Becoming an athlete requires training, a proper diet and conditioning, but a person can’t become an athlete alone. It takes a support system.

Laura Thomas, the director of professional development in the University’s Division of Student Life, knows all about creating a support system around athletes. 

Before Thomas transitioned to the Division of Student Life, she was the assistant director of club sport programs. 

The director 

Thomas works with students in all club sports and intramural programs offered at The University of Alabama. 

She knew this was the job for her since she was an undergraduate student at Texas State University where she majored in recreational administration with a business minor. 

While a student at Texas State University, Thomas was an official in intramural games, which led to a job with the sports club program. 

“I fell in love with the work,” Thomas said. 

She paired her undergraduate degrees with a master’s degree from Ohio State University in higher education administration with an emphasis in college student personnel. Much of that program focused on supporting students via counseling, making sure she “meets students where they are.” 

Thomas is working on a Ph.D. in general higher education administration through The University of Alabama.   

The why

Thomas’ main draw to club sports at the University is the relationship she has with the student-athletes.

“I love sports and I love being around all that stuff, but there’s also just so much more to working with student organizations,” Thomas said.

She loves the culture that surrounds sports and the energy that students bring to club sports teams. 

“It’s high competition, and everyone is taking it seriously, and it means a lot to a lot of people,” Thomas said. 

Thomas spent most of spring 2020 checking in with individual athletes when the COVID-19 pandemic first hit Tuscaloosa to make sure they were okay — both physically and mentally — while also communicating how each team’s season would be different in the middle of a pandemic. 

The work

 Thomas’ hours are flexible, not to accommodate her schedule, but to accommodate the schedules of each sport she oversees. 

“Students don’t operate on an 8-to-5, and so I need my schedule to reflect that,” she said. 

Thomas’ typical hours span from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., but sometimes she works from noon to 10 p.m if there’s practice or a game. She has extra flexibility built into her schedule to accommodate weekend events. 

At times, Thomas will be on campus all day on a Saturday or Sunday if a team is hosting a home game or tournament. 

Her role is largely administrative with the purpose of supporting students. 

The club sports office works closely with the executive officers from each team. Officers must submit travel schedules and request forms that Thomas and her staff monitor weekly. She reviews and approves event requests and works with the University Recreation Center to reserve fields. 

Thomas said most of the work she does is behind the scenes, and “students may or may not know that somebody has to be doing that.” 

Her staff manages about 60 students who work under club sports as officials or assistants. These students supervise all events, from practices to games. 

She manages the risks and liabilities  associated with many of the club sports teams and ensures that an athletic trainer is on-site for student-athletes to use. 

She described all these tasks as “little things” she has to monitor before a fan can see a weekend rugby game. 

The relationship 

There are 35 sports clubs on campus. Thomas, along with the assistant director, the sports program coordinator and the sports program graduate assistant, split the 35 clubs between the three of them to serve as a liaison for each club. 

Seth Ballew, a former UA club baseball athlete who is now in his second year of medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said the system streamlines communication. 

Ballew was the treasurer of the club baseball team during his sophomore and junior years, and he was elected president his senior year. He said his liaison at the time was always there for them. 

“If we needed anything, we could call or email or text her, and I did it often,” Ballew said. 

He relied on his liaisons to deal with the University and his sport-specific governing body as his team navigated logistics and competitions. His liaison provided logistical guidance as he worked to manage his teammates. 

Thomas said trust is important to her as she forms working relationships between sports club officers and liaisons. 

“I would say the hardest part of my job is when I realize they didn’t hold up their end of the bargain,” she said. 

Thomas said that if she learns a team printed a T-shirt without getting it approved through club sports or if there is a disciplinary issue on a trip, “it hurts a little bit.” 

She and her team “work our butts off for these teams and these athletes.” Many teams and athletes do hold up their end of the bargain, but when they don’t, it can feel like they don’t care. 

Thomas and Ballew both said it is up to the officers and individual athletes to form that trust and working relationship. 

Jack Mulkerne, a junior on the club golf team, said his team has had some issues along these lines. He said this stems from failure on the officers’ part to get club sports the necessary paperwork.

 “It’s a bunch of kids who just want to play golf, so they don’t really understand that we have to have waivers and all this other stuff in case someone gets hurt or something happens,” he said. 

Mulkerne recognized that the working relationship between club officers and liaisons was imperative to a team’s success. 

The goal 

For some, club sports provide a way to continue an athletic career. For others, it is the highest level of competition before going professional. Club sports are meant to provide student-athletes a home outside of varsity sports. 

This is important to Thomas, but she said it’s not her main goal. Thomas’ ideal world is for all student-athletes to leave with similar experiences to Ballew’s and Mulkerne’s — to form lifelong friendships, build leadership skills along the way and create a support system within The University of Alabama.

This story was published in the Health Edition. View the complete issue here.

Questions? Email the sports desk at [email protected].