LETTERS: Cover more of Penn's club sports

To the Editor: At a glance, this may not seem to pose much of an issue. However, 1,100 undergraduate students participate in 32 varsity sports, and 932 undergraduate and graduate students participate in 28 club sports across campus. Essentially, approximately 50 percent of Penn's intercollegiate athletes are getting 100 percent of the exposure. Granted, varsity sports should receive considerably more exposure than club sports, but do they need all of it? Should the tireless efforts of 1,000 athletes who represent Penn in countless weekend competitions throughout the East Coast, be ignored entirely by the DP? Remember, Penn is not in the Big Ten conference, or Pac-10 conference or even the Atlantic-10 conference. Ivy League institutions are not bastions of athletic achievement, nor are they meant to be. Rather, it is the spirit of the competition upon which Ivy League athletics are based. So, why does the DP take Ivy League varsity sports so seriously? (Honestly, would not three or four articles a week on the football team be sufficient, instead of three or four a day?) Regardless of status, varsity or club, Penn's intercollegiate athletes perform in the same spirit of competition and all should be recognized to some extent. There is considerable interest on this campus in club sports, but lack of exposure makes it difficult for students to congratulate one another in passing while on Locust Walk. The existence of such interest became apparent when the men's water polo team held its first home game in six years on Wednesday, October 22, at Gimbel Gym. Penn, ranked No. 8 in the nation at the time (all rankings mentioned are from the Collegiate Water Polo Association, club rankings), and Notre Dame, ranked No. 13, played before a screaming crowd of 200 Penn faithful. How many athletic teams, club or varsity, can claim that kind of support? Fueled by the raving fans, Penn won, 16-14, behind the strong outside shooting of Wharton and Engineering senior John Dwight and the playmaking of Engineering senior Chris Hyzer. Penn continued its winning ways the following weekend. Behind the overtime heroics of College freshman David Stone, Penn captured its third consecutive Mid-Atlantic Conference Championship in a tournament hosted by Washington & Lee, then the No. 1 team in the nation. Penn is now ranked No. 5 in the nation, and heads up to Williams College for the Collegiate Club National Championships this weekend. Their quest for No. 1 begins Friday, when they match up against the University of Arizona, currently the top team in the nation. On behalf of the men's water polo team, I would like to thank all of you who came out to support us against Notre Dame. Your continued support is much appreciated, and perhaps it will garner an appropriate response from the DP in the near future. Grant Geisen College '98 President, Men's Water Polo