After several months of discussion and preparation, Brandeis Football Club, the University’s club soccer team, met with Director of Athletics Sheryl Sousa ’90 to discuss overturning the club sports duplicate clause.

Under the clause, club sports teams for which there is also a varsity team cannot operate within the realm of the University’s club sports program—which is a part of the Brandeis Athletics program—and instead must operate as a club chartered by the Student Union. Essentially, while Brandeis FC is currently a chartered club, it does not receive the same amount of funding or opportunities that other clubs sports teams do.

According to Brandeis FC’s co-captain Ben Berson ’15, chartered clubs face trouble organizing field time, traveling to away games and storing equipment, among other issues. “We’re not being put on the same playing field [as other club sports teams],” Berson said in an interview with the Justice. “It just seems a little bit unbalanced in that sense.”

Berson also described a meeting with Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Student Activities Stephanie Grimes, Associate Director of Athletics Tom Rand and Club Sports Coordinator Matt Callahan, during which the team leaders discussed the necessary steps for becoming a part of the club sports program.

According to Berson, Grimes referred the team to the Club Sports Council, which according to the Brandeis Athletics page, is “made up of seven club leaders and is the body that approves any changes to the program.” After Brandeis FC gave a presentation to the council on why the duplicate clause should be overturned, the council voted unanimously in favor of allowing duplicate teams to apply for the club sports program. However, Berson noted, the final decision was left to Sousa, who decided not to approve the council’s decision.

Berson noted that Sousa reasoned that the policy change would open the door to growing the club sports program, and the program would be unable to provide all the clubs with enough resources, such as funding, athletic van usage and practice space. “In order to change the rule,” Berson said, “the council would need a strategic plan for a larger program.”

According to Berson, however, the council only meets once every other month, “essentially meaning [a strategic plan] would never happen.”

Berson also expressed frustration with the system, stating that the channel of communication between students and administrators is not operating as it should. “The Club Sports Council was made as a bridge between the Student Union and Athletics … and right now, despite the students saying they wanted a change, administrators said ‘no,’ and that’s the end of it, there’s no discussion,” Berson said. “So why is there even a club sports council?

Looking toward the future, Berson discussed his desire to get more parties involved in the discussions, which he said he believes will help the campaign gain more traction. “If we’re the only ones who think this is unfair, then maybe we’d need to reevaluate, but if everyone agrees that this was an unfair thing that happened, then maybe someone else can step in,” he said.

Of the past few months, Berson said that while he is proud of the advances the team has made, he is ultimately disappointed and frustrated with the system. “It was very upsetting to just be on this upward trajectory and then just stop because of the administrators,” he said.

—Editor’s note: Brandeis FC Treasurer Sam Mintz ’15 is a Deputy Editor of the Justice.