Rutgers University–Camden, a Division III member of the New Jersey Athletic Conference, continues to attract student-athletes despite operating with fewer resources than its conference rivals.

The athletic department sponsors 16 teams and maintains three facilities, including the Athletic and Fitness Center and the Camden Athletic Complex. While Rutgers–Camden athletics generate about $1.5 million annually, rival schools bring in far more: Rowan University generates about $6.6 million, Kean University $3.9 million, and Ramapo College $3.5 million, according to College Factual. Rowan also fields more than 600 athletes, compared to 261 at Rutgers–Camden.

Because Division III schools do not offer athletic scholarships, most funding comes from university budgets and need—or merit—based financial aid. Rutgers–Camden’s athletics share represents about 3 percent of the university’s $5.6 billion fiscal year 2025 budget, much less than higher-profile programs. The NCAA Constitution also limits Division III athletics to just over 3 percent of national revenue, requiring schools to generate their own support.

Despite limited resources, athletes continue to choose Rutgers–Camden. Many cite smaller rosters and teams as benefits, giving them more playing time, leadership opportunities, and a stronger sense of community. Division III programs also offer greater flexibility for study abroad, internships, or even playing multiple sports.

Students point to Rutgers–Camden’s academic reputation as another draw. As part of the larger Rutgers system, the campus offers access to graduate programs, research opportunities, and an extensive alumni network. Its location across the river from Philadelphia also provides cultural and professional opportunities while allowing many students to live at home and commute.

Though Rutgers–Camden cannot match the athletic budgets of its rivals, student-athletes say the balance of academics, athletics, and personal time continues to make the university an appealing choice.

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Men’s Soccer

This month the Raptors headed into their NJAC post-season play. The Raptors beat Rutgers Newark 1-0 in their first round of playoffs, taking them to semi-finals. The Raptors ultimately lost 0-1 to Rowan University, on November 5th. Although their season ended the team had six all NJAC performers. Jason Garwood (defender), Joe Lodise (midfielder), and Sean Boen (goalkeeper) were All NJAC Honorable Mentions. Brandon Valeri (midfielder) and Nick Yurcho (defender) were named Second Team All NJAC. Junior defender Eric Swen was named First Team All NJAC.

Women’s Soccer

Although the women’s team did not make it to postseason play, they had four all conference team selections. Brianne Reeves (forward), and Amy Maurer (defender) were All NJAC Honorable Mentions. Emily Owens (midfielder) and Gianna Patitucci (defender) were named Second Team All NJAC.

Cross Country

This month the Scarlet Raptor’s competed in the NJAC Cross Country Championships. On November 2nd the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship was hosted by TCNJ, the men placed 6th out of 7 teams earning 167 points. The women placed 7th out of 9 teams earning 208 points. On November 16th the men’s team competed in the NCAA Metro regionals placing 20th out of 25 teams, and earning 599 points. Sophomore Jacob Dinerman also named First Team All NJAC.

Men’s Basketball

Basketball season began this month, and the Scarlet Raptors currently hold a 4-0 record. On Saturday November 9th, the Raptors won their home opener against Penn State Lehigh Valley 74-51. On Wednesday November 13th the team won 67-62 against FDU-Florham, and the following Saturday went on to beat Saint Elizabeth University 73-62. This month the raptors also beat Alvernia University 69-64. On Tuesday November 26, they will face Rutgers-Newark in their NJAC opener.

Women’s Basketball

The women’s Basketball team currently holds a 3-1 record. Their season opener was on Saturday November 9th against Penn State Lehigh Valley where they won 77-48. The raptors then went on to beat University of Valley Forge on November 12th (89-54) and Cairn University on November 15th (70-47). The Raptors faced FDU-Florham on November 17th, but lost 84-96. On Tuesday November 26th the Raptors will face Rutgers Newark in their NJAC season opener.

