Illustration by Uy Pham
“The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is undefeated!”
At least, that’s what t-shirts in the admissions office say, referencing a fictional undefeated football team to poke fun at the school’s lack of official sports teams. But SAIC isn’t lacking a sports community, and it’s definitely not lacking groups that are ready to do more.
Currently registered sports and movement clubs include: SAIC Climbing Club, Sports@SAIC, Ping Pong Club, SAIC Volleyball Club, Tango SAIC and Duckiz Dancers. Since the start of the 2024 fall semester, the Office of Campus Life has seen an uptick in new sports clubs and an increase in sports club funding requests. Ping Pong Club and SAIC Volleyball Club are new additions this year.
More clubs are coming. Martial Arts Club, Billiards Club, and SAIC Dance and Movement Club are working on gathering co-leaders, an advisor, and members, to get registered with Campus Life. All registered clubs can be found on Engage.
“From a health and well-being perspective, students bonding around shared sports interests builds friendships, reduces isolation and loneliness, and provides important opportunities for exercise and physical activity. The Wellness Center is always looking for health-promoting activities to suggest to students, and the student clubs and groups at SAIC are a terrific place to start,” said Joseph Behen, Dean of the Wellness Center.
For some students, sports and athleticism have been essential. Former SAIC student Nakiya’h Longstreet, co-leader for Sports@SAIC — which encompasses skating, running, lifting, boxing, tennis, and badminton — has been skateboarding for 14 years. Longstreet took over the club in 2023 and was encouraged to bring skateboarding to SAIC after creating pieces for a skate obstacle course with SAIC sculpture professor Juan Chavez.
“I think sports absolutely builds community. Especially skateboarding. Skateboarding involves a lot of different people from different backgrounds and career interests into one space,” said Longstreet.
Finley Heinzen (BFA 2027), co-leader of SAIC Climbing Club, said he feels as though he is part of a team, even without playing a team sport.
“Especially since sports in high school were a little much, in a way, for me, being queer in high school, [it was] difficult being on a sports team at the same time. But SAIC Climbing Club immediately tickled all those same nerves that I enjoyed — in a whole new context,” Heinsen said.
Community is a core focus in all of SAIC’s sports groups. Despite being one of the largest student groups on campus, SAIC Climbing Club is still a relatively new group, established four years ago. Heinzen and co-leader Moxie Doctor (BFA 2027) keep a close eye on the club’s reach. They estimate that 130 students attended their sessions in the fall, with between 30 and 50 students in regular attendance. SAIC Climbing Club meets every Tuesday, alternating group and team climbs. The club competes once a semester, typically through the non-profit organization USA Climbing.
“There’s a huge call for community, especially community driven movement groups at SAIC. We have gyms in the dorms, but they’re not the best. We don’t have an athletic facility or anything. Especially [since] we don’t have a campus green or a typical college campus, sometimes I feel like there’s a lack of community at SAIC and a lack of athletic opportunities,” said Doctor.
Navigating space has been a primary concern for athletic clubs. Currently, SAIC offers the Movement Space, which is a small room in the Maclean Building on the 13th floor, and two small gyms. SAIC students have access to a gym at 162 North State Street and students living in the Buckingham Residence Halls have access to a small gym.
While other schools in Chicago, and specifically in the Loop, have indoor and outdoor spaces, such as the University of Illinois Chicago Sport and Fitness Center, SAIC is without a large athletic space that can facilitate its burgeoning clubs. Responsibility falls to student leaders, with the assistance of the Office of Campus Life, to find spaces to host their club activities.
Though Sports@SAIC was able to get a contract with the UIC Sport and Fitness Center, they faced pressure to ensure regular student attendance, which was difficult due to the timing of the contract and schedules of the club’s leaders.
“[The contract] took forever to put together. So by the time it was solidified, it was already almost November, and it was like, okay, well, you can’t schedule stuff between now and the end of the semester [due to finals and break],” said Yadu Mangray (BFA 2026), co-leader of Sports@SAIC for boxing.
Space hasn’t been the only limiting factor. Ping Pong Club was registered early in the fall semester by co-leaders Magmnus Saunders (BFA 2028) and Brandon Cheatham (BFA 2028), but since the SAIC Student Government didn’t immediately grant funding, the club did not have their first meeting until this February. The ping pong table at 162 North State Street (provided by Residence Life) was in such bad shape, it collapsed in half, forcing the club to relocate to the second floor of the Sharp Building.
“It is weird to try to fit a club into the existing spaces. And looking into getting grants, most require a dedicated space so you can protect the assets that you buy with the grant. So I wasn’t able to apply for any of those because we don’t have a space to get them,” said Saunders. Saunders and Cheatham have also had to purchase equipment like paddles and balls with their own money.
Student groups are systemically funded by Student Government through a limited budget provided through the Office of Campus Life. However, in the past, SAIC’s Wellness Center has tried to support movement-based groups with money provided through donations. SAIC Climbing club received this funding in the past.
SAIC’s sports community is growing and here to stay. But these groups require support from SAIC to have the space and funding they need to thrive.
