Quick, what event has Hungary won the Gold in back-to-back Olympics? As if that was not an obvious enough hint, I’ll give you another clue: Serbia won the silver, and Russia the bronze in 2004. OK, while you’re thinking, I’ll give you some of my estimations about you, my faithful readers: 95 percent of you don’t know that this sport even has a team at Cornell. 30 percent of you have heard of the game, but don’t have any clue how it’s played. And 20 percent of you have probably never even heard of the sport. Done thinking? What is …Water Polo? See, I told you it was obvious …

Yes, there is a Cornell Club Water Polo team. No, we don’t have any groupies. So, why am I writing about such an obscure sport that the vast majority of students probably don’t even care about? Because I played on the team for four glorious years, am retired now and want to give the team a cheap plug. Hey, this is the first press we have gotten in The Sun in a long time. This year, we finished with a record of 5-7, good for fifth place in the state out of 10 teams. Not a bad year for Cornell sports.

All kidding and plugs aside, there is a point to this week’s column. I had a great time in my four years on the team, made indelible memories and great friends. I suspect that most people on club teams feel the same way. But at the same time, I really feel as though Cornell does not support club teams the way it should. In fact, I feel that the University, unnecessarily, actually hurts them.

The most egregious offense against club sports, by far, is Cornell’s method of financing them. To get money, clubs apply to the Student Assembly Finance Commission with detailed budgets for the year. So, for instance, when the water polo team applies for funding for hotel rooms, it is with the understanding that six to eight people will be staying in a two person room. The budget does not cover uniforms or anything like that. The SAFC, after a hearing, usually agrees to fully finance the vast majority of the budget … and then cuts its funding by approximately 40 percent a week later. The end result is that students have to pay dues between $50 and $150.

This cost may not sound like a lot to many of you. Yet, for some people, it is prohibitive. It would only cost Cornell between $1,000 and $2,000 for the entire club. That’s all. It is ridiculous that the University is so stingy that it cannot give clubs this level of funding, especially when we pay so much tuition. In addition, the SAFC hearings themselves are a maze of bureaucratic red tape filled with traps. Daniel Smith ’09, our treasurer this year, experienced this first hand: “It is very obvious that, when it comes to any club sport, [SAFC] is just waiting to screw you over. Unfortunately, they are willing to impose arbitrary rules which end up penalizing Cornell students,” he said. Why Cornell does not fully support us, especially since its commitment to diversity is supposed to extend to many facets, including non-academic interests, is beyond me. In this case, Cornell’s commitment to athletic interests which do not meet the varsity threshold is shallow at best.

Compared to other schools in the league, Cornell’s policies are the exception, not the rule. For example, Army, Columbia, NYU and even SUNY Binghamton — a school whose resources pale in comparison to Cornell’s — fully fund their club teams. In fact, these teams have school-supported paraphernalia and, yes, even paid coaches. NYU, the league’s champion, has three coaches, and Binghamton’s coach played for the Serbian National Team. Our coach this year was Corissa Lee ’08, the captain of the Women’s Club Water Polo team. Commendably, she was willing to give up about 12 hours of her week to coach us with no recognition from the University. She did this out of the generosity of her spirit and love of the game. Perhaps the University should not put the onus of coaching, a time-consuming activity, upon its students. Other schools rightfully came to this conclusion. Corissa does not even get a gym credit for her efforts (not that any of us do).

Finally, it is very odd that water polo is not a varsity sport. Since there is both a women and men’s team, it meets Title IX requirements of having a balanced representation of athletics. And, though water polo is not well-known on the East Coast, if you have watched the O.C., you know it is very popular on the West Coast. It also has international renown (remember Hungary?) and could be a useful vessel to attract a diverse array of students to Cornell. In addition, water polo has Olympic recognition and a deep history. However, I suppose that I cannot really complain. If water polo had been a varsity sport, I would have almost certainly never gotten the chance to play.

Regardless of whether they receive support from the University, Cornell students playing on clubs act as envoys for the school every time they play in tournaments. In my opinion, it is embarrassing to Cornell to be shown up by other teams with professional coaches and snazzy Speedos. One of Cornell’s favorite mottos is “Elite, not elitist.” My desire in writing this article was neither to express an elitist view nor an entitled one. Rather, if Cornell really wants to be elite, it should strive to be so in all areas to which it is willing to ascribe its name. I would hardly call Cornell’s treatment of its club teams elite.

Gregory Wolfe is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be contacted at gwolfe@cornellsun.com. It Matters Not, But... appears alternate Fridays.