CAMPUS RECREATION By Matthew Goins & Parker Blackburn As students return to campus this fall, Campus Recreation — “one of the biggest entities on campus,” according to coordinator of fitness Jonathan Almond — will be in normal operations with all fitness and sports programs returning. Additionally, the office is ready to premiere some new activities along with facility expansions and upgrades. Almond said he believes that being active and staying fit is a key to student success. “We know that if we can get students to interact with us, they’re more likely to succeed, more likely to stay at the university and more likely to be healthier both mentally and physically,” Almond said. The headquarters for campus fitness is the Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center, located beside the Greek Village. Inside, Strom is home to three floors of activities including multiple weight rooms, racquetball and basketball courts, a swimming pool, a 52-foot climbing wall (the second largest in the SEC) and an indoor track that measures one-seventh of a mile. Outside, the complex includes another swimming pool, a large deck with lounge chairs, sand volleyball courts and multiple fields for outdoor intramural and sport clubs. The Blatt Physical Education Center, located on Wheat Street south of the South and East Quad residence halls, provides more weight and cardio equipment, rooms for group exercise classes and squash and racquetball courts. It also houses the Outdoor Recreation (ORec) Hub where students, faculty and staff can rent equipment for outdoor recreational activities such as kayaking and visit the Bike Shop for basic repairs and assistance with bicycles. 6
During the abnormal 2020-2021 academic year Campus Recreation made some long-awaited updates to the facilities due to COVID-19. New equipment was installed in Strom with the refurbished equipment moved to Blatt. Campus Recreation is working on a project to make outdoor fitness an option at Strom. This project, expected to be finished midway through the fall semester, will transform the facility’s balcony into an outdoor fitness area with cardio equipment, dumbbells and other functional fitness on the refinished turf balcony overseeing the pool and Columbia skyline. In addition to fitness rooms and equipment, the recreation facilities are home to several group exercise programs with various formats, such as cardio, strength, mind-body and indoor cycling. A new BODYFLOW class (a yoga/ Pilates-style workout created by Les Mills) will debut this fall along with new indoor cycling variations. Students can buy an all-access pass for group fitness classes and reserve their spots through the IMLeagues online system. For students looking for personalized help with their fitness, campus recreation has nationally certified personal trainers with lower-than-average prices ranging from $25 to $30 per hour. Alongside the advanced gym facilities, Campus Recreation offers an array of options to participate in team sports or take advantage of the extensive outdoor recreation opportunities in Columbia and the surrounding areas. Club and intramural sports “show you the kind of community that Carolina is,” sports programs coordinator Justin Furlough said.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY RACHEL MELTON/ CAMPUS RECREATION
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MATTHEW TAYLOR / CAMPUS RECREATION @UofSCCampusRec
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Intramural sports give students the opportunity to tap into their competitive side through athletics, even if they’ve never played the sport before. Intramurals are open to everyone with a CarolinaCard, with over 20 sports offered each semester, including soccer, flag football, pickleball and more. Chase Mullets, third-year sport and entertainment management student, said he enjoyed the “no-pressure environment” that intramural sports provide. This year, students can purchase an individual pass for $15, which permits them to participate in an unlimited number of sports for the
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semester. There will also be oneday tournaments for various sports including non-traditional sports such as spike ball and foursquare. Tryouts are not required for intramural sports, and intramural leagues offer a free-agency system where individual players are matched with teams that have open spots on their rosters. To participate, students must sign up through IMLeagues by visiting IMLeagues.com/ uofsc. Fall sports signups begin on Aug. 1, and competition starts in early September. Campus Recreation also offers intramurals such as goalball and
