- Pick-up Soccer
There is a weekly meet up for pick-up soccer for players of all skill levels. We typically meet on Friday evenings at the Dairy Fields. If the Dairy Fields are closed we meet at the A Street Field. A weekly email will be sent out with information about the time and location. To join the email list, please email Spencer Fuller at fuller@ucdavis.edu.
- Competitive Soccer – The Supernova
If you are an experienced player, please consider joining the competitive team, Supernova. The team was started by a group of physics graduate students and faculty, but has expanded to include players outside of physics. Supernova plays in the Davis Adult Recreational Soccer League (DARSL). There are weekly full-field, 11 on 11 games (typically on weeknights) with refs. Dues are $10 per game per person and cover the field use and ref fees. For more information email Spencer Fuller at fuller@ucdavis.edu
- Softball – The Bad News Bosons
The Physics department unofficially runs a softball team, the Bad News Bosons, which plays in the Davis City Leagues (see here for more information on the various leagues and rules). This team, which has been mostly led by someone in the department, including graduate students, for the last decade, actually consists of two partially separate, partially interchangeable teams.
The first team, which plays on Wednesday evenings in the lowest division of the city league softball (D5C-2), is almost entirely made up of people from the department, with players that range in skill level from having played baseball in college to haven’t totally learned the rules yet. While the competition is real, the atmosphere is low pressure, and emphasis is more on having fun, learning, and improving than strictly winning. Though in a men’s league, the team welcomes players of all genders.
The second team, which plays on Thursday evenings in the highest division of the city league softball (D2), is more serious. Players at this level generally have some experience in playing softball and/or baseball and the competition level can be very high, with many teams, including ours on occasion, having players that have previously been paid to play baseball professionally. Though the emphasis is more on winning in this league, the team is very supportive and friendly, which is an atmosphere that is not usually found at this level of skill. The team consists of a mix of players from the Physics department and people that people from the department have met from the greater UCD or Davis community that have been invited to play. Players in this league almost without exception have started in the Wednesday league and moved up to this league.
Players from both teams play on each other’s nights on a fairly regular basis, though you are generally required to show a moderately high level of skill to play on Thursday nights. Both teams practice together on Monday evenings at Community Park in Davis, though the day and location of this practice is subject to change by the whim of the managers. Practice is a very low pressure environment intended only to throw and hit around and do very basic drills.
The beginning of official play for the leagues is usually in the middle of April and runs until the middle of October spanning three different distinct “Seasons” of play, Spring, Summer, and Fall, all of which consist of 8-10 games of one hour each. The city league costs about $40 per person to play, but the price is well worth it, the fields (well… the ones you play on most of the time) are immaculate, the umpires are at least physically present and sometimes call things correctly, and the fun is fun. If you are interested in either league, contact badnewsbosons@ucdavis.edu and direct your message to Brian or Rob.