Written by Rebecca Beyer | Posted March 2025
When Taylor Loomis (Pardee’25) competed at the US Collegiate Ski & Snowboard Association National Championships earlier this month in Bend, Oregon, as a member of the Boston University Ski Racing Club, part of her travel and competition expenses were covered by funds raised from family members, alumni, and friends of the team.
Skiing is an expensive sport, and Loomis says the financial support her team receives throughout the year and through annual fundraising campaigns such as Terriers Together in the fall and Giving Day in the spring, helps keep it relatively accessible for interested students.
“It’s really nice,” she says. “It keeps our dues at a reasonable price every year and that means people who have never ski raced before can join the team. It makes a better community for ski racing.”
Ski racing is one of 37 different teams within the Club Sports program run by BU’s Department of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (PERD). For more than 50 years, the program has offered students the chance to compete in their sport of choice—ranging from badminton to baseball—while also developing leadership and administrative skills. Unlike varsity student athletes, club sport participants must manage their own teams, including scheduling, travel arrangements and finances, with guidance from PERD advisors. The teams receive some funding from PERD but rely heavily on community support to pay for equipment, fees, and more.
Last year, club sports collectively raised $144,498 on Giving Day, besting the program’s previous high by more than $26,000. Ski racing was honored for its efforts, which raised $10,000 for new giant slalom suits. The team also qualified for the national championships for the first time in its history, sending four athletes to compete at the tournament in upstate New York, where Loomis placed 14th in giant slalom.
You can support your favorite Club Sports team—or any cause on campus you care about—this Giving Day on April 9.
Camaraderie and commitment
In her first two years on the Women’s Club Basketball team, which played its first season as an official club sport last year, Gaby Bartolomei (ENG’25) and her teammates would trek to the Fitness & Recreation Center on Comm Avenue for 6 am practices—the only time the team could get space on the court.
“Those were brutal days,” she laughs.
Nevertheless, the benefits of playing outweighed any inconveniences.
“Now my courseload is winding down a bit, but, during my sophomore and junior years, it was really nice to have a forced workout—it kept me on a schedule,” Bartolomei says. “Even if I had a terrible day in class or was super busy, I knew I had an hour and a half to go to the gym with some of my best friends and just play.”
Ben Walsh (CGS’24, Questrom’26), a member of the Men’s Rugby Club, agrees.
“When I came in, it was a lot about making friends that are older than me and knew how BU worked,” he explains. “Men’s rugby is a brotherhood—that’s what I get the most out of it. It’s a real lineage.”
That sense of camaraderie extends to other sports as well. Walsh says he’s “hopped in” on workouts with the triathlon team and that teams often participate in each other’s fundraisers.
“It’s a very small circle, once you get into the club sports,” he says. “You get to recognize faces.”
Teams have different strategies for incentivizing donors. For Terriers Together last fall, the men’s rugby team offered to have each member of the team tackled by every other member of the team for every thousand dollars raised.
Every bit counts. Before the women’s basketball team became an official part of the Club Sports program last year, players financed their season themselves, Venmo-ing each other for everything from uniforms and court fees to Zipcar, which they used to travel to games. Now, much of those costs are covered by the Club Sports program or the funds they raise as a team.
“Any donation allows us to focus less on how we’re going to make something happen and more on just playing and competing,” Bartolomei says. “The fun part is playing a sport, not figuring out how to pay for it.”
Lasting legacy
BU’s club sports teams have a history of success. But beyond their accomplishments on the field, court, mountain—or wherever they compete—they are building something much longer-lasting.
Walsh says he regularly communicates with alumni to organize watch parties for major rugby events and that he plans to stay connected after graduation as well.
“Rugby is a big part of my life,” he says. “It was before BU, and it will be after. I don’t know if I’ll be in Boston, but, if I am, I’ll make sure I’m showing up to support the guys.”