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Golf
The Raptors men’s golf team has had six matches this season, five of them being this month. The
first match of this month was the United East Preview on October 7th, where the Raptors placed
4th out of 8 teams. The Raptors then went on to play in the Alvernia University Invitational the
very next day, where they placed 2nd out of 8 teams. The team then had a small break as they
prepared for their RU-Camden Scarlet Raptor Fall Golf Invitational on October 21st. The
Raptors shot 319 and finished 13 strokes ahead of runner-up William Patterson (Raptors came in
1st out of 6 teams). On October 27th and 28th, the Raptors competed in the Lancaster Bible
College Invitational, where they placed 3rd out of 10 teams for both the first and second rounds.
Men’s Soccer
This month the Raptors men’s soccer team got deep into their NJAC season and currently holds
an 8-6-4 overall record. On Wednesday, October 2nd, the Raptors tied with Rutgers-Newark, and
later in the week they traveled to Rowan University where they also tied with the Profs. On
Saturday, October 12th the Raptors lost to Stockton University, but then went on to beat The
College Of New Jersey, New Jersey City University, and William Paterson University in the
upcoming weeks. The Raptors winning streak came to an end as they lost to Kean University on
Saturday, October 26th. On Wednesday, October 30th, the Raptors play Montclair University,
and on November 2nd, the NJAC tournament will begin.
Men’s Tennis
The men’s tennis team ended their fall season with a 3-4 overall record. The Raptors had three
matches this month, where they lost to both Wilkes College and York College of Pennsylvania.
The Raptors ended their fall with a 7-0 win on October 19th against Eastern University.
Cross Country
This month the cross-country team competed in three meets. On October 5th, they competed in
the Highlander Invitational where the women came in 3rd of 9 teams (125 points), and the men
placed 6th of 11 teams (184 points). On October 19th the Raptors competed in the Border Battle;
in the women’s 6K open the Raptors placed 11th of 14 (268 points) and in the men’s 8K open the
Raptors placed 18th of 21 (547 points). On October 25th the women’s team competed in the
Haverford Invitational where they placed 7th of 9 (185 points). The Raptors will race in the
NJAC Cross Country Championship at The College Of New Jersey on November 2nd.
Women’s Tennis
The women’s tennis team ended their fall season with an overall record of 6-3. This month the
Raptors competed in five matches and held a 3-2 record. The Raptors beat Stockton University,
Lehman College, and Eastern University.

Women’s Soccer
The women’s soccer team currently holds a 7-7-4 overall record and a 2-4-2 record in the
conference. The Raptors beat NJAC competitor New Jersey City and tied with both William
Paterson University and Kean University. On October 30th, the team will play in their last NJAC
game of the season against Montclair State University. The NJAC tournament will begin on
November 2nd.
Volleyball
The Raptors have just two more games in their regular season, where they hold a 6-18 overall
record and a 2-5 conference record. The Raptors started the month strong beating
Rutgers-Newark 3-2 on October 1st. Although the team did go on a bit of a losing streak they
beat Delaware Valley University in the Rutgers Camden Tri-match on Saturday, October 19th.
On October 24th the team held their ‘Dig Pink’ game against Rowan University. Despite the
loss, the Raptors raised lots of money and awareness for those fighting breast cancer, and those
that have survived.

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By: Kendall Lafferty

While the Rutgers University-Camden academic school year began on September 3rd, the fall student-athlete year began long before that. The beginning of each semester is often filled with anxiety, excitement, and sadness of the summer coming to an end. While this is true for most students, student-athletes participating in fall sports start their back-to-school journey even earlier. Rutgers-Camden offers both men’s and women’s cross country, soccer, and tennis; women’s volleyball and men’s golf. Athletes that participate in these sports have their pre-season begin at the end of the summer so that they can be ready for their games starting in September. Not only do these athletes have to prepare for the quickly approaching season, but they also have to prepare for their course load. 

The student-athlete experience is not just about continuing one’s athletic career but it is very much a balancing act. When dual sport sophomore Mia Owens (Volleyball and Softball) was asked about balancing her course load she said “I think that starting the semester in the middle of my season is easier than having to adjust to the school workload after I made a set schedule”. The Rutgers-Camden women’s volleyball team had their first game of the season on August 30th, against Stevenson University, and played a total of three games before the first day

The volleyball team currently has a 3-7 overall record, and have a tri-match this Saturday, September 21st, at Washington College, where they play Washington College at 12 pm and Eastern Mennonite University at 2 pm. 

