On Sunday afternoon, RecFest – a sprawling festival on Lower Miller Fields that included food, games and free swag – introduced new and returning students to all the new services and opportunities Campus Recreation has to offer.
According to Peter Koutroumpis, the assistant director of special events, RecFest is the one of the most popular events for the start of the semester.
“We tried to make it the biggest we have ever had to kick off the school year,” Koutroumpis said. “We always have similar activities, but this year we have added the Carolina Hurricanes, Downtown Raleigh Lights, and more food venders with lots of food for everyone.”
One of RecFest’s main goals is to inform students of what’s new with Campus Recreation. It has added several new clubs, in addition to new fitness classes and new leagues within intramural sports.
Club sports have continued to grow, now containing over 50 clubs, and has introduced six new ones. One of the most talked about new club sports involves skateboarding.
“Skateboarding is going to be really big this year. We have over 100 people registered,” Kriss Lans, a freshman in management and club sports student director, said. “Since all our sports are run by students, we are hiring a few people within club sports.”
Fitness classes have also continued to evolve. Campus Recreation has added many new and different classes for students, according to Gustavo Arevalo, the student director of fitness.
“We [have] a whole bunch of fitness classes for free in the afternoons and mornings,” Arevalo, a senior in parks and recreation, said. “One of our newest is a spinning class in our new room with about 20 brand-new bikes.”
Intramural sports has also made another change that excites many of its employees – the addition of a new elite league for students who want to take their play to the next level, according to Travis Wilborn, the student director of officials for intramural sports.
“We have an elite league for flag football and soccer,” Wilborn, a sophomore in nuclear engineering said. “This league is for the ones who really want to play competitively. It will cost $75, but you get priority scheduling and the top officials we have.”
In a year with severe budget cuts and a declining job market, Campus Rec has managed to still thrive, according to Koutroumpis.
“We really haven’t been affected directly with budget cuts,” Koutroumpis said. “We generate our budgets with student fees and we program accordingly. We are trying to do much more with less.”
By doing more with less, Campus Rec has been able to hire more and create more job opportunities for students, according to Arevalo.
“When I started here, I started going to all the fitness classes and then I starting teaching some and it just snowballed from there,” Arevalo said. “There are a lot of jobs for students available, and Campus Rec does a good job of working around your schedule.”
