Club sports allow for Lehigh students to continue athletics

The overhead lights flash above the Ulrich Hockey Field on a cold Monday evening in Bethlehem. Tail lights circulate in the parking lot. An entourage of women pile out of carpools, slinging equipment bags over their shoulders as they make their way toward the turf. 

In the parking lot, junior Sadie Schoonmaker unpacks her car. Instead of watching Monday Night Football like some other students, the Club Field Hockey co-president gears up for evening practice.

She leads her 30 teammates in warm-up stretches and begins practice for the night in preparation for next Sunday’s game.

For many, club sports is a hobby, but for Schoonmaker, it’s more than that. It’s buying back the time lost playing the sport she loves due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My senior season was impacted because my school had strict restrictions on exposure and limited activities we could do,” Schoonmaker said. “(I enjoy) having the opportunity to play without any restrictions and having a place to play field hockey and have fun.”

The pandemic took away a season of high school eligibility from many athletes. In response, student-athletes have found ways to continue their athletic careers through involvement in Lehigh’s club sports programs. 

The 28 teams cover a wide range of sports. The non-binding commitment is combined with a “high quality, enjoyable athletics experience,” according to Lehigh’s Sports.

For sophomore Jack Volk, the experience created opportunities for both athletic and social activities.

The pandemic stripped the lifetime tennis player of two seasons in high school, which resulted in social disconnect and significant skill setbacks on the court.

Volk expressed his gratitude for the ability to continue playing the sport he loves alongside like-minded individuals with similar passions for tennis.

“Club sports form a close-knit community of a lot of people who have the same interests,” Volk said. “I’ve always played tennis, and it’s always been an outlet for me — I didn’t want to lose my hobbies.”

Sophomore Noah Beacher was also one of many students who had their high school sports season canceled due to the pandemic — for him it was lacrosse.

Now the men’s club lacrosse president, he said he lost out on the chance to play with a team that harnessed championship aspirations during his sophomore year of high school. 

“It was probably the best team our high school had seen, and we were supposed to make it pretty far (but) it just all got shut down,” Beacher said.

With dreams of playing lacrosse in college, Beacher played out his junior and senior years and committed to the College of Wooster in Ohio to play lacrosse, but eventually transferred to Lehigh in the spring of 2023.

Beacher said the heavy commitment of playing lacrosse in college influenced his decision to transfer. He expressed gratitude to Lehigh for granting him the opportunity to continue playing the sport he loves while participating in other extracurriculars.

“It was a lot of work, and I just wanted to enjoy myself in college,” Beacher said.

As president of the team, he said his fulfillment comes from the passion his teammates show for the sport. While the competitive spirit remains active, the players all show up by choice. 

“Sports are an opportunity for people to genuinely express their passions,” Beacher said. “Seeing how far people like myself or other people have progressed is cool to see.”

Just as Beacher was able to find the next step for his lacrosse career, other Lehigh students have found opportunities to continue their passion for sports.

Club basketball junior Ellen Henry’s high school basketball team had a shot at competing for the New York State Championship, but the final weeks of their season were canceled.

While Henry said she was disappointed to lose the chance at a championship ring, she was more upset to lose the opportunity to spend more time with her teammates.

“Every day with my team was a great opportunity to learn and spend time with people I care about, and it would have been great to have been able to continue those experiences for a few more weeks,” Henry said.

However, she said she is grateful for the chance to bond with her new teammates after joining the club basketball team.

“The best thing about club basketball here is that our team is a community of people with different interests, personalities (and) experiences,” Henry said. “We all get to come together and work hard towards a common goal.”

More than three million high school athletes were impacted by the pandemic, as reported by The New York Times and the National Federation of State High School Associations. Season cancellations and postponements prohibited normalcy for athletes of all sports. 

Schoonmaker, Volk, Beacher and Henry are part of that statistic yet, they have found a home and a community through Lehigh’s club sports teams.

“You lost so much of what made you happy before — coming back to it, it’s obviously a lot of fun,” Volk said.