Fall 2019
RecLIFE
HOWDY, As 2019 comes to a close we have much to celebrate and even more to look forward to! I couldn’t be prouder of our Rec Sports team for building exciting partnerships with several Texas A&M departments and also with Special Olympics to bring unified sports programming to our Aggie community (see page 8). With our partners we are moving the needle forward on health and wellbeing as well as improving access and creating inclusive programs. Rec Sports is also expanding; our 27,000-grosssquare-foot new facility on Polo Road next to the college of engineering is under construction and will open its doors in spring 2021. Rec Sports continues to be a special place where memories are made, skills are learned and practiced, and awesome experiences are shared. Our pools are the place to witness Aggies breaking swim and dive records, and thousands of athletes run, lift, bike, climb, swim, walk, and play each day with us. Over 4,000 students played, paddled, climbed, and won prizes at our annual Rec-a-Palooza event that ushered in this academic year. For the second consecutive year our Sport Clubs beat UT by collecting over 6,864 lbs. (3.43 tons) of canned food for our Bryan/College Station community. And, I would be remiss if I didn’t recognize and thank our friends in Athletics who offered the amazing chance for our intramural flag football championship game to be played on Kyle Field! I am sure our intramural officials and participants will retell that experience for many years to come. As an alum of Rec Sports you understand that wonderful sense of community that we continue to foster and amplify. We have a deep commitment to enhancing our students’ educational experiences by providing an avenue to learn and practice transferable and leadership skills that will help them at A&M and on their paths after. Thank you for helping to create those paths our students travel on today. You have helped Rec Sports become a leading collegiate recreational program. But I daresay that your role is not yet done. We invite you to be our champion and advocate. Come visit us when you are in town; attend our reunion, football tailgates, or a Sport Clubs game; consider our students for an internship at your company; or support us with a donation to a student scholarship or one of our programs. We look forward to seeing you in the new year!
All the best,
RICK HALL Director Department of Recreational Sports
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RecLIFE Magazine Fall 2019
Pictured on the cover are Dennis Corrington and his wife, Sue. Corrington Drive was named in honor of Dennis’ dedication as Executive Director of Recreational Sports for 45 years.
C O N T E N T S 04 05 06 08 09 09 10
Welcome to the Family Rec Sports Spring 2020 Reunion New Vision, New Rec Unified Sports Sport Clubs Can Drive Walk of Champions Decade in Review
RecLIFE Magazine Coordinator Haley Castro
RecLIFE Magazine Graphic Designer Christine Fralick
Director of Development | James Welford Assistant Director, Marketing & Communications | Mary Kalafatis Marketing Manager | Michelle Briggs Communications Manager | Kelly VonDrehle
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WELCOME TO THE
F A M I LY Abbey Arends, Outdoor Adventures Coordinator, is from Austin, Texas and received her Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Texas A&M University. After receiving her undergrad, completing student teaching, and completing grad school, she had a change of heart. Knowing she still had the desire to teach, Abbey envisioned her teaching path taking a different direction. “Since I am from Austin, I grew up doing a lot of camping and hiking. I still love teaching and I still love kids, but I just didn’t desire to do it traditionally anymore. So, I began focusing on outdoor education.” Familiar with Outdoor Adventures since she worked in the program here at Texas A&M as a grad student, Abbey states, “This job just seemed like a perfect fit for me, seeing my two worlds collide.” Chelsea Randolph, Aquatics Operations Coordinator, is from Columbia,
South Carolina and received her Bachelor of Science in Recreation Sports Management with an emphasis in Sports Management from Coastal Carolina University. “When I came to campus for my interview, I could really see that the students really loved their school and that tradition was a huge part of A&M. I didn’t feel so ‘lost in the sauce’ even though Texas A&M is a large school.” When applying to positions all over, even in New Jersey and New York, Chelsea “always wanted to be in Texas,” even in high school, “so it’s crazy how I actually ended up here.”
Georgia Orgain, Fitness & Wellness Graduate Assistant, is from Hood River, Oregon and received her Bachelor of Science in Business from the University of Oregon. After taking about two years off and working full-time in Hawaii, Georgia really felt that her “heart lies in group fitness and campus mentoring,” so she made the move to Texas. While currently studying to receive her Masters in Sport Management here at Texas A&M, Georgia also teaches group exercise classes at the Rec because she “loves the vastness of recreational group fitness at Texas A&M.”
Kaleah Torgerson, Intramural Sports Graduate Assistant, is from Battle
Mountain, Nevada and received her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Growing up in a small town and a different region, “I chose Texas A&M because it is a new region and a new culture for me; I really wanted to have that experience.” Kaleah is hoping to stay in intramural sports or a student development position in her future. “Texas A&M puts their students first… that is the most important thing to them, so that makes me happy and I want to make sure that I do everything I can for the students in my time here.”
