By Alanna Alexander

Students at Texas A&M University at Qatar were told by university staff last weekend that they would not be able to participate on athletic teams at other universities this semester, say students.

For students at TAMUQ, who have previously been allowed to be part of the Northwestern-funded “Pirates” football team, this means that the only squad they can now be part of is the TAMUQ “Aggie” team. For students at Northwestern, this means that they won’t be able to have a team at all due to the small number of male students at NU-Q.

The email announcing the decision at TAMUQ said that the new rule was made with “direct consideration of the Aggie Core Values of Loyalty and Respect” but players are hoping that that this new decision will change, as it would greatly affect the dynamics of the Education City football league.

“In a league point of view, it’s really disappointing. There really is no more competition in the game. We’re not in the US where the students are semi-professionals and professionals. This is not the NCAA. (National Collegiate Athletic Association) We haven’t signed contracts as players. It’s very strange that something like this would even be considered,” said an A&M student and member of the Pirates team, who wanted to remain anonymous to avoid disappointments from the TAMUQ community.

TAMUQ players have played for the mixed Pirates team for more than two years now as an integral part of the team, thanks to the small male student body at Northwestern- an issue that A&M does not have to deal with.

Paul Wood, Senior User Support Specialist at NUQ, who has coached the Pirates for two years is now confronted with losing players he has trained. Of the 32 players in EC who attended the first training session he held this semester, at least two are key players on the Aggie squad.

“We have two hour practices twice or thrice every week and we play football for only 20 minutes of that,” Wood said, emphasizing that most training time is spent on the personal skills of the players. Player claim that they’ve improved both their skills as football players and have drastically improved their personal fitness as well.

For many players who have chosen to play for the Pirates over the Aggie team, its extensive training sessions are just one reason why switching to regular practices with the Aggies is so hard.

Students felt comfortable on the Pirates team as they felt it was a more close-knit community than the TAMUQ team. “We’re not from Northwestern, but we felt more like we were students there,” said another A&M student who asked not be identified in fear that his colleagues might not appreciate his closeness to the Northwestern community over the community at TAMUQ.

But it is this fear that has caused Aggie coach Jeff Sulik to reconsider letting students play for other universities- lack of unity within the student body.

“We were seeing internally a division between our students- students feeling conflicted. Should they be supporting and cheering for the Northwestern team? Should they be supporting and cheering for the A&M team? They had friends who played for both. There was a whole language around the Texas B or Texas reject team,” Sulik said. For him, the obvious solution to this issue was to completely eliminate the other team.

Many A&M players on the Pirates team have said, however, that they believe “supporting and cheering” have little to do with decision.

“The sports culture at A&M isn’t that great. And that has an affect on players. I’ve even heard A&M players complain about how their (football) games don’t receive as much attention as the basketball games,” the player added.

Sulik has said that he is willing to consider a mixed team only if it is formed under a “formal partnership”.

“If there was a formal partnership between the two universities, there would be coaches from both universities, there would be representatives from both universities who would help administer the team. I would be open to having a joint team like the Northwestern-CMU basketball team,” Sulik said.

In talks with coaches at other universities, he also mentioned an incident that was also reason for the new rule. According to Sulik, A&M players on the Pirates team were acting against the Aggie Core Values of Loyalty and Respect but did not receive the same kind of penalty that an A&M student would because they were playing for another team.

Although he is hoping that it won’t have to come to this, Wood has mentioned that he will continue to look for ways that the Pirates can continue to play together– even if that means that Northwestern will not have a team anymore.

For now, the Pirates have said that they will train and practice together as usual and hope to play in tournaments outside of EC.