sports

Campus Recreation offers programs to Auraria students

By Keith Franklin
cfrankl7@mscd.edu

It's in the sweat and the fun. It's in the camaraderie. It's in the pain and the gain. It's in the game and it's all in Campus Recreation at Auraria.

CRA offers a plethora of activities for students, faculty and staff. The student activity fee portion of everyone's tuition bill covers most of the activities. Director of Campus Recreation, Tony Price, is proud of the program and the staff that service the campus population.

"We run about 70,000 people through the fitness center each year," Price said, "and we keep participation from the pool and our other activity spaces."

The first level of competition that CRA offers is an informal drop-in program, which offers volleyball, basketball, swimming, dodgeball, racquetball, squash and walleyball, just to name a few. There's a mountain inside that many have already climbed. There's a bicycle tune-up shop and equipment rental in the Outdoor Adventure Center. Students can rent camping, climbing and hiking gear. There's also cross country skiing equipment. For $185 you can get four equipment rentals, four lessons and unlimited skiing at Arapahoe Basin.

CRA has a wide range of cardiovascular equipment, weight machines and free weights. It hosts the intramural sports program, the Adventure Leadership Program, and offers salsa, swing, foxtrot, waltz, tango and cha-cha dance classes.

There's a program for physically challenged students, faculty and staff from AHEC, CCD, Metro, and UCD. It includes free personal trainers and affordable adaptive outdoor recreational outings. Anyone with a disability can apply for the program.

"Upon approval, we provide them with a personal trainer and set up a workout plan for the semester," said Price. "It's been a popular program and it's been a program that we're proud of because it provides accessibility to a number of different people for recreation, leisure, and fitness."

The intramural program is the next level of competition. "It's a little more formalized," said Price. "It includes flag football, basketball, dodgeball-those types of activities." Teams are formed for league play. A fee is necessary for this level, but officials are hired and awards are given at the end of the season.

The third level of competition is the club-sports program, which is now managed by the Athletics Department. In this program, a team can be formed through a petition. Then it must fill out some formal paperwork to become official. Official clubs can get funding and access to facilities.

"The Adventure Leadership Program is designed to train students and staff on campus in how to facilitate team-building and leadership development exercises related to outdoor education," Price said. Activities include low and high ropes elements, which utilize tools around campus for the low elements and the new indoor climbing wall for the high rope elements. It also includes mountain biking trips in Moab, Utah, ski trips and kayak pool sessions.

"It's a good mix of things for people to find their niche if they want to work on their flexibility and core conditioning."

The Campus Recreation at Auraria program mission is designed to provide an environment where students, faculty, and staff may thrive through participation and association in a safe, healthy and fun recreational setting with an emphasis on total personal development.