared inactive by SGA and cannot apply for a grant.

Kammeyer said the PuLSE Office’s definition of inactive is much more severe and means that operations are suspended until the requirements dictated by the office are met.

Hockey is the only club sport to currently have inactive status from the PuLSE Office.

Kammeyer said the Club Sports Council has done a good job of recognizing which clubs deserve the grants. Kammeyer said that despite the efficiency of the Club Sports Council, the entire budget cannot be covered with grant money.

“We can’t function on the money we receive from SGA alone,” Kammeyer said. “Men’s lacrosse, for example, brings in thousands in donations and competes on the field at a national level.”

Joshua Phelps, vice president of the men’s lacrosse team, said the fact that men’s lacrosse costs more than most other club sports forces them to rely on players, fundraisers and donations for financial support. Phelps said parents primarily provide donations because alumni will not.

“The alumni situation’s unique with lacrosse,” Phelps said. “A lot of people who played lacrosse at Butler don’t have the best relationship since they cut the program, because it was a D-1 program and then they dropped it.”

Maddi Corry, secretary of the Club Sports Council and a member of the women’s lacrosse team, said her team relies on donations too, but could not compete at a high level without SGA grants.

“I feel like it would be a problem for all of the teams, but we actually do apply for them, and we actually need the money,” Corry said.

Beckett said actually applying for a grant has been a rarity for most clubs  recently because people do not want to have to fill out the paperwork. Beckett said he will be presenting a new method for the submission of grants using Google Docs at the first Club Sports Council meeting of the semester on Thursday.

Beckett also said he has plans to discuss his goal of improving the Club Sports Council’s website and posting a copy of the finalized club sports handbook online by the end of the semester.