UTRGV Athletics announced the Varsity Club on Sept. 30 which allows UTRGV and legacy institution student-athlete alumni to join and maintain a connection with the department after their departure from the university.
According to a news release from UTRGV Athletics, the Varsity Club will provide multiple benefits to former student-athletes that become members such as mentoring and networking opportunities with current student-athletes, free or discounted tickets to home games and invitations to athletic events such as mixers among other benefits.
According to the news release, there are three different monetary membership options to join the Varsity Club.
UTRGV Assistant Athletic Director of Development Rogelio Chanes said joining will also provide additional funding to all 16 UTRGV athletic programs.
“This membership that they pay or submit they will help fund our athletics program,” Chanes said, “And you can thing of just multiple way we can help in terms of travel, nutrition, academic services, anything that we can use our athletic funds we can pretty much submit into the accounts that help and support our student-athletes.
The different membership options include:
— $12 for one year for recent graduates,
–$50 annually one year past their graduation and
–$500 one-time purchase for a lifetime membership.
Chanes also explains the varying price points provide former student-athletes multiple ways to join.
“What we’re trying to do, we’re trying to do make sure we welcome everybody from our athletes from whatever point in their life they can be,” he said. “At the same time, we want to create as we have our students that graduate this culture of support and giving back to their programing.”
For many legacy institutions and UTRGV former student-athletes college athletics provided them with many opportunities and the Varsity Club is looking to provide them with an avenue to give back to the current generation.
Sara Hernandez, a former legacy institution University of Texas Pan-American Track & Field student-athlete and current UTRGV Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing, said the Varsity Club is an excellent opportunity to give back but also to reconnect with former teammates.
“Just being able to reconnect with that family who you don’t really touch base with as much as we would like because we’re all doing our lives,” Hernandez said. “So, if this can bring us back together that’s going to be really special.”
For more information about the Varsity Club or to sign-up, contact Rogelio Chanes at (956) 665-40-69 or email at rogelio.chanes01@utrgv.edu.
FOR VAQUERO RADIO, I’M LUIS RUBIO.
