Starting a club swim team

Hey everyone!

I am a student at Boston University and was looking into starting a club team at my school but was told it could take 5-7 years to get a new club sport established. I was looking into the College Club Swimming (backed by USMS) and was wondering if anyone knew if you could register a club with them without being recognized by the university.

Cheers!

  • I really know nothing about starting a club as you describe. But it sounds doable. I don’t know what is involve in starting a USMS group…but I’d think it easier than the 5-7 year lead it would take through the school. And…there might actually already be one there that you’re not aware of. Check with some of the LMSC leaders to see. I guess you can get their contact info somehow through this website. Good luck.
    (And BTW…my son just graduated from BU with a masters in journalism, undergrad in Comm…and just started his post-college job as a TV reporter at an NBC affiliate in northern Wisconsin.) — Dan
  • Hi !

    CCS will defer to the policies of a university in terms of becoming a club, so I encourage you to check with your club sports department/advisor if there are any rules against registering a team with CCS that may not officially be recognized by the school. Registering with the organization has had a positive effect in previous similar situations, as it has helped legitimize the club to the eyes of the university.

    It’s always great to hear of new clubs that could start and want to be part of the new CCS organization! If you haven’t already, take a look at our website, collegeclubswimming.com and some of the best practices and benefits documents to see general club structures for getting off the ground.

    Please reach out to collegeclub@usmastersswimming.org with any other questions and we'd be happy to help work with you!

  • By the way…apparently there is already a USMS group using the BU pool, and is open to BU students. If this isn’t exactly what you’re looking for…it could serve as an alternative while you wait on the process of establishing a student club.

    Dan