The volleyball regular season lasts until around the start of November, and post season follows immediately after. Owens says she likes starting the season off this way “because once our season dies down you have more time to focus on finals without having to practice and have games and you can really sit down and focus”. While the beginning of the fall semester can be stressful for student-athletes, it also provides them with the ability to focus on finals as their season winds down. The Raptors play almost every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday of October, and their NJAC opener is Tuesday September 24th against Ramapo College.

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Story by Kendall Lafferty

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is the first major sports
governing body that oversees more than 83,000 athletes at more than 200 colleges
to ban transgender women from competing in women’s sports. The policy states, “Only
student-athletes whose assigned sex at birth is female will be allowed to compete on
NAIA-sponsored women’s sports teams” (Yurcaba). The NAIA council voted 20-0 to approve
this policy, which will take effect on August 1st, 2024. Transgender men and transmasculine
students can still compete on women’s teams as long as they have not yet started masculinizing
hormone therapy, athletes that have started this hormone therapy will not be allowed to compete
in NAIA competition. Although these athletes cannot participate in competition, they can
participate in workouts, practices, and other team activities for women’s teams. The policy is “at
the discretion of their college” when it comes to both trans men and women competing on men’s
teams. According to the policy, cheer and dance teams are open to all students, but all other
sports include a combination of strength, speed, and stamina that provide male students with a
competitive advantage.

Because of this new policy, LGBTQ+ rights organizations have filed lawsuits against
many states that restrict transgender students from participating in athletics, with the argument
that they violate Title IX. Title IX is the federal law that prohibits discrimination based on
biological sex in federally funded schools. Shiwali Patel the senior counsel for the National
Women’s Law Center says “This is unacceptable and blatant discrimination that not only harms
trans, nonbinary, and intersex individuals, but limits the potential of all athletes…It’s important to
recognize that these discriminatory policies don’t enhance fairness in competition. Instead, they
send a message of exclusion and reinforce dangerous stereotypes that harm all women.” (“NAIA

Bans Trans Athletes from Women’s Sports”). The NAIA CEO has responded to the backlash
that this policy has received by saying “We know there are a lot of opinions, and a lot of people
have a very emotional reaction to this, and we want to be respectful of all that…But we feel like
our primary responsibility is fairness in competition, so we are following that path. And we’ve
tried as best we could to allow for some participation by all.”(Yurcaba).

What Does This Mean for NCAA?

Although Rutgers-Camden was not directly affected by this policy, as the governing body
for our sports is the NCAA. NCAA stands for National Collegiate Athletic Association, which
oversees about 363 Division 1 schools, 313 Division 2 schools, and 442 Division 3 schools.
Since 2011, trans women have been permitted to participate on women’s sports teams as long as
they have undergone a year of testosterone suppression. However, in January 2022, this policy
was changed in response to transgender swimmer Lia Thomas. The University of Pennsylvania
swimmer won numerous races in the early part of her season allowing her to soon win the
NCAA title. There was lots of backlash due to Lia Thomas’ victory which sparked the NCAA to
change their policy to a sport-by-sport approach to determine eligibility. A few hours after the
NAIA announced their new policy, the NCAA released a statement saying “College sports are
the premier stage for women’s sports in America and the NCAA will continue to promote Title
IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports and ensure fair competition for all
student-athletes in all NCAA championships.” (“NAIA Bans Trans Athletes from Women’s
Sports”). This is an extremely complex issue that often gets politicized; many believe that it may
take a Supreme Court ruling to come up with a fair solution.

Sources
“NAIA Bans Trans Athletes from Women’s Sports.” ESPN.com, 8 Apr. 2024,
www.google.com/url?q=www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/39901710/naia-essentia
lly-bans-transgender-athletes-women-sports&sa=D&source=docs&ust=17138896301042
52&usg=AOvVaw0-65r0VpKhpjwRKL_OtqHp. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Yurcaba, Jo. “NAIA Bans Transgender Women from Competing in Women’s Sports.” NBC
News, 9 Apr. 2024,
www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/naia-bans-transgender-women-competing-womens
-sports-rcna147017.

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Words and photos by Kendall Lafferty

When thinking about spring break in college, most people think about partying with their friends, or relaxing and enjoying their time off from school. While this is true for most students, student-athletes get a different type of break than other students. Although student-athletes get a break from classes, they can’t exactly relax or let loose during this time. This year the Rutgers-Camden softball team traveled to Davenport Florida to play 10 games in eight days.

