Recreational Sports Board Committee Meeting

The Recreational Sports Board held its opening meeting on Friday, October 22nd. The following is a brief summary of the meeting minutes:

I. Introductions

II. Update regarding new RecSports software which tracks purchases by students and faculty (group classes, intramural sports, etc)

III. Facility updates

IV. New initiatives being introduced by RecSports

The meeting began with group introductions.  RecSports employees then brought the committee up to speed on their new Fusion software. This software is an upgrade over their old software, and allows RecSports to simplify the purchasing process for faculty and students (purchases ranging from memberships (faculty) to group exercise classes (students)). This particular package is still in the testing phase, but RecSports hopes to begin installing the full package shortly.  The RecSports team also introduced the new Intramural Sports Track software, which streamlines the sign up process for all teams. It also allows students who play multiple sports to view their teams all in the same window. With the old software package, players had to search through multiple windows, which made the process much more difficult.

Next, Steve Payne provided an update regarding the state of the facilities here on campus. Included were the following:

1) The tennis courts that were added on the west portion of campus will be re-lined due to a mistake by the company who originally was chosen to complete the work. The courts were not left with enough extra room for comfortable play. The nets will need to be moved (and new holes drilled) as part of this re-line work.

2) In an effort to comply with new federal regulations, the SERF and Nat pools were drained in order to replace the drain covers. Despite the fact that the old drains were essentially identical to the replacement drains (all that was missing from the old drain was a label which read “Drain Complies with US Federal Regulation”) the drains needed to be replaced. After the pools were drained, however, the air reacted with the paint and began to cause chipping. As a result, the SERF pool needed to be re-painted, and naturally, the federal government will not be covering the cost of re-painting. This money will be coming out of the budget.

3) The practice ice arena being built behind the SERF will also include a SERF connector. This will cause the removal of the outdoor basketball courts that currently occupy the space behind the SERF. It will also remove the storage space found behind the SERF. This is still considered an Athletic Dept. project.

The committee then heard presentations from RecSports staff regarding new initiatives to encourage healthy lifestyles. These included ventures to faculty buildings in an attempt to encourage people to exercise at work. RecSports also presented premium group classes, which allows users to reserve seats in the busiest classes for an additional charge.

The meeting ended with a discussion of the roof at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. The roof had been neglected for many years, and had begun to leak severely earlier this spring. Steve Payne made it clear that any renovations to the Nielsen would require state approval.  Other members encouraged that any funds set aside by RecSports to fix the roof be used immediately.

The next meeting is scheduled for November 19th.

-Dan Schachte, RecSports Board