Most high school football players don’t get to play the sport at the varsity level in college. But the Michigan State men’s club football team wants students to know that their playing days do not have to end, as they can still play at a competitive level.
For the past decade, the MSU club football team has continuously played competitive 11 v. 11 football. The team wrapped up the regular season this year at 8-1 and are now in the playoffs..
The team plays in the National Club Football Association (NCFA), which sets roster limits to 60 MSU’s team is under the limit, currently at 44 players, meaning there are spots the team wants to fill.
“We’d love incoming freshmen to know that this is an opportunity,” graduate student defensive tackle Lucas Gravatt said. “If you thought you played your last day on the field, like, let’s get you back out there, MSU Club football has a spot for you.”
Players interested in joining can meet the team at Springticipation in the Spring or next Fall. Any MSU student currently enrolled can try out to join. At one point, there was a 41-year-old on the team.
Playing in high school is not a requirement to join as the team accepts almost everyone that tries out and so far, have not had to make cuts on players. Tryouts aren’t necessarily difficult, they are more seeing how athletic a player is and what their strengths are. The drills include running 40-yard dashes and things seen at an NFL combine.
“You go to tryouts and it’s not so much like, ‘Oh, you are going to make the team or you’re not.’ It's more so where you fit best because it really is a team sport,” Gravatt said.
The team fee is $300 per player, going towards jerseys, equipment, field time, paying the officials, travel, etc. Practices are held on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and run for two hours.
Since the team is not sponsored by the university, games are played at Ithaca High school which is about a 45-minute drive from East Lansing. The team’s e-board is actively trying to get a field on campus or closer in the area.
“It’d be great if we could use a field and have the stands there and have [fans] come out and say, ‘Hey you guys going to the club football game today?’” Gravatt said.
The team has a quarterbacks coach, receiver coach, defensive coach, head coach and previous players that come back to coach just because they love it so much.
Along with having a coaching staff, the team also has an athletic trainer who is present at all games. The trainer tapes the team up before games, helps players with anything they are dealing with before games and deals with cramps and injuries during the games. The university also provides athletic trainers for the team if they need any additional help.
Looking ahead at the next decade of play, the team would love to see the club turn into a place where players could play here and potentially go play football at another university at a Division II or III level.
“Ohio State does their [club] team very impressively,” sophomore starting quarterback Andres Kent said. “They use it almost a junior varsity team, where they have kids that walk on or are basically on the team and use it for practicing… they had a quarterback a few years back who had an NFL pro day and all he did was play club.”
The team's long-term goal is to have their own varsity and junior varsity team.
“My lifelong friends are in the club right now and I wouldn’t be able to say that for a lot of other things,” Gravatt said. It’s just one of those things you bond through, you play together, you know the guy next to you will play his heart out for you.”