Starting this academic year, Stanford club sports financial guidelines have been restructured in a way that changes club sports funding for travel. 

In an email to The Daily, a spokesperson from Stanford’s Department of Athletics, Physical Education & Recreation (DAPER) wrote that the intent of the changes was to make sure funding was “transparent and equitable” under Title IX among all 47 club sports. Club sports administration worked with the Office of General Counsel (OGC) and a third party analyst “to comprehensively review and restructure the club funding processes and distributions.”

“Given that Club Sports is not a fully funded program, it is extremely difficult to provide all 47 Club Sports teams equal benefits when traveling; therefore, travel is not covered,” the DAPER spokesperson wrote, “but many other expenses are more fully covered in order to allow for teams to cover their travel expenses through other means (dues, donations, etc).”

Club financial officers say that the funds once used for travel have now been shifted to cover registration fees, athletic training, team uniforms, team equipment and facilities instead. Although no reductions have been made to the overall funding for club sports, club officers have voiced that travel is the essential part of club sports. Each year, teams book hotels and transportation to compete in tournaments across the country. 

Officers of various club sports are now looking for ways to bridge the gap.

Judy Liu ’26, vice president of Stanford Wushu Club, said she has had to introduce club dues to make up for the changes. With wushu already being an unfamiliar sport for many students, Liu believes the club dues will present a new “barrier to entry.”

“Before, our club dues were zero dollars,” said Liu. “People join us because they want to try something new. They don’t want to be bogged down by money. With a club that’s already struggling so much with interest, increasing dues will hurt only our long term functions. We could die out as a club.”

Liu, a champion wushu artist, founded the wushu club in 2023. Many club sports apply for donations from The Stanford Fund (TSF) for their activities. According to Liu, Stanford Wushu received almost $4,000 from TSF in 2024. However, with a growing number of sports, Liu foresees that TSF funding for each club will lessen. 

“There are more clubs on campus now,” Liu said. “Every single club applies to TSF, and so the number of money that each club gets just gets smaller and smaller because you’re all trying to get people’s donations.”

Ashley Wong ’27, financial officer of Stanford Archery Club, feels “disheartened” by the funding changes to travel. Recruits and members often travel to cities such as Los Angeles or San Diego for both collegiate-level and national-level tournaments. 

“We can use Stanford funding for facilities, registration fees, athletic training, team uniforms and team equipment,” said Wong. “We do appreciate the registration fees and team equipment, but three of these five things that they offer, we don’t even really need funds for. Specifically what we mainly use our funds for is travel.”

Wong, who has managed the club’s finances for two years, says the team will not introduce club dues yet. According to Wong, the archery team has a 2800 savings account that can cover expenses for the near future, as she and past financial officers have been careful to conserve funds over time. Additionally, like Liu, Wong is hoping to receive more donations from TSF.

However, Wong does not see TSF and the 2800 account as the long-term solution. 

“This is not sustainable for the future,” she said. “At a certain point, we’re going to run out of those funds. I don’t know how much we’re going to spend this year and how much will be left for the coming years.”

Will Sayler ’25, captain of the Ski & Snowboard Club, has watched dues increase from $300 his freshman year to the current fee of $550, which Sayler says has “hurt enrollment.”

“We’re trying to recruit more and charge more from each recruit, which unfortunately are counteractive forces,” Sayler said.

Isaac Goodman ’26, financial officer of the Ski & Snowboard Club, says the restructuring has led to confusion among clubs. However, the DAPER spokesperson wrote that “Club Sports administration communicated the changes with ASSU (including both UGS and GSC) prior to implementation.”

“They’ve really decreased the transparency with ASSU funding,” Goodman said. “There’s nowhere where I can find a clear number about how much money we have since they’ve changed the whole process. Now, you have to fill out a Google Form to request funding, and it’s just more of an ordeal than it has been.”

Sayler and Goodman say that the changes could hurt club accessibility for students from lower-income backgrounds. To ensure equity, they hope to expand the club to those who traditionally do not have access to skiing, but Goodman said Stanford only covers $300 of the $550 dues for students on full financial aid who join the club, which further pinches their finances.

“From a purely financial perspective, Stanford is incentivizing us to cut the fin-aid kids first because we get less money, which I find a little upsetting,” Sayler said. “Of course we won’t do that, but Stanford incentivizes us to, and we just have our own internal policy to not do that.” 

Similarly, Wong added that the archery team offers 70% subsidized travel and tournament fees for those who need it. Even with the travel funding changes, Wong says she will find a way to budget enough money to keep the subsidies, although she thinks the percentage could lower from 70% in the future.

Liu understands the changes were made for equity, but thinks that specifically not covering travel is not a good decision. 

“It defeats the whole purpose of club sports,” she said.