Intramural Recreational staff works “prime time” hours for students
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They work nights, overnights, and weekends. They plan, promote, and supervise a wide range of student activities. They are the Intramural Recreational staff of the Department of Recreation, Fitness, and Wellness: Ruth Waller, director; Joe Gratz, assistant director; and Scott Wood, program coordinator.
Waller, a 32-year University employee and member of the USI Athletics Hall of Fame, has directed the program for 24 years. She said, “We work together to accomplish our goal of having a variety of activities for students to participate in. Scott’s main job is intramurals; Joe’s is outdoor adventure, and mine is special events and recruiting sponsorships.”
Sponsors help pay for T-shirts that serve as prizes for team events; equipment and improvements; and marketing programs to students with posters, flyers, banners, and a calendar. They also provide food and prizes for the department’s annual Welcome Fun Fest, which introduces students to the programs.
Wood said, “Our hours are different. We don’t work regular hours, and we also host one-day tournaments on weekends, so we’re here then as well, running activities.”
Gratz said, “When most of USI has gone home for the day, we are here running these activities. That’s prime time for students; they enjoy staying up late at night. We offer a wide range of activities so any student will look at the schedule and find something that interests them. And we try to offer them at different times to accommodate their schedules.”
Gratz said that intramural sports are immensely popular with students. “They enjoy it and take it seriously. We almost have a cult following where teams sign up and play a lot of the activities under the same team name and will earn points playing different activities.”
The teams are generally made up of groups of friends, or students who live near each other or are from the same hometown. Gratz said, “They stay together and play everything - softball, football, volleyball, basketball…”
The winningest teams are honored at a banquet at the end of the year. The top 10 men’s and women’s teams are asked for nominations for awards in 10 categories including sportsmanship, team spirit, best captain and best new team. The first-place team gets a trophy at the banquet.
Gratz and Wood take turns supervising the games. Wood said, “Joe and I chat with student participants, and if the parents are there watching, we try to seek them out to say hello.” The weeknight games run from 7:15 to 11 p.m. Gratz said, “And that obviously depends on when games finish. After they’re done, we put the equipment away for the night.”
Students serve as scorekeepers and officials while one professional staff member is on site to ensure everything runs well. Gratz said, “We try to take a step back and let the students run the show; it’s student led, student run, and focuses on students. Obviously, we step in if help is needed.”
Gratz also coordinates Outdoor Adventure activities and supervises most of the trips. While earning his master’s degree, Gratz interned with a program in which he’d take inner-city children on outdoor trips. He said. “If you enjoy camping, hiking, rock climbing and caving, it’s really nice – and I do.”
Last fall, students went rafting, caving, hiking, and canoeing. Trips planned this semester include ice skating, a midnight ski trip, indoor rock climbing, caving, and a hiking trip to Garden of the Gods. Outdoor Adventure trips are contracted through Vertical eXcape, which provides professional guides, equipment, and expertise.
Waller runs special events and the disc golf program, instituted in response to student request. Regular activities include Halloween and Hawaiian Glo Bowling at Franklin Lanes and Holiday Fun Night and Spring Fun Night at Walther’s Golf ‘N’ Fun Center. “It’s a good way for students to get away and relieve stress,” Waller said. On bowling nights (twice a week) she may work until 1 a.m.
She also organizes activities such as the recent Co-ed Couple’s Competition, in which 80 couples competed in three rounds of four games including toilet paper wraps, licorice eating, hula hoop jumps and step-throughs, and other light-hearted fun.
“We work with a lot of good-natured people and people who want to do a good job and offer quality programs for the students,” Waller said. “We take great pride in the program. A lot of students are really interested.”
Wendy Knipe Bredhold
News & Information Services
812/461-5259 or wkbredhold@usi.edu
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