On March 8th, while most students were excited about their spring break plans, the Scarlet Raptors traveled to Florida and prepared for their first game of the season. The raptors arrived at their house in
Florida around 6 pm on Friday and immediately had to prepare for the 5:30 am wake-up call the next day. On Saturday, March 9th the team had to be ready to make their 6:45 am bus and prepare for their 9 am and 11:15 am games The Raptors took the win in their first game of the season in extra innings against Carroll University, (9-7). The second game also went into extra innings, as the Raptors were down 0-8 until the sixth inning when they started to make a comeback and tied the game in the bottom of the 7th inning, but ultimately lost 8-9 in the 8th inning. The team arrived home around 3 pm and relaxed before their 9 am wake-up call the following day.

The Raptors had a later start the next day, as their games were at 1:30 pm against Washington College
(loss 2-3), and 6 pm against Plymouth State University (Win 9-0). In their second game,
Freshman pitcher Sammie Friel allowed just one hit off of a bunt in the 6th inning. The team
arrived home around 9 pm and got to rest during their off day the next day.
On Tuesday, March 12th, the Raptors had another early start, as their bus left at 6:45 am.
The team suffered a loss in both their 9 am game against Wesleyan University (2-10), and their
11:15 am game against Lakeland University (0-4). On Wednesday the Raptors got a taste o
what one might see on a typical spring break, as they traveled to Disney’s Hollywood Studios
for their second day off.

On Thursday, March 14th, it was back to business for the team, as they again had games at 9am against Wisconsin Lutheran College (loss 3-4) and 11:30 am against Fredonia (loss 3-4). Although the team suffered a four-game losing streak, they came back ready to fight for their last game day in Florida. On Friday, March 15th the Raptors swept. At 12:30 pm the Raptors shut out St. Norbit College in just five innings with a score of 8-0. In their second game at 2:45 pm, the Raptors quickly put up 7 runs in the first three innings and only allowed St. Jospsehs College of Maine to score 5 runs. The Raptors concluded their trip by stopping for ice cream on the way home to celebrate a successful last day. When they arrived back at their home the team had to pack up all their belongings and be ready for the 4 am wake-up call to make their 8 am flight home. The Raptors arrived back in Camden around 11:30 am and rested for their upcoming six-game week.

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By Kendall Lafferty

On February 7th, the Scarlet Raptors celebrated the 38th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day.  Founded in 1974 by legendary tennis player BIllie Jean Kings Women’s Sports Foundation, the day aims to celebrate women’s athletic opportunities. This day started as a way to recognize women in sports and bring national attention to the potential women have in the athletic world, and the first Girls and Women in Sports day was held in February of 1987 with the goal of advancing the lives of women and girls through sports. Today, National Girls and Women in Sports Day is a celebration of the accomplishments of girls and women in sports.  The day is also meant to influence women to participate in sports, and to reach equality for women in sports.  

Several female athletes at Rutger-Camden discussed the day and what it means to them. Senior softball captain Alexa Mcnee says she enjoys celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day because “I enjoy being around female athletes all the time and allowing them to inspire me to do new things.  I hope to one day be able to inspire future generations of female athletes”.  Junior soccer captain Hannah Crowley says “In today’s society, women in sports often go unrecognized and underrepresented. You can see in news everywhere; women typically attract less fans to games, get paid less professionally, but work just as hard. This day reminds women and girls across the world to be proud of themselves and their athletic accomplishments. Not only that, but this day also encourages women to support other women around them in the same situation. Therefore, creating a united front and confidence that sometimes can take a hit during their treacherous seasons and hard work. I love to use this day as a chance to look back on great victories with my teammates and my individual accomplishments”.  

Although there was not much done around campus in celebration of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, the Rutgers-Camden female athletes found it important to recognize the accomplishments of themselves and their teammates.  Female athletics have come a long way in just a short amount of time, and National Girls and Women in Sports Day aims to recognize and celebrate the successes of female athletes.

Sources 

Billie Jean King. Women’s Sports Foundation. (2023, October 9). https://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/athlete/billie-jean-king/ 

Women’s Sports Foundation: Billie Jean King. Billie Jean King Enterprises. (2017, September 15). https://www.billiejeanking.com/equality/womens-sports-foundation/ 

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