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Kaulin Andric, Intramural Sports Coordinator, is from Dawsonville, Georgia and received his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and Turf/Grass Management from the University of Georgia and his Masters in Sport Management from Texas A&M University. After working as a graduate assistant in the Intramural Sports program for two years (since Fall of 2017), Kaulin feels grateful to have the opportunity to continue his career here at Texas A&M with Intramural Sports. “I poured my heart and soul into this for two years before this position, and College Station has become home, since I am fifteen hours away from my hometown. Starting a new life out here has been amazing.”
Nicholas Baxendell, Sport Clubs Graduate Assistant, is from Chattanooga, Tennessee and received his Bachelor of Science in Sport and Leisure Management with a concentration in Sport Management at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee. Nicholas chose Texas A&M because it is so different than what he had been a part of before. “This program is able to support many more sport clubs, so I felt that there was a lot of opportunity for me to learn while being directly involved in with all of the sport clubs.” Nicholas is studying to receive his Masters in Sport Management at Texas A&M.
Ryan Madison, Facility Operations Graduate Assistant, is from Richmond, Virginia and received his Bachelor of Science in Sport and Recreation Management from James Madison University. Ryan had never really been outside of Virginia and “never really thought to relocate halfway across the country, but the next thing I knew, I got the graduate assistant position and I was down here in Texas. Funny… I thought there would be a lot more cowboys in Texas.”
REC SPORTS REUNION April 4 | 11am | SRC 1130
Boiled crawfish will be served at noon. RSVP at tx.ag/recreunion2020 Contact James Welford at jwelford@rec.tamu.edu for more information.
RecLIFE Magazine Fall 2019
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NEW VISION, NEW REC The New Polo Road Rec Sports Satellite Facility is Expanding the Vision of Rec Sports in 2020
When students voted “yes” to the “Vote Rec” campaign in the spring of 2018, the Polo Road satellite recreational facility project began in full swing. This project is implementing the Rec Sports vision to expand across the campus of Texas A&M University to better serve our community. When the Student Recreation Center opened in 1995, there were about 41,000 students at Texas A&M. Today, over two decades later, nearly 65,000 students attend the university.
The mission “to promote activity, wellness and development by providing high quality, inclusive experiences and facilities for the students and community of Texas A&M University” continues with the expansion of the Polo Road Satellite Facility, expected to be complete in November 2020. Growth is inevitable for the Department of Recreational Sports at the third largest university in the country. “We’ve known, even before the expansion of our existing facility, that we only have so much square footage and so much land space, so we can only grow so much,” Jerod Wilson, Associate Director for Strength & Conditioning, Fitness & Wellness, and Project Management stated. To accommodate the growing student body, Rec Sports needed to be strategic and convince more than fifty percent of the students who voted in a referendum to vote in favor of
increasing the Rec Sports fee to a reasonable level. The increased fee would provide the funds needed to build additional recreational spaces on campus. In February of 2018, sixty-seven percent of the student body voted “yes” to increasing the fee, which will be implemented in stages over time. The fee will increase for freshman, graduate students, and those on the variable rate tuition plan first in the fall of 2020. In the fall of 2021 and 2022, incoming new freshmen will also pay the increased fee, joining those who are already paying the increased fee. By 2023, the fee will be in effect for all currently enrolled Texas A&M students. This plan was implemented in an attempt to be as fair as possible. The vast majority of current students will get the chance to use at least one of the two new facilities without having to pay any more than the rate they have always paid. The Polo Road project is a collaboration with Transportation Services and Dining Services, both of which will occupy space in the building alongside the new Rec Sports facility. Having three separate entities that provide some of the most needed services for students in one building is a win for the campus. The new Rec Sports facility will include a small lobby and member services area, restrooms, a medic office, a small women’s locker room and a small men’s locker room, a multi-purpose/ group fitness room, and a large strength and conditioning area that will include free weights, machine weights, cardio equipment, and an
Here’s a little story for you, Ags! Once upon a time, an extreme weather related incident caused the start of fall semester classes to be delayed, and some false information regarding ‘damages’ to the Rec Center made its way around social media. So, Michael K. Young, the President of Texas A&M University, came to the Rec to check things out. As he toured the Strength and Conditioning Room and other areas of the Rec, President Young realized that he had never been to the Rec while it was so overcrowded. He saw various ethnicities, people of all shapes and sizes, and the diverse student body all under one roof—and he loved it. But, he also saw the urgent need for Rec Sports to grow its recreational spaces because the Rec Center was way too packed. So, the process was expedited, and after a successful ‘Vote Rec’ campaign, a plan to build two new satellite facilities was put in action. And the rest, as they say, is history.
