Club Sport Tackle Football finds coaches By Alysia Johnson Campus Recreation Graduate Assistant For those of you involved with basketball on campus, Coach Bruce Hubbard is already well-known. As the assistant coach for CSU Men's Basketball team he now plans to become the Head Coach of the new club sport tackle football team. Just to be clear, tackle football is a club sport which is a division of Campus Recreation not Athletics. When asked why Columbus State University should be excited about tackle football, Coach Hubbard said, “It’s because they haven’t had a football team in their history and a lot of people have been interested in them having a football team. There have been rumors in the past and it hasn’t happened. [Tackle Football] has generated a lot of excitement for the student body and hopefully [this excitement] will transition to the public.” In addition to Hubbard, there are two coaches committed to the team already. Grant Shumate will be the offensive line coach and coordinator along with Shandrae Moreland as the defensive line coach and coordinator. Hubbard played football in high school and then coached for 3 years at a high school in Giessen, Germany. He was the assistant coach for 2 years and the head coach for 1 year at Giessen American Middle and High School. He was in Germany from 1999 - 2005 stationed there in the Army and has since retired in 2007 after 23 years of service. When Coach Hubbard was asked, “What are your long term goals for the tackle football club sport at CSU? Is there a chance that this club sport will flourish into a full-fledged team?” Hubbard stated, “It’s hard to compare. There are other teams that started out as club teams and will have a full fledged football team. Other teams have started out with club football team and end with an academic football team depending on the progress whether or not the popularity of the students and the surrounding public. But it’s going take time.” They had a meeting a month ago and last Sunday’s was cancelled due to the snow. At the first meeting they had 25 people sign up. Hubbard would like to have more sign up. The next meeting will probably be the weekend after spring break on Saturday or Sunday. Check the club sport website for meeting time information at http://campusrec.colstate.edu/clubsports.asp. The current challenge for the club sport tackle football is finding competition. While several schools have already committed to playing, tackle football is now looking to junior varsity of division schools. For each player, there will be a fee to participate that covers personal equipment such as shoulder pads, helmet, jersey, game shirt and game pants. The fee amount has not yet been decided but will max out at $150. Other equipment is being sought out through donations. After the team is formed, fundraisers will be held to assist with equipment and traveling costs. If you would like to donate time, money or equipment, contact Rick Cravens at (706) 568-2033. If you would like more information, please contact Coach Hubbard at hubbard_bruce@colstate.edu.