Northern Michigan University’s range of athletic programs now includes America’s national pastime.

After the NMU club baseball team earned the Organization of the Year award at the Leadership Recognition Banquet, a prominent goal of the team resurfaced that could find value in being discussed campus-wide: becoming a varsity sport.

The team has almost doubled in size from 11 players in 2012 to a current roster of 20 while remaining quite active in the National Club Baseball Association (NCBA).

Members have been aiming to bring the team to NCAA status.

In the past, with the help of former University President Les Wong, the team was able to get their name out to the public.

Currently, the club team at NMU is not spit into Division I or Division II club squads, much like the teams at Michigan Tech, Grand Valley, Eastern and Saginaw Valley.

The transition to varsity could be revolutionary, not just the university, but for club sports on campus as a whole.

Other schools in Michigan have NCAA division baseball teams with smaller amounts of experience on a diamond than the NMU team.

The NMU club baseball team is student run and has already accomplished a list of goals, which included growing membership, traveling to compete on the road and earning membership in the NCBA. At the very beginning of Fall 2012, they became proud members of the NCBA.

The team began as a student organization back in 2011.

The team was successful on the road this season, earning victories over divisional schools such as Lake State and Michigan State University in different locations, including Florida.

With more club sports showing such prominence amongst the ranks here at NMU, more attention should be given to them as they continue to compete at home and on the road, overall.

The NMU club baseball team’s accomplishments and future goals, alone, make them worthy of an upgrade to varsity status. A club sport and student organization with so much potential deserves the honor to compete on behalf of NMU.