Today, there are 11 NCAA Division II varsity sports at GCSU that are recognized and funded by the university. However, there are two that have been retired at the varsity level: women’s gymnastics and men’s soccer.
There is very little information available about why the men’s soccer team dissipated in 1985. With the popularity of the sport, likely, the team was permanently suspended from campus due to behavioral misconduct like hazing or drug/alcohol use, similar to the expulsion of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity in 2022. It is also possible that the team was cut due to a lack of available players, and coaches or low funding from the university.
Fortunately, there is still a men’s soccer team on campus at the club level. The club level is best described as “in-between” the intramural level and varsity level. Unlike varsity teams, club sports stand on their own apart from GCSU.
“We are almost completely independent of the Wellness and Recreation Center,” stated Jones Martin, a junior biology major and co-captain of the men’s club soccer team. “They can definitely restrict us, but we are self-governed.”
The primary difference between club and varsity sports is funding. At GCSU, the club teams receive a small club budget from the Wellness and Recreation Center that covers equipment, uniforms and travel expenses for away games. Whereas varsity teams bring a lot more attention and visitors to the school, so they are largely funded by the university. Athletes are often given scholarships to play at the varsity level. The university provides and maintains the facilities, hires a professional coach, provides team transportation to away games and provides the team with uniforms and equipment.
“There would be more publicity and exposure,” said Martin, regarding the club team being reinstated to the varsity level. “I think that would attract a lot more people and make the team better, and therefore give us better funding.”
The university would also largely benefit from the addition of a soccer team through publicity for the school and more annual visitors to campus, both from recruitment camps and spectators from opposing teams.
The men’s club soccer team is quite popular among the student body. The team has a high volume of potential new players every fall when they hold their annual tryouts. This season, they had 45 men try out, when there are only 24 members of the team each season, meaning that they can only take about five to six new players each season. Without a professional coaching staff, the existing players are the deciders in picking the new members from tryouts. Men’s soccer is the most popular club sport at GCSU, with over 1,500 followers on their Instagram account and a regular crowd of students and faculty that attend their home games.
Given the popularity of the GCSU men’s club soccer team, it is possible that with the right funding and attention, they could be reinstated to the varsity level.