Imagine devoting time and energy to practice, meetings, studying plays and working out in order to do your best in the sports you love, yet you are missing one pivotal thing: a way to get to the game.

Loyola club sports have not been receiving the funds they need in order to travel and compete to the best of their ability.

The vans used for clubs sports are showing their age and disrepair, causing issues for club sports traveling to practices and competitions.

Sailing team captain Sofia Giordano has expressed her concern explaining that the vans purchased by the school are no longer able to leave the city.

“Our main issue that has caused extensive headaches among our team is that we do not have adequate transportation to get us to events,” she said.

According to Giordano, the club sports department has two 12-passenger vans. One of them is from 1990 and unable to make trips outside of the city. The van issue has progressed into such a problem that the team has even been unable to compete.

“This past fall semester we knew we had several out-of-state competitions that we would need transportation in order to attend,” Giordano said. “So during the summer we put in a request to use the second van that was able to make trips out of the city. We were told we would be able to use it for all our out-of-state competitions. Then, two days before our first competition, we were told the van was in the shop and we could not take it.”

With her past experiences with the vans, Giordano believes that the future will not be any brighter.

“A few years ago there were four vans, two died and were never replaced. So I can imagine that when the current vans die, they will not be replaced, and the club sports will be left with nothing,” she said.

Giordano said that her team often had to go through extreme measures when traveling. After the team was denied access to the vans twice because of maintenance, Giordano said the team had to rent cars for transportation and get reimbursed by the Student Government Association.

With most of her team being under 21, renting cars for the team was a challenge.

Giordano said she is concerned that the expensive reimbursement way affect other club sports, not just the sailing team.

“Although we were reimbursed for the rental from SGA, this expensive option takes money away from other organizations simply because the department does not replace their outdated vehicles,” she said.

After all of her frustration, Giordano and her team simply wish represent Loyola well and only ask for transportation from the school.

Zach Bracey, assistant director of campus recreation, is well versed in the transportation issue that the club sports are facing.

“While I wish we were able to have van(s) for club sports to travel, it is not currently warranted based on the limited amount of travel for competitions. The available vans are also not in the condition necessary to travel extended distances,” Bracey said in an email.

Bracey said that he is doing the best he can to find a solution to the issue.

“I will continue to look for ways to improve the travel experiences of club sports, as I know the current situation is not the most convenient or ideal for everyone,” he said.