The Pointer UW-Stevens Point Student Newspaper
UWSP is offering a variety of activities and fitness facilities for students to use on campus. This includes the Allen fitness center, group fitness, aquatics center, climbing wall, intramurals and club sports.
The Fitness and Recreation programs at UW-Stevens Point are offering their normal necessities but with safety guidelines and limited hours while still providing fun activities for the students.
With all the changes happening to the campus, it was hard to plan what exactly they could offer for the students and staff, but Assistant Director of Fitness and Recreation Programs Anne Hoffmann, explained how the process has been and what is important to keep in mind with COVID-19.
“The fitness and recreation programs professional staff and students have worked very hard to create COVID appropriate activities. We’ve used a lot of creativity in not only what we offer, but also how the processes for participation will work,” Hoffmann said.
Hoffmann also added “We want students to know that we have everyone’s safety in mind, and we believe everyone will be very happy with what we have done to meet campus expectations and offer great programming.”
Each offering listed have their own set rules and restrictions: every participant must wear a mask, wipe down/sanitize their hands and equipment, and sign up for a time slot. This is all to reduce the number of people at one time and slow the spread as much as they can. None of the facilities have reached their capacity yet and Hoffman encourages more students to come and get active.
There are a variety of clubs offered and all of them are still going to try to be played much as possible. The other tricky part is figuring out what they can do with traveling, number of people, and practicing at a time and on the team.
Not only are the fitness programs and sports back but also new intramurals. A popular activity for students, but they also had to make changes to their regular lineup. Starting this fall semester, they are only offering bag toss, badminton, table tennis, golf league, disc golf, tennis and kickball.
Another two events include E-Venues, which is taking the sport aspect and gaming aspect and combining them to bring this new event of an online league. The second one, Pointer Roommates, is a weekly competition that has a list of things to do individually, off campus, and on campus to do with roommates. When a task is finished, there are points to earn. The more points a team receives, the better, and the team with the most points will win a prize.
Recreation Coordinator Ed Richmond is excited for these new offerings and hope students will be too.
“People are really interested in trying some things and staying active,” Richmond said. Their numbers are lower than past semesters, but the safety and health is their most important priority.
Richmond and his team wanted to still offer these intramurals for the students but had to think of something different that still ensures safety and implementation of university and CDC guidelines. This includes having to request approval for each of the sports, and that’s why the final list consisted of much less than other semesters.
It was key that the students have some kind of normal campus life with these offerings. The students “really want to get out there and do something, feel bit of normalcy,” and not just sit inside with their computers and zoom classes. In addition, Richmond emphasized that “there are opportunities out there for people to get active and out of their dorm room.”
With the activities listed, they are socially distanced, a small number of players at a time, indoors and outdoors, all while trying something new they have offered.
The fall semester will also only have one block compared to its regular four blocks. Fall season may have started but be on the lookout towards the end of the semester for the offerings for spring.
Intramurals will be just like the fitness programs with following the university and CDC guidelines to make sure they keep students and staff safe but also helping them stay open so they can provide a great resource for students, especially during this time.
Hoffmann expressed why it’s still important to offer these activities during a pandemic. “We inspire engagement and enjoyment through all that we do. Second, we help students adopt healthy lifestyles that will serve them well in many circumstances.” He continued on to say that they help “reduce stress and have fun.”
Richmond added that he wants students to “have fun and not worry about the virus” just to keep moving and get active. Their main goal was to get students outside and doing something, all at a safe and social distance but also having fun with something different.
Both Hoffmann and Richmond want students to come out and join a fitness class or new activity to ease their mind and escape, but also know that they are taking every safety protocol seriously and are very organized and well prepared for students as they use these programs.
For more information on new intramurals, club sports, fitness facilities hours, sign ups, and restrictions through the Fitness and Recreational Programs, visit their website at http://www.uwsp.edu/fitrec .
