UCF rock climbers reach top of competition

When the UCF Rock Climbing Club arrived at the Inaugural Collegiate Climbing Series National Championship in Austin, Texas, their goal was to not come in last place.

Not only did they reach their goal, they soared past it and took the championship title.

After winning the CCS Regional Conference over the University of Florida, the UCF Rock Climbing Club was invited to the CCS National Championship on May 22-24.

UCF took first, beating out 13 other teams from all over the country, making them the first CCS National Champions.

"This was the first time we were going up against colleges and with that said, it was the first time it was a team-based competition," said Tommy Terrell, former club president and current CCS regional coordinator. "Even though there were individual components, the team competition was the novelty of it."

UCF's major competitors in the male technique category were Charles Garcia, Andre Torres, Mike Rivers, and Terrell, who took 1st, 2nd, 4th and 7th place, respectively.

UCF also placed high in the female technique category with Chelsea Coats taking 4th, Shaina Goldberg finishing 6th and Molly O'Shaughnessey coming in 9th.

"This is UCF's sport club's third national title as a team, and our first title since 2005," Jason Balma said. Balma works with the Sport Club Council to manage UCF's 36 sport clubs. "This is a really big deal for us."

The Sport Club Council is an agency that partners with the Student Government Association and the Recreation & Wellness Center to help fund sports, make travel arrangements, provide risk management and provide facilities for sports club practice.

Most of the Rock Climbing Club's practices are at the UCF climbing tower or at Aiguille Rock Climbing Center in Longwood.

The UCF Rock Climbing Club was founded in 2001 to bring together rock climbers at UCF and reach out to other students.

The Rock Climbing Club has a team of six males and four females that travel to competitions, along with a team of alternates.

The competitive team is in its second year, and it requires tryouts to be considered.

"The Rock Climbing Club has been a great organization to work with," said Balma, "They've been one of our premiere clubs all along and do a great job with leadership transition."

The Rock Climbing Club competes in a series of competitions in the fall, called the American Bouldering Series. In the spring, the CCS' five competition series begins.

In addition to the competitions, the club follows a vigorous training schedule with three to four hour practices once a week where they do strength and endurance training. But the most common way to train is to climb hard routes multiple times.

"The way we prepared was we just climbed all the time," Rivers said. "When we train, we use a hangboard which has different holds on it to train fingers and biceps and it simulates when we climb."

The club does more than scale rocks; they help the community.

The biggest event the club puts on is through the Coalition for the Homeless, where they spend the day rock climbing with needy children at the Aiguille Rock Climbing Center.
The Rock Climbing Club also puts on barbecues, climbing competitions at the UCF challenge course and various other fundraisers.

"Between all the competitions, we do a lot of fundraisers to help support our club," said Joey Hannes, club president. "We also do outdoor climbing trips with any members, which are very casual. We go out to a remote location, climb some rocks, and have a good time."

Even though the summer is the offseason, the Rock Climbing Club does not stop working. Throughout the summer, they will prepare for the upcoming season's competitions and work on the organization of the club.

"The offseason is a big thing for officers," Stuart Knight, club treasurer, said. "We meet up a lot and figure out what we're going to do next year to improve the club and team. So although it's not a big competition time, it's a really good planning time."

As the regional coordinator for CCS, Terrell is now working to get more participation from other Florida schools. The UCF Rock Climbing Club is currently one of the most active rock climbing organizations in Florida.

"It's difficult to get the word out because the climbing community is underdeveloped in Florida than in other states," Terrell said. "A lot of schools in the state are looking to us, they don't have anywhere near the organization our club has. We're putting our hands out to help them get their clubs started."

The UCF Rock Climbing Club is not only being noticed by other schools in Florida, but by the Rock Climbing community throughout the country.

Recently, the UCF Rock Climbing Club was awarded an exclusive sponsorship with Blue Water Ropes, a major rope company based in Georgia that specializes in ropes for rock climbing.

Another major goal for the club is to branch out to new members and make beginners feel more welcome at competition. The Rock Climbing Club admits climbers of any level.

"Ninety five percent of our climbing population started climbing our freshman year at the tower," Terrell said. "It just goes to show you don't have to be doing it for your entire life to get involved."

For more information on the Rock Climbing Club, visit their  Web site at www.therockclimbingclub.ucf.edu or go to the Rock Climbing Tower in the UCF Recreation & Wellness Center.