Despite steps taken to alleviate financial problems, many Student Association club sports say their available funding is still lacking after many teams struggled to stay afloat and competitive last year.
Unlike varsity teams, which are funded by the Division of Athletics, club sports rely entirely on the money allocated to them by the Student Association.
Each team's allocation is determined by the extent to which they meet SA requirements, such as participating in SA events and community service.
While many, if not all, sports clubs' budgets have been increased this year, many team members say funding is still an issue.
"Funding always has been and always will be a problem," said Robert Mercurio, men's rugby club president and sophomore business major. "As the level of competition increases we're going to need more money for league and tournament fees, new equipment and transportation. As a team we want to get better, which means we need to compete more and travel farther. That translates into a need for more funding."
Ashley Heyd, chair of the SA Sports Council, agreed with Mercurio and said SA has taken steps to lessen the gap between what clubs need and what they have.
"There's always going to be a money issue, but we can't just take money from some clubs and give it to others. That wouldn't be fair," Heyd said. "This year, an extra $3,000 has been shifted from the Senate's budget line and added to each club coordinator's budget so that this money can be given to who needs it the most. It's easier this way because the senate isn't arguing over the money and just makes the process smoother."
Heyd said although most teams' budgets have been raised from last year, all sports clubs are still required to do fund-raising.
Heyd attributed the funding issue to the growth of UB's club sports.
"The sports clubs are growing out of what SA can handle," Heyd said.
SA Treasurer Jessica Dangler said non-varsity teams will probably never have the funds they really need.
"In my opinion they've completely outgrown SA," Dangler said. "The problem with sports clubs is they're expensive and they grow exponentially compared to other clubs. We're never going to be able to fully help fund sports clubs. We could double each sports club's budget and they still wouldn't have what they need. It's hard to help them out and fairly distribute all of the money, but we do everything we can to help them."
Dangler added the mandatory activity fee increase should help to alleviate the burden many club sports face.
"The fee increase is going to help a lot," she said. "It will allow us to further increase the clubs' budgets."
Heyd agreed and noted that the SA senate has not yet voted on how the money will be divided.
"I definitely think that this will cause the budgets to increase, but I don't know by how much," she said. "We want to allocate money as fairly as possible between club councils, but some clubs will definitely see an increase in their budgets."
James Froehlich, a sophomore and member of the men's rugby team, said that he hopes that his team is one of the clubs that sees an increased budget.
"It'd be cool to get to the point where everybody doesn't have to drive their own cars for away games, and maybe we'll even get to the point where we can go to tournaments across the country," he said. "Most importantly, though, I'd hope the money brought in by the fee increase gets distributed evenly."
Mercurio, the rugby club president, added in the face of a tight budget, the rugby team tries to spend as wisely as possible.
"This fee increase should help out all around, but it's really on the shoulders of the senate to properly allocate the funds," he said. "I have faith that they'll do a fair job of dividing the money though."
But even if the team gets an influx of money, Mercurio doesn't see the teams' budget problems lessening in the long term.
"We make use of what funding we have and make the most of it," he said. "But we're always going to want more and we're always going to apply for more."
