Every year college students spend thousands of dollars at athletic events to watch their school's champions grunt, sweat and run their way to victory. In all this excitement and hero-worship, there are many athletes that go overlooked.
These athletes don't wear a jersey decorated with a number and their school's colors; they often don't wear a shirt at all. These athletes don't hydrate with Gatorade in the locker room; they usually prefer a cold beer in the middle of the game. They don't compete for state or national titles; their reward for winning is sometimes a case of the beverage of their choice, or occasionally just bragging rights until the next game.
These athletes are the sunburned, sand-covered heroes of the fraternity house, the Saturday afternoon champions of the volleyball court.
Fraternity volleyball has been a part of Auburn's campus for as long as anyone can remember. On a given Saturday, a student can drive down Old or New Fraternity Row and see an intense game happening at almost every house.
"There's someone out playing every day in the spring," said Richard Ketcham, a senior in biomedical sciences and member of FarmHouse.
The popularity of fraternity volleyball is evidenced by the presence of a sand volleyball court at almost every fraternity house on Auburn's campus. Some fraternities take the game seriously, organizing pledge class teams and betting pools, and others just enjoy a casual game when the weather is nice.
"It's usually pretty laid back," said Brett Villeneau, a senior in economics and member of Phi Kappa Tau.
However, at some houses, the games can become extremely competitive.
When asked about the competitiveness of his fraternity's games, Andrew Wasserburger, a senior in supply chain management and member of Delta Chi responded with, "Have you ever been thrown in the sand?"
Teams, if they are structured, are often organized by pledge class. This sometimes can fuel the competitive aspect of a match.
"If it's a pledge class versus pledge class game, people get mad," said Tyler Merrels, a junior in biomedical sciences and member of FarmHouse.
Sometimes the teams are simply random groups of guys who want to play.
"What can I say, I'm always on the best team," said Adam Myer, a senior in marketing and member of Delta Chi.
Occasionally the fraternity members will hold intrafraternity tournaments with cases of beer and a trophy on the line.
"We tried to set up a tournament with a trophy but it didn't work out," said Ketcham. "It was a little too close to finals."
Casual games are much easier to convince people to join, Ketcham said.
"We bet beer on pool and darts," said T.J. Frazier, a senior in mechanical engineering and member of Delta Chi. "But we just drink beer during volleyball."
Although there are often several fraternities playing volleyball at one time, they generally don't invite one another over for a game, and the only time they interact with other fraternities on the volleyball court is during intramural tournaments.
"We only play volleyball with the other fraternities during our philanthropy tournament," said Jimmy Crocia, a senior in history and member of Delta Chi.
It's not an organized event like an Auburn club volleyball game, but the participants have fun.
"It's where legends are born," Villeneau said.
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