Three years ago, at 7:30 a.m. on Campus South Athletic Field, the UChicago women’s club soccer team had its first practice. My cofounders and cocaptains, Sophia Falk and Hazel Pasley, and I had spent the previous week plastering posters across campus and collecting the numbers of anyone who seemed remotely coordinated. I’d worried the night before that no one would show up—I had a stress dream to that very effect. But when we arrived at the field that morning, a dewy fall haze clinging to the turf, 10 new friends were lacing up their cleats.

I’ve played soccer since I was six years old. It would’ve been five, but my older sisters told me soccer was bad because they were bad at soccer, which dissuaded me until enough of my friends joined the local team. As an overly competitive child, I instantly fell in love with the sport that let me push and kick and occasionally score a goal. From there, I dedicated my after-school hours to practices, traveled around California for tournaments, and found every opportunity I could to play, whether in pickup games against men twice my size or with a ball against the back of my couch. But when I came to college, I was sad to learn that UChicago lacked a women’s club soccer team.

Unfortunately, UChicago does not sponsor sports that have a corresponding varsity team. This means that club teams like women’s and men’s soccer, volleyball, and tennis lack funding and the ability to book practice and game spaces. The few club teams that started before this rule came to be and received school funding have recently learned their funding will be cut.

But Sophia, Hazel, and I knew there was a demand. At the very least, we were craving competitive spaces on campus to practice. We had all played pickup soccer around Hyde Park, but, even then, we found ourselves missing the team culture we’d loved throughout our childhoods. So we started postering, pestering anyone we knew who had played soccer, and, in a few days, found ourselves on Campus South Athletic Field running old passing drills.

Without funding or space-booking capacities, getting the team off the ground required independent funding, 7 a.m. practices, and a thrifty spirit. Notably, all of our soccer balls were once props for a UChicago TAPS production of The Wolves, a play about a girls’ soccer team. At one post-practice hangout at Jimmy’s, we checked our dismal finances and split one pitcher of beer and one frozen margarita eight ways.

On a simple level, this is an opportunity to advocate for club sports funding. There is a clear desire for club-level athletics at UChicago, enough so that teams have started even without RSO status or a dollar of financial support. Team sports provide community, consistent exercise, and reliable breaks from studying. And, on an overly exerted campus, with many RSOs focused on preprofessional endeavors, club sports are a designated space for pure fun. One party in the recent USG election promised to fund club sports, but the University should recognize the impact that club sports could have on a campus that is frequently tuned out of athletics and team spirit. Engaging students in sports outside of the varsity level, at a more competitive effort than intramurals, might help build the Maroon pride that has been waning in previous years in terms of housing culture and athletics. As a captain of a club team that is not affiliated with UChicago, I find that my teammates and I predominantly attribute our team spirit to each other, rather than our university. (Our halftime cheer is literally “Man in the tub!” based on the marketing material for the ice bath we bought on Amazon last year.)

But, more than advocating for funding and RSO status, I really want to say that it is always worth it to try or start something brand new. More importantly, let it be something that brings you pure joy. Hazel, Sophia, and I knew there was a desire for a women’s club soccer team, and, with just each other and a love for the sport, we built it. It is, of course, still not easy—we often play on just one quarter of a field, we still independently fundraise, and we must continuously learn how to manage a new team—but I always return to and leave the field with my teammates feeling fulfilled.

Recently, one of our incoming captains remarked that we should really get new jerseys. We should. They’re practically paper, the numbers are off-center, and, aside from the maroon home color, they show no indication that we are the UChicago women’s club soccer team. However, they’re what we could afford on our tight one-pitcher-and-one-frozen-margarita budget that first year. And, in a strange way, they have come to represent our scrappy mentality. I often remark that our team has a guerilla-tactic style of play. We will run an 11v11 with nine players, make shin guards out of extra socks, and drift down the highway behind a semi because the electric Zipcar is running out of power in the middle of Indiana. From the outset of our journey to the field in early May against Northwestern University, (0–0! That’s a big deal for us), we really are just 18 women brought together by a love for soccer and held together by a love for each other. We embrace our humble beginnings (often with a cheer of “Stay humble!”). It has turned us into a team that is both competitive but silly and determined but grateful.

I am grateful for what this team has given me over the last three years. In many ways, this is all just a love letter to the women’s club soccer team and to my cocaptains. I am an extremely competitive person and, for much of my life, soccer was no exception. While I’ll still take intramurals a little too hard and take losing scrimmages or tournaments even harder, the women’s club soccer team has taught me that soccer is, at its core, about community. Together, our small but mighty community has twisted all our ankles, been absolutely floored by defenders twice our size, and climbed the ranks of the Women’s Midwest Alliance Soccer Conference. We have played in corn fields, through hailstorms, and in paper-thin jerseys. We have started something from scratch and made new friends. I hope and I know that this team will continue to grow.

For those that love soccer or need a new hobby, I promise you that this team will challenge, support, and surprise you. For those who can’t fathom kicking a soccer ball, take a chance on the things you love and start something all your own. And to my teammates, and especially to Hazel and Sophia: this team would not have existed without you, and I cannot imagine my last three years without it.

Camille Cypher is a fourth-year in the College and a former head Viewpoints editor for the Maroon.