“Stressful but rewarding”
Is how Chris Cascio describes the role of being the club lacrosse team’s president.
When you think of the role of a “president”, you may think of a prestigious glorified position. But you may not realize all the hard work that goes into it.
The role of club president, of course, involves leadership and responsibility. The president is in charge and is to be ready for any challenges or problems that arise. He/she must be able to resolve these issues quickly so that the team runs smoothly. The president and the other officers work together in order to achieve their goals and have a successful season for their respective sports.
“Thinking ahead to hold a structured team and always wanting the best for the program and everyone in it is key to being a president.” says Kayla Syrbe the president of the women’s club basketball team.
Syrbe adds, “If you aren’t always on your game off the court, the rest of the team won’t benefit on the court.”
As president it is extremely important to manage your time and stay on top of all of your responsibilities. The president is responsible for a lot, from running tryouts to scheduling practices or games and even managing the budget of their team. They must communicate with the officers, the members of the team and other school’s team presidents in order to have a successful season. They are in charge of all this background activity that doesn’t get recognized but is crucial to a manufacture a season.
Luckily the president usually doesn’t work alone. Every club team has a group of officers that work under the president each having their own roles. For example, the girls club basketball team’s group of officers include the president, vice president, a secretary, and a treasurer. Each has their own agenda of tasks that need to be accomplished in order to have a well run team.
This group of officers are seen as leaders on the team or the captains.
“Although we all have specific roles, we are constantly communicating and helping each other out to run our club the best we can.” says Syrbe.
Just like many of the SUNY Cortland club teams, the men’s lacrosse team is fully student run, meaning they do not have a traditional coach.
“I run many of our practices along with the officers and with some help from the upperclassmen on the team. We try to find new drills in order to always keep our players on their feet, and stay prepared for our games,” says Cascio. He believes that all of the hard work he puts into the team is worth it, as he gets to enjoy another season of playing his favorite game lacrosse.
The women’s basketball team only recently acquired a coach when two Cortland students volunteered to help out. Prior to that, President Syrbe was in charge of all of the coaching responsibilities, such as running practices and managing the team during the games like subbing girls on and off the court in addition to the behind the scenes work. This led Syrbe to what she termed “exhaustion” saying,
“It was hard to be both a coach and a player.”
Since the addition of the two volunteer coaches, Syrbe says she has been able to play more like a teammate again and feel more closely connected with her teammates.
Cascio and Syrbe understand the role of the president is a commitment that one must be ready for before taking on. After the many challenges that come up and the problems that you must work through, it all pays off in the end.