Not even a year old and the CSULB Sailing Team is already making big waves. Not to be confused with the sailing club, the sailing team competes with universities from up and down both the west and east coast. The relatively small team holds there own against the larger NCAA crews, often beating big names such as UCLA and USC.
Last semester, five students came together to re-create the CSULB sailing team, which had originally disbanded in the 60s. The team has grown to 13 members, many of which are professional sailors and sailing instructors at yacht clubs around Long Beach.
Kristen Barca, a CSULB junior, is both a founder and treasurer for the team. It is notoriously hard for club teams on campus to receive funds and the sailing team is no different. The five founders sent over 300 letters to alumni and families asking for donations to help jumpstart the team, and received nearly 4,000 dollars to pay for dock space and yacht club fees. Kristen said this was crucial to getting the team back on its feet. The school granted under 2,000 dollars to the team, which is barely enough to buy sails. “We are really getting the money out of our pockets,” Kristen said.
The sailing team holds annual fundraisers at restaurants around Long Beach. Kristen seemed particularly excited about a “weekend regatta extravaganza” in the works, to invite students and families around Long Beach to attend and spend a day learning to sail and to see what the team is all about. The team is always looking for potential new members, which are hard to come by when the smaller clubs are overshadowed by the NCAA teams. The sailing team is fighting hard to make a name for themselves and find there place on campus. “We are mainly in the shadows but we are being heard,” Kristen says, “We aren’t a priority yet, but we are trying to show [people] that this will continue on.”
Photos courtesy of Kristen Barca
Photos courtesy of Kristen Barca
