By: William Burns, Sports Editor
With everyone leaving their summer routines and activities, many new and returning students are looking for ways to stay active and make new friends now that they are back on campus.
The school’s recreation department has everything that one could be interested in. Conner Kilpatrick, the assistant recreation manager, has a fun and action-packed year planned whether it be intramural sports or paddleboarding at the lakefront. Kilpatrick is in charge of all the recreation areas including the Fitness Center, intramural sports, open rec, the pool, and the Lakefront.
The Fitness Center, open from 11a.m.-11p.m. on weekdays (-7p.m. on Friday), and 12p.m.-5p.pm. On the weekends, it is a great place for past and present athletes to get a workout or for a student to start a new trend in fitness in his/her life. With a wide variety of free weights, machines, and cardio equipment, there are many options to get fit.
“The Fitness Center is very convenient and well equipped,” David Craig, a Senior Management Major, stated. “I was never really into fitness until I came to college and with a little motivation, I was able to start a new lifestyle.”
The slow-pitch games are played on the University field and are a great time to hang out with and watch your friends play.
Intramural sports offer an entertaining but competitive area of the recreation department. Students form teams for whatever the current sport is at the time and compete against other students. The sports played normally line up with the school sports season, but do not last for as long.
“I’ve loved being able to participate in intramurals the last few years and get to know people from all types of groups.” Sarah Bermudez, a Senior Elementary Education major, said.
Indoor co-rec volleyball and slow-pitch softball are the current seasons, and registration is open. The winning teams of each sport also get Saint Leo Intramural Champion t-shirts.
The winners are determined by the end of season tournament for all teams to participate in.
At night during the week, when the teams are not in season, the lacrosse field, soccer field, and basketball gym are also open for non-athlete students to take advantage of.
The lacrosse field and the basketball gym are currently open for all students to use because the sports are not in season. Whether you want to get a squad together to hoop it up or throw a frisbee around on the field, they have you covered.
The pool is now open Monday through Friday from 11 AM to 3 PM and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 PM. The Lakefront is open on the weekends and offers students the option to sign out canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards to take out on Lake Jovita. This area is located at the dock behind apartments 1-4.
Flag football always draws a lot of teams and is played in the fall once the softball and volleyball seasons have ended.
This isn’t the end of recreation, though. Many days in the green grassy space between the Student Activities Building and Kirk Hall are filled with games set up to play to promote the next season. Jake Garro, a senior sports business major said, “It’s nice to get a break in between classes and play cornhole or KanJam in the yard. It really helps me de-stress from class.”
There is no shortage of variety either as recreation’s one-day events include ping pong and billiards on campus. Also, recreation offers students the opportunity to go to Tampa for ice skating. New this year, recreation plans on hosting an E-sports tournament.
Recreation doesn’t end with sports, though. Recreation is in the process of adding group exercise classes. They currently have a step class and a butts and guts class. They are looking to bring back yoga and add a boot camp class, kettlebell class, and a H.I.T.T class. This year the recreation department is welcoming Nathan Sevenish as the Graduate Assistant in charge of running Intramurals this year.
He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Southern Indiana.
Nate hopes to increase the number of participants in recreational activities by starting a points system for teams who play multiple sports together throughout the year. Depending on your placing at the end season, you will be awarded points and the team with the most points at the end of the year will receive a trophy. This system will be known as the Campus Cup. Nate is also looking into starting club sports at Saint Leo to compete with other school’s club sports teams in the area.
Kilpatrick is very excited for this year’s events and hopes to get a lot of participation from the student body. He urges all interested student to sign up for their favorite sports at www.imleagues.com/saintleo.
“My goal is to see kids active and healthy in mind, body, and spirit and staying out of trouble,” he said. He really puts effort into supplying the students with activities they will enjoy all throughout the year.