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Parking Garage New Rec Center
Dining Area indoor turf/movement training area. Even though convenient for different areas of campus. The this satellite facility will not be as large as the primary complaints Rec Sports receives from Rec Center, or have all of the same amenities, the student body have typically always been: plenty of space will be available for students and (1) overcrowdedness; (2) having to wait for staff to stay on the path of improved health equipment; and (3) accessibility (getting to the Rec quickly due to its location). About 78-80 and wellness. Two main focuses of the new facility are percent of Texas A&M students currently use an optimized strength and conditioning space Rec Sports in some way, shape or form, and and a multi-purpose/group fitness room. With no sometimes it can be a challenge to get to the Rec pool or courts, the Polo Road facility is designed Center. Engineering and Industrial Distribution for workouts catered to student life, providing encompass nearly 20,000 students alone, in the equipment found to be most effective and addition to the multitudes of other majors on most frequently used at the Rec. Whether a the main campus, and the new facility will help AXO N SW accommodate the high demand for recreational student with a full day of classes and studying, or a staff member that is working all day, the space in this area of campus. With the existing Student Recreation Center new facility will make fitness accessible and will in West Campus, the new Polo Road satellite facility, promote activity in a different area of campus. The project should reach completion by and the new South Campus satellite facility that November of 2020. So, a little under a year from will be completed in a few years, calculations now, a new recreational facility will be on campus. show that patrons will be able to walk from any From the end of November through the winter area of campus to one of the three recreational break, all of the new equipment will be installed facilities in ten minutes or less. Jerod Wilson and staff will be trained. The grand opening of the states, “With the kind of convenience that this facility and the ones in the future will allow, we Polo Road facility is anticipated in early in 2021. Along with this new facility will come have the ability to reach more students, faculty, new opportunities for student employment. and staff in order to improve health and wellness The strength and conditioning student staff is at Texas A&M exponentially.� With Texas A&M being the third largest estimated to grow from approximately 100 to 130-140 in order to allow for efficient operation university in the nation, with the highest number of both facilities. Office space will be provided of students on a single campus, Rec Sports is for professional staff, graduate assistants, and always working to accommodate the continually student leaders to check in on things, meet with growing campus population. As Texas A&M student staff members, and make sure the facility continues to be bold in its presence and fearless in cultivating character, Rec Sports remains driven is operating correctly. The Student Recreation Center already to not only grow in square footage, but also to does many great things at the West Campus grow in passion, vision, and direction. location, and the goal is to expand that to other locations on campus. Adding square footage and space for the Rec’s most popular equipment is game changing. For years, Rec Sports has wanted to create spaces that would be extremely
T e x as A & M U n i v e r s i t y - P o l o G ar age
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UNIFIED SPORTS Unified Sports has made its debut here at Texas A&M University, and it is creating smiles and uniting hearts. Unified Sports is a program in which people with intellectual disabilities (“athletes”) play on a court or field with those who are without intellectual disabilities (“partners”), and in this case, those partners are Texas A&M students. This program is a worldwide initiative launched by Special Olympics that allows them to partner with local communities to encourage competition without division. Here at Texas A&M, Special Olympics and Unified Sports are partnering with the Department of Recreational Sports Intramural Sports program. Anthony Ramos, second year graduate assistant (GA) and sport management graduate student, got involved with Unified Sports while completing his undergrad at Rowan University. After participating as a partner on the Unified basketball team, he knew he was where he needed to be. He loved not only how happy he was, but how happy he could see the athletes were while competing. When Anthony learned that Unified Sports was starting up for the first time at Texas A&M last spring, he was “super excited to see his undergrad and grad experiences tying into each other.” He competed with the team this fall in flag football and they won the regional tournament in Oklahoma. The joy and community Anthony describes is nothing short of unifying. The program is organized and led by Nick Heiar, Director of Intramural Sports, and Lauren Shively, Graduate Assistant for Facilities. Nick completed graduate school here at Texas A&M University while working as a GA. He worked to implement Unified Sports at Arizona State during his four years as a competitive sports coordinator, so he had some experience that helped with the framework when starting the program here at Texas A&M. Lauren attended Purdue University for her undergrad and began working in campus recreation. After working in facilities during her senior year at Purdue, Lauren knew she enjoyed campus recreation. Now, in her second year as a GA, Lauren helps in coaching Unified Sports. Most athletes are Texas A&M students; some are affiliated with the PATHS program here at the university, as well as Aggie Achieve (a newer program at Texas A&M). Several local organizations, such as the Brazos Valley Bombers, have groups of athletes that also play Unified Sports, so some athletes are around one another in more ways than one. Last spring, the first sport programmed was basketball, and this fall included flag football and a swim meet. Picture a normal night of intramurals, with four flag football games going on once every hour from 5:45 through the rest of the evening. The fields were full of smiles, competition, and teamwork. In the spring, Nick Heiar was serving as the tournament director for the NIRSA Regional Basketball Championship. At the time, Nick knew that a few other schools were also starting their own Unified Sports programs, so he decided to create a Unified
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bracket. Not knowing what a success it would be, Texas A&M became the first school in Region IV to host a Unified bracket. With the competition of four teams, the outcome was awesome, with Texas A&M’s team winning and advancing to the national tournament in Wichita, Kansas. This fall, the team competed in and won the regional flag football tournament in Oklahoma. After experiencing the long drives and team camaraderie at both the national basketball tournament and the regional flag football tournament, the biggest takeaway for Lauren is perspective. “You can go to practice after having a terrible day, and these athletes are facing way larger hurdles than you are. Yet, they are the most open and happy people ever.” Unified Sports does its best to make game nights and practices as much like every other intramural sport activity as possible. The goal of the program is to provide not only an opportunity for the athletes, but also a learning opportunity for Texas A&M students to be part of an environment of inclusion. Experiencing teamwork and developing friendships that they otherwise would not have, then telling their friends about the sense of community they experience, helps spread knowledge of the program throughout Texas A&M’s campus in hopes that others will change their perspective about people with disabilities. The truth is, athletes with disabilities have “the same passion and heart for sports as any other athlete,” Nick expresses. “The athletes’ time playing on the fields and courts should be no different than that of any other intramural participants; we don’t want to change things. We want this program to feel as inclusive as possible.” Ultimately, Unified Sports is a program that allows people from two different worlds to play together rather than separately. Loyalty is encouraged and respect is shown in the inclusive environment of fairness and dignity. Leadership is enhanced through the opportunity to “lead by example.” Creating a culture of on-going learning and love for recreation is only beginning for the Unified Sports program at Texas A&M.
GIVING BACK
ANNUAL SPORT CLUBS CAN DRIVE This year, the Texas A&M Sport Clubs program was sure to give back with a little friendly competition. Student athletes collected and donated 6,864.6 lbs. (3.43 tons) of food to the KBTX Food for Families Food Drive. The Texas A&M program competes with the University of Texas program, and this is the second year in a row that Texas A&M has topped their donations. With the University of Texas’ program collecting over 95,000 oz. of food and Texas A&M donating over 100,000 oz., collectively, the two programs were able to donate 6.4 tons of food to Bryan/College Station and Austin area food banks.
WALK OF CHAMPIONS ENDOWMENT BRICK CAMPAIGN:
The Walk of Champions features bricks engraved with the names of students, employees, and friends of A&M. Together we can ensure that the values of excellence, integrity, leadership, loyalty, respect, and selfless service are instilled in all Aggies. A portion of the funds from the brick campaign go toward the Walk of Champions Endowment. To learn more about getting your own brick in the Walk of Champions, contact James Welford at jwelford@rec.tamu.edu.
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IN
REVIEW
DECADE
Taking a look at the last 10 years of excellence, integrity, leadership, loyalty, respect, and selfless service in Rec Sports.
2010
Texas A&M Sailing Team held its first fundraiser dedicated to their endowment at the Houston Yacht Club.
2011
2014
Spring 2014 National Collegiate Judo Champions—one of over 300 national champions since 1974.
The groundbreaking renovation of the Penberthy Rec Sports Complex.
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2015
2015
Celebrating 20 years of Group Fitness (since 1995).
Spring 2015 RecLIFE Magazine dedicated to Patsy Kott, remembering her life and legacy as Founder and Director of Outdoor Adventures.
2017
Two Faces Leaving a Legacy Dennis Corrington retired after devoting 45 years to Rec Sports, leaving behind a legacy of vision and mentorship.
2018
Rick Hall becomes the Director of Texas A&M Recreational Sports.
DeAun Woosley “fit” the part for 23 years in building group fitness from the ground up and growing community among Rec Sports since 1995.
2016
Texas A&M Men’s Polo Team USPA National Intercollegiate Champions.
2017
“There’s a New Rec In Town” The renovation and expansion of the Rec Center was completed.
2019
The Department of Recreational Sports congratulated Tony Scazzero, Men’s Lacrosse coach, on his 500th win.
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Department of Recreational Sports Texas A&M University 4250 TAMU College Station, TX 77843-4250
NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID COLLEGE STATION PERMIT NO. 215
DEPARTMENT OF RECREATIONAL SPORTS
OUR MISSION To promote activity, wellness, and development by providing high quality, inclusive experiences and facilities for the students and community of Texas A&M University.