Shorter Athletics announces addition of club sports program

ROME – Shorter University President Dr. Harold E. Newman and Director of Athletics Bill Peterson announced today plans to establish a club sports program at the University beginning in the fall of 2011.

Shorter’s athletic department, which includes 21 highly-successful intercollegiate varsity programs, will provide scholarship funding for the new club programs, which the University believes will help strengthen the bond between Shorter’s athletic department and the student body.

“We are extremely excited about this new era of club sports within the Shorter athletic program,” said Peterson. “While we will support these programs with scholarship funding, they will also be open to our current student body. We really believe that this is a great way to bring our students and student-athletes together.”

Dr. Newman added, “What students learn from taking part in organized activities is a great complement to classroom learning. By expanding the opportunities for student involvement, Shorter can help more of our students develop a healthy respect for an active lifestyle, which will benefit them throughout their lives.”

The club model presented by several Ivy League institutions served as inspiration for Shorter’s club sports program. Schools such as Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard and Princeton have witnessed high student involvement in club sports such as archery, crew and squash.

Athletic officials are prepared to announce by the middle of next week the programs that will begin competition during the 2011-12 academic year. Recruitment efforts for these programs will begin immediately.

The benefits of a healthy club sports program would reach far beyond any accolades garnered in competition. Peterson believes that club sports can supplement an already fulfilling academic experience shared by the more than 1,400 students enrolled in Shorter’s Rome campus.

“This is an approach that that you often see among Ivy League schools, and it certainly fits in with Shorter’s prestigious academic reputation,” Peterson said. “We think the lessons learned from sports can go hand-in-hand with what our faculty teach in the classroom.”