Recreational Sport: Making The Grade On College Campuses

GROWTH IN SPORTS PROGRAMMING CONTINUES IN MOST SERVICE SETTINGS, BUT ