SFA Rec Insider

Stephen F. Austin State University

Volume 2, Issue 3 May - July 2011

An INSIDER Look at the Graduate Assistant Program Page 3

Lil Jack Rec Camp and Group Swim Learn how to register on Pages 11 and 12

Letter from the

Director

Welcome to the latest edition of the Rec Insider!

I hope this finds you in good health and great spirits. As we at Campus Recreation wind down the school year, we find ourselves revving up for summer programs and evaluating all we have done over the past year.

It has been a great year at SFA, and Campus Rec has been hard at work providing services, programs and facilities for the students, faculty and staff.

One of the programs we are very proud of is the Graduate Assistant program within Campus Recreation. You will find articles and input from both our professional staff as well as some of our GAs. These students bring in fresh ideas, enthusiasm, and experience usually from other programs across the country. We have GAs from UT, A&M, TCU, James Madison, Kent State, CSU Northridge, and even a few home grown as well.

2011 Campus Recreation Staff Ken Morton Director

In edition you’ll find info on our Little Jack Rec Camp, Experiential Learning Center, Sport Clubs, former employees, and one of our outstanding student officials, Alex Reed, who was selected as an All-American at the NIRSA National Basketball Championships in Austin this Spring.

As always, thanks for keeping up with what is happening at SFA Campus Recreation. Watch for opportunities to join us at events such as the Homecoming Fun Run, or simply to pay us a visit.

Janice Casper Office Manager Kelley Consford Administrative Asst.

Kenneth Norris Facilities & Membership Services Michael Maningas Outdoor Pursuits & Safety Debbie Norris Fitness, Wellness, & Aquatics

Stay in touch,

Ken Morton Director of Campus Recreation

Elizabeth Ross Promotions & Sponsorships Brian Mills Intramural Sports, Sport Clubs, & Camps

1817 Wilson Drive • Nacogdoches, Texas 75962 Phone: (936) 468-3507 • campusrec@sfasu.edu Page 1

IMPORTANT EVENTS

This semester, Campus Recreation has been a place to empower yourself in all areas of life: physical, emotional, intellectual, cultural, environmental, spiritual, and financial. You can see how each of our program areas enhances each of these dimensions in the 2011 Spring Program Guide on our website www.sfasu.edu/campusrec.

Campus Rec already gearing up for 2011 Homecoming Fun Run The 2nd Annual Campus Recreation Alumni Homecoming Fun Run is already in the planning process! Don’t miss your chance to be involved in this exciting tradition. Last year, 72 participants competed in the 5K walk/run early Homecoming morning, earning T-shirts and other fun prizes. This year, our goal is 125 participants, so invite a friend to join you! Prices are yet to be determined, but registration will begin September 5, 2011. We will have a new theme, new course, and, of course, incredible T-shirts! Shirts will be available until the registration deadline, October 14th. You can still register until the day of the run, but T-shirts may not be available. Check the website at www.sfasu.edu/campusrec for more information throughout the summer. Mark your calendar for Saturday, October 29, 2011! This is one event you do not want to miss!

Earth Day finds a new home at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center With the help of the community and various organizations at SFA, we were able to put on our most successful Earth Day yet! As always, local businesses and organizations populated our booths, and this year the involvement reached 30 booths! We also had local musicians, ranging from the well-known Steel Drum Band to various young student musicians. This year we tried something new for our speaker set-up: we had four individual speakers inform the public on topics such as STOP, Recycling in Nacogdoches, and Water Resources in East Texas, and we also had a panel discussion from five local individuals who have all, in one away or another, chosen to live sustainably. The panel was a A fluttering friend finds a resting place on great success in that it engaged the audience and stimulated a conversation an unsuspecting visitor at SFA’s Earth Day celebrations. of growth within the community. With the intent of adding new things to Earth Day, we cross collaborated with Keep Nacogdoches Beautiful in granting the “Partner in Sustainibility” award to Steve Chism, whose efforts to live in a sustainable fashion have been commendable. We were also able to extend our crosscollaboration with SFA organizations by getting two Hospitality Clubs involved, who served the public with food from the Farmer’s Market. Altogether, this year’s Earth Day was very successful and we were very pleased.

Want to find other ways to empower yourself? Check out our blog! You can also find SFA Campus Recreation on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

sfacampusrec.blogspot.com

sfacampusrec

student rec centercampus rec

twitter.com/campusrec Page 2

A Deeper Look At SFA Campus Recreation’s

GRADUATE ASSISTANT PROGRAM

SFA Campus Recreation has been offering graduate assistant positions since before it became a multi-program department in 2006. Like other SFA graduate assistant programs, the graduate assistant receives financial support for graduate study by contributing to the mission of the university. These are generally 12 month appointments with a 12 month renewal option. It is a program designed to give graduate students professional development and experience, both of which are highly valued at SFA Campus Rec.

Here is what a few of the Campus Rec professionals and current graduate assistants have to say about this integral program.

Debbie Norris - Assistant Director for Fitness, Wellness, and Aquatics The graduate assistant program is a great tool to assist young college graduates into their first professional position.

After graduating from college, many young adults enter into their first year as a professional with maybe some work experience that is not always geared towards developing the skills needed for their career field. Some enter with life experiences that are not always inclusive of the relative abilities needed to cope with different work relationships, adapt to change, make good decisions, and handle the pressures of budgeting and running programs on their own.

The GA program is designed to take young professionals and give them real work experience within a more supportive work environment. Our goal is to help prepare them for entering into their career field with an additional two years of experience managing their own staff, trying different theories or methods, and working with the professionals to discover their personal standards and professionalism.

Brian Mills - Assistant Director for Intramurals, Sport Clubs, and Summer Camps The graduate assistant program gives students in depth experiential learning opportunities including basics of scheduling, inventory, purchasing, running a meeting, and serving on a committee. They also learn advanced ideas of professional philosophy, student development theory, impact of recreation on college experience and campus life, connectedness of student affairs and our role in the master plan.

Greg Nord - Aquatics GA, Travis Lankford - IMS and Sport Clubs GA, and Kati Van Dunk - Promotions GA pose with SFA President Baker Patillo, Assistant Athletic Director John Branch and Athletic Director Robert Hill in the annual GA Scavenger Hunt.

GA’s have the opportunity to learn from many different professionals and become exposed to many different thought processes, philosophies, and work styles. Everyone is different, so taking all that you learn (positive and negative experiences) and applying that to yourself makes the experience exponentially more important.

My experience as a GA made me a better professional. I learned what my weaknesses were not just as an official but also as a professional and was able to strengthen myself in many different areas. My time at Ohio University taught me that there are many different ways to accomplish goals. Just because something has been run one way for years doesn’t mean it is the best or most efficient way. Utilizing others opinions and experiences brings more buy-in on many different levels which only strengthens our programs. All of those lessons were critical to my experience here at SFA and taking a traditional program and evolving it into a functioning part of the student experience.

Elizabeth Ross - Coordinator for Promotions and Sponsorships I think our GA program is strong. Most areas give their GAs room to grow into a professional, room to make mistakes, and room to make decisions/changes to improve the strong base of Campus Recreation. I believe this room for growth is very important to the development of our future professionals.

We have the benefit of bringing in grads from all over the country with a wide range of skills. This is a wonderful benefit to our department; it allows our department to continually develop and move with the industry. It also gives our grads a chance to head up programs they might not see from their undergrad experience.

I feel grad development should continue to emphasize the skills our grads bring to the table and add to that throughout their time at SFA. Embrace the student as someone you work WITH not someone who works FOR you and view them as an equal. You may have to help them along from time to time, but then allow them to help you as well.

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Scott Berkowitz - Fitness and Wellness GA The GA program at the rec gives me experience in many different aspects that I can apply to future employment. Being a GA is a lot of fun and you get to be a professional without actually being a professional. I feel that we could work in more than one program to give us experience in different program areas. I have learned what it takes to be a professional and make decisions about things in my program area. I feel that being a GA has set me up to be a successful professional.

Travis Lankford - Intramural Sports and Sport Clubs GA The GA program at SFA is a very useful program. It allows grad students, like myself, to further develop skills that are essential to the Campus Recreation field, as well as essential job skills. I like the fact that we get a lot of freedom to run things as we see appropriate. It allows us to show off our creativity and resourcefulness.

The benefits of this program are numerous. If it wasn’t for a GA program such as this, I would not have chosen to attend grad school and pursue a Joe Wise - IMS and Sport Clubs GA participates in a professional development master’s degree. I have been given a lot of responsibility within the IMS opportunity on SFA’s high ropes course. program and it will be of great benefit down the road in my career. After graduation, I would like to pursue a career in Campus Recreation and this program here has helped me develop into a better professional candidate for the future.

National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association Many of the graduate assistant positions at SFA are filled through NIRSA networking. NIRSA is the leading resource for professional and student development, education, and research in collegiate recreational sports.

Headquartered in Corvallis, Oregon, NIRSA now includes nearly 4,000 highly trained professional, student and associate members throughout the United States, Canada and other countries. Serving an estimated 5.5 million students who regularly participate in campus recreational sports programs, NIRSA members are actively engaged in many areas of campus life: student leadership, development, and personnel management; wellness and fitness programs; intramural sports; sport clubs; recreation facility operations; outdoor recreation; informal recreation; and aquatic programs (www.NIRSA.org).

“How NIRSA stands different than others is that it feels more like a family than a work conference. Being in the field of recreation, we understand the importance of how recreation and leisure can increase success in one’s work productivity, outlook on life, and stress management,” says Debbie Norris. “We as professionals find time to enjoy our professional relationships in our field, find time to learn and grow but also to have fun and enjoy programming as well.”

Another active member of NIRSA is Elizabeth Ross, who has given multiple presentations at the annual conference, has chaired two committees, and was a beta tester for the new Habitat online community . “I love NIRSA. I think it is a great time to network and meet people from all over the nation. NIRSA is a great way to generate new ideas for a program area or department and with the launch of Habitat, we can easily continue to keep in touch and start new programs to help the industry.”

To find out more information about the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association, please visit their website at www.NIRSA.org.

Current and former SFA GAs, students, and professionals enjoy each other’s company at the annual NIRSA National Conference.

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Alex Reed

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT

At the top of his game Alex Reed started working for SFA Campus Recreation Intramurals in September 2007 as a sports official. Since then he has officiated over 300 intramural games in flag football, softball and basketball. Campus Rec would like to highlight some of his most recent accomplishments: • Represented SFA as an official at four different regional tournaments • Selected as an All-Regional official for the UT-San Antonio basketball regional in 2011 • Worked the 2011 NIRSA National Basketball Championships hosted by the University of Texas and was one of twelve officials selected for All-American • Officiates high school basketball games for the SFA TASO Chapter.

Is the Cofounder and Vice President of the SFA Student Officials Association and will step in as President in 2011 Through his years of officiating, Alex has learned lessons and had experiences that have made him better as a student and a person. He has learned how to deal with high-pressure situations. As an intramural participant, he has learned how to keep his composure on the playing field.

“I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of other students around campus that I otherwise would have never known.”

Not only has Alex learned valuable life lessons through his time in Intramurals, he has also gained important experience.

“This experience is definitely preparing me for being a coach in the future.”

Brian Mills, SFA Assistant Director for Intramural Sports, Sport Clubs, and Summer Camps has also been impressed with Alex as an official and student staff member.

“Alex Reed is one of the more unique students I have worked with. He is a great combination of athlete and official. He is a passionate and very talented player. He is a very professional and personable official.

He rides the fine line between administering games and letting them play out. Like everyone else he has his faults, but he is a great official and a better person. He is passionate about sports and will go on in the future and be an amazing influence in young athletes’ lives as a coach and hopefully as an official.”

Alex will graduate from SFA in Spring 2012 with a degree in Kinesiology and will be potentially looking for a graduate assistant position for another university’s Intramural Sports program.

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Fitness and Wellness

Resistance Bands are very easy to use and are a versatile piece of exercise equipment. You can isolate one muscle, or do exercises that use multiple muscle groups. They are different than using a normal weight due to the stretching of the band making it harder throughout the range of motion. You have the ability to perform exercises for all major muscle groups using this piece of equipment. When using resistance bands be sure to go through each motion in a slow, controlled movement to reduce the risk of injury and to also make the exercise more effective.

Chest Press

Start

Finish

Find a stationary object such as the leg of a table, fence post, or even a light pole and pull the band tightly around it. Facing away from the pole, grab both handles and lift your chest to ensure you are not arching your back. Your arms need to be parallel to the floor with your palms facing the ground. Press the weight forwards, focusing on not moving anything but your arms. Slowly bring the band back to the starting position.

Finish

With the band still wrapped around the pole, this time, turn around and face it. Grasp both handles with your hands in a neutral position where your palms are facing each other. Slightly bend your knees and roll your shoulders back to engage the muscle. Slowly pull the band in towards your ribs while focusing on pinching your shoulder blades together. In a controlled manner, bring the bands back to the starting position.

Start

With the band still under the arch of your shoe, grasp both handles of the band. Standing tall with your legs shoulder width apart, place your elbows firmly against the side of your body. Without moving your arms, bend your elbow while lifting the band upwards. Once you reach your full range of motion without moving your arms from your side, slowly lower the band back to the starting position.

Start

Rows

Finish

Triceps Kickback

While stepping on the band, ensuring it is under the arch of your shoe, bend your knees slightly and grasp the handles of the band. Bend at your hips while maintaining a flat back, and place your arms at your side. With your arms bent, straighten them out to make them even with your body. Slowly bring your arms back to the starting position.

Start

Finish

Bicep Curl - Biceps

Squats

Tricep Kickback-Triceps

Stand with your legs slightly more than shoulder-width apart, stepping on the band ensuring that it is under the arch of your shoe. Grasp each handle and place your arms at your side.

Focusing on keeping your back from arching, squat down to where your legs are no more than 90 degrees. Slowly stand back up to the starting position.

Be sure to keep your knees behind your toes throughout the movement of this exercise.

Start

Bicep Curls

Finish

Chest Press - Pectoralis Major Squats - Gluteus Maximus, Hamstrings, Quadriceps Rows - Latissimus Dorsi, Rhomboids, Trapezius

Which muscles will you work?

Resistance bands can be purchased at any sporting good retail location (Academy, Wal-Mart, Target).

BLAST FROM THE PAST Where They Are Now An update on former Campus Rec employees

Laura Dokupil graduated from SFA in December 2007. She started working for Campus Rec in the Spring of 2007 as a softball umpire. She then started working as a cycling instructor in the Fall of 2007 when the new facility opened. Her best experience in Campus Rec was the grand opening of the new recreation center.

“That night was awesome! We had relay races on the track and even had rubber ducky races in the lazy river...we ate pizza and hung out in the facility all night!”

“Campus Rec helped me by opening the doors to a whole new career path for me. I never knew that jobs like that existed! I can remember thinking how cool it would be to be the fitness graduate assistant or even to have a job like Debbie’s, but I figured that since I was a psychology major instead of Kinesiology that I was not qualified. Little did I know that you do not necessarily have to have your degree in kinesiology to get a rec sports job. Campus Recreation showed me that it is possible to make a living while living your passion, fitness!”

Laura’s advice for current Campus Rec employees is to make the most of experiences while working for Campus Rec. “In the career world of today, employers are looking for diversified applicants that have a whole set of different skills rather than just one skill. Even if you major in something completely different like music you can gain experience in the Campus Rec world by being a group X instructor, umpire, building manager, etc. The skills learned from these positions will help give you the edge that you need to get the job over other applicants.”

Laura is currently working as the assistant director of fitness at Angelo State University in San Angelo, TX.

Teresa Adams graduated from SFA in 2007 with a

degree in Criminal Justice. Teresa worked for Intramural Sports as an official from March 2004 until graduation.

She also worked as a fitness assistant and in the Outdoor Center in her time at SFA. She was very active in Campus Recreation and Intramurals. Her Campus Rec softball team competing in the championship game in 2007.

“Some of the best memories I have at Campus Rec are the days of hanging out in the Outdoor Center talking with OP people, or at training days when we had to do trust exercises. I liked the way we were all from different backgrounds and different majors, but we were all part of Campus Rec. I know I’m a better person for knowing all those people.”

Teresa now works for SFA UPD. She loves Nacogdoches and took her job as a traffic officer in hopes to stay in the area. She hopes to find a job in forensics in the future.

Teresa (Back Row, Second from right) with her 2007 Softball Championship team.

“My advice for a future alumnus is to stay in contact with your friends and don’t forget to come back and visit the school where you learned a lot, and not all of it which was in the classrooms. Enjoy your time at Campus Rec and remember to always have fun wherever you end up.”

If you are a former Campus Rec employee or participant and want to be featured in this newsletter, please contact us at ejross@sfasu.edu or 936-468-5844. Please include your experiences working at SFA Campus Recreation and what you’ve been doing since your time at SFA. If possible, please also include a recent picture.

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Where Are YOU Now? An update on former IMS participants

Do you know these former Intramural participants? Do you know where they are now? Is it you? If you are or know any of the participants in these pictures, let us know what you/they’ve been up to since your/their time at SFA. Please email us at millsbrian@sfasu.edu or call 936-468-1434.

BMF’s - 1st Place Men’s Softball 1986

Silver Bullets - 1st Place Women’s Flag Football 1986

Ken Clower, Craig Leverette, Steve Griffith, Kyle Standley, Brad Stormes, Dennis Werner, Bobby Maas, Jamie Thompson, Brian Bufkin, Jace Rogers, Wil Trotter

Paula Brown, Jana Tucker, Gay Shields, Connie Barber, Deidre Gandy, Jamie Pridgen, Julie Lunquest, Helen Hall, Shannon McCollum, Stephanie Brutsche, Monica Gill, Amy Flint, Virginia Bartusch, Coaches: John Leonard, Todd Grimes

Who Am I? Do you know these past Campus Rec Intramural participants? Is it you?

Help us remember those who have helped keep the strong IMS traditions of SFA by sending us what you know! If you know the names of these players, please email us at millsbrian@sfasu.edu or call 936-468-1434.

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Sport Clubs NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS Women’s Soccer Finishes the Season Strong

This semester the women’s club soccer team made an impressive showing at their last tournament, hosted by Texas A&M University on April 29 and 30. Teams included Sam Houston, Lamar, A&M, LSU and UTA. The SFA women tied Sam Houston 2-2, beat Lamar 4-1, lost to A&M 3-1, and beat LSU 2-1 to make it to the finals, where they lost to A&M 5-1.

Student Officials Association Members Gain Regional Experience and Recognition

The students of SOA are staying active and truly making a difference not only in NCCS Region IV activities (NM, TX, OK, LA, AR, MO, KS), but also in other regions. Current members include KC Dunham, Warren Upson, Ryan Bassett, Jason Morgan, Collin Cirrone, and Alex Reed.

“We played very hard and were excited to beat LSU, who beat A&M 3-0. They were our best competition.”

Despite the tough loss, club president Jenna Pierce is excited about the next season.

“Our plans for next fall are to get even more girls to come out and play with us and to practice and get ready for our tough games against Baylor and A&M.” The women’s team received Sport Club of the Year at the SFA Sport Clubs Banquet on May 2.

“The Women’s Club Soccer team has come such a long way since it started a few years ago. We have a full team and compete with some of the top schools. Next year we hope to get some more fans out to support us!”

Men’s Soccer Wraps Up Season at Texas State Tournament This spring semester, the men’s club soccer team competed against teams including Houston Community College (L 1-7), Sam Houston (L 0-2), and Northwestern State (W 2-0). They finished the season at the Texas State Tournament on April 15-17, falling to UNT and St. Edwards University.

Here is what the officials have been up to this year. KC Dunham was selected as a flag football official for the Western Kentucky Region II Flag Football Tournament.

Ryan Bassett was selected as an official for the SFA Region IV Flag Football Tournament. Jason Morgan represented SFA as an official at the UTSA Region IV Basketball Regional Tournament and at the SFA Region IV Flag Football Tournament. Alex Reed was selected as an official for the UT Region IV National Basketball Tournament.

SOA is currently working on being selected for an AAU basketball tournament. They are also prepping for the Region IV Flag Football Tournament that will be held at SFA November 4-6, which they hope to be the largest in the nation.

The members of SOA focus their time not only on officiating in college-sanctioned events, but also giving back to surrounding communities. They are highly involved in helping out area youth leagues in basketball, baseball, and football.

Want to get in touch with old club members? Please email us at millsbrian@sfasu.edu or call 936-468-1434 and give us some details about your experience with the club program, when you were a part of the club, and who you are looking for. We will do everything we can to help.

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In the next issue of the

REC INSIDER, Celebrating SFA Campus Recreation’s 4th Birthday!

2nd Annual Homecoming Fun Run Sport Club Alumni Games Where are YOU Now? - The Bandits