Secret Sports

What's so secret about UCLA's sports? Well, if you're talking about UCLA's heralded varsity athletics — 99 NCAA team championships and counting — then, nothing. But there's another program on campus that doesn't get nearly as much play, even though it features more than 1,000 talented, fiercely competitive athletes representing UCLA on regionally and nationally ranked teams: UCLA's Club Sports.

Somewhere between the more casual intramural sports and the high-profile world of intercollegiate athletics, club sports offer UCLA students a chance to compete on a high-level playing field. (Faculty, staff and alumni with UCLA Recreation memberships can also join, but students predominate on the rosters.) "They truly are student-athletes," says Mike Kelly, volunteer coach of the men's ice hockey team (and whose day job is stand-in for star Stephen Collins on the TV series 7th Heaven). "They pay to go to school, and they pay to play, as well."

"Club sports have become the new junior varsity of collegiate sports," adds Competitive Sports Coordinator Adam Pruett, who currently oversees 35 active clubs and another five clubs on conditional status. The oldest is men's ice hockey, formed in 1920. The youngest are baseball and kendo, each just 1 year old. Badminton has the largest membership, with more than 100 members, and the equestrian club is the smallest, with 13. Waiting patiently to be classified as official club sports are Brazilian jiu-jitsu, team tennis and mixed martial arts. Lately, Pruett says, the most unusual sports that have applied to be club sports are croquet and lawn bowling.

Make no mistake, though: Many of these athletes are hard core. It's pretty common to see them practicing three or four times a week and squeezing in track workouts on the side, which is why so many of them are at the top of their game. Here's an introduction to three of UCLA's more popular and successful club sports: Women's Ultimate Frisbee, Dragon Boat Racing and Men's Ice Hockey.

Fair Flight

Originally called "Ultimate Frisbee," this lively sport is now known simply as "Ultimate." (Frisbees — trademarked discs by Wham-O — are rarely used in competition anymore.) The game is a fast-moving, noncontact version of football, and the object is to score points by passing the disc into the opposing end zone.

What makes Ultimate unique, however, is "Spirit of the Game," a code of fair play and sportsmanship revered by all players. Because "Spirit of the Game" works so well, Ultimate is played without referees. Anna "Maddog" Nazarov, senior co-captain of Bruin Ladies Ultimate (BLU), explains the code: "You play as hard as you can without crossing the line, disrespecting the opposing team or your own teammates. You call fouls when you think they happen, and you don't contest it when other people call fouls on you and you know you committed them. You don't purposely foul anybody."

BLU was formed in fall 2003 with the recruiting help of Smaug, the men's Ultimate team. A second team, Midas, was formed in 2004 when interest in BLU exploded.

"At UCLA we have a huge student body, so many of these girls who were athletes in high school are now looking at club sports as a way to continue their athletics," says Midas Coach Jamie Nuwer, a fourth-year UCLA medical student.

"The cool thing about Ultimate is, it brings together a lot of people I wouldn't expect myself to be hanging out with, and we're all best friends," says BLU senior co-captain Lisa "Clyde" Vampola.

BLU Coach Alex Korb, currently a UCLA doctoral student in neuroscience, has high hopes for his team after the women surpassed all expectations and finished second to Stanford at Nationals last May. "BLU is, in my opinion, the preseason favorite to win it all," he claims. "Their best is better than that of any other college team out there."

Power Play

"Midnight F_ _ _ _ _ _ Madness!"

On a cool night in October, several delirious Bruin fans noisily enter the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo — practice facility of the Los Angeles Kings — and happily take their place in the stands among approximately 40 other bundled-up spectators. They watch as their team warms up on the ice and cheer as the starting lineups are announced. The arena is brightly lit, rock music blares over the loudspeakers and everyone's ready for a good time.

The only thing out of whack is the starting time — 12:40 a.m. — but no one minds. The players are used to the lateness of the hour because such starting times are typical for their practices, says law school student Alex Fineman, president of the UCLA men's ice hockey team. "Ice time is in demand because there aren't many rinks in this area," he says. "That's why we end up practicing at 11 p.m., or even after midnight on some nights."

Team captain Jake Gunn, a senior majoring in biology, admits it can be hard. "Less sleep and a lot of work," he says, smiling. "A game like tonight, I'll get home at 4 a.m. and have to get up at 7 for a class. So it's tough." Goalie Adam Kubalski, a Design | Media Arts major who was named First Team All-Pac-8 last year, solves the problem by not taking any classes before 2 p.m.

Still, you don't hear any of the players complaining. After suffering through a few losing seasons, the team came in third place in the Pac-8 (ACHA Division II) two years ago; last year, they had to forfeit five wins because of an ineligible player and finished in third place again. This year, they're determined to win the championship.

Before that can happen, however, the ice hockey team must fund-raise to keep its program going, just as the other club sports teams do. The Bruins are selling tickets to the Los Angeles Kings/St. Louis Blues game on January 18, after which they'll take to the Staples Center ice to play the final game of their best-of-five Crosstown Cup series with USC. Fans can purchase tickets online at www.aegtickets.com/ucla.

"Midnight Madness," meanwhile, ends with a UCLA victory over Loyola Marymount University, 6–3. The Bruins leave the ice, exhausted but satisfied, at 3 a.m.

"A lot of us have been playing hockey for a long time — it comes almost as naturally to us as breathing," says premed student Marty Galstyan, the team's leading scorer. "We play for pride, we play for the workout, we play for the school.

"And personally," he adds with a smile, "I like winning."

Year of the Dragon

"What is it?"

That's what most people ask when they amble over to check out the UCLA Bruin Dragon Boat table at Freshman Orientation or at UCLA's Club Sports Jamboree. And unless you've lived in certain parts of the world where Dragon Boat is big — exotic places like China and Northern California, for example — you've probably never heard of it, either.

"It's similar to kayaking or canoeing, but on a boat with 20 people," says junior Daniel Leung, president of the Dragon Boat team. "People usually have no idea what it is. But one look at our poster board and they're usually pretty psyched. It's not too hard to explain, really."

While the origin of Dragon Boat goes back more than 2,500 years, the sport's history at UCLA goes back only two. Begun by senior Derrick Chan, a current team member, in 2004, the Dragon Boat roster now claims more than 40 people and is limited only by the number of cars needed to ferry the paddlers to and from Long Beach Marine Stadium, where practices are held.

What sets Dragon Boat apart from other boating sports is the size of the crew and the boat itself. Twenty people squeeze themselves into a narrow, 2,000-pound boat decorated with dragon head and tail. Eighteen people serve as paddlers, one drums and one steers. All must work together in perfect unison for 500 meters, which is exactly what the Bruins did last July when they took second place in the college division at the ViewSonic Long Beach Dragon Boat Festival.

Drummer Janet Bang, a fourth-year senior, loves her role as timekeeper and motivator, even if the responsibility nearly causes her to lose her voice. "You just have to be loud and have good rhythm," she says, laughing. "You want to keep up the momentum in the boat, and if people are feeling tired or down, it's the drummer's position to keep up the speed, the timing, everything."

Veteran paddlers like senior Christina Fan — who gave up a position as a walk-on coxswain for the UCLA women's crew team to participate in Dragon Boat — bring their own paddles to practices and races because they're made of higher-quality, lighter wood than the ones available for rent at Long Beach. But players need not be experienced to join the Dragon Boat team. George Wang '06, the oldest team member at 32, paddled for the first time last season.

"I figured it was one way I could do my part in contributing to the UCLA tradition of beating all things USC," he says.

Published Jan 1, 2007 8:00 AM