Becoming Varsity is an audio documentary about the current sport model at Ryerson University. It follows the Ryerson cross-country team, which isn’t actually a team at all — not in the eyes of the Ryerson athletic department, at least. Cross-country is an athletic club, and although these athletes train just as hard as the members of the basketball, volleyball and other varsity teams at the school, they receive little to no funding or support from Ryerson. The cross-country team is not alone in this struggle. There are 18 other athletic clubs at Ryerson, all looking to ascend from club to varsity status and to gain the perks that go along with that distinction. But in most cases, Ryerson’s athletic department hasn’t given these clubs any guidance or criteria to meet that will help them become varsity teams. This is a look into an unfair system, where athletic clubs are stuck in a kind of purgatory, always waiting and looking at what could be if they earned varsity status — a dream that it seems they might never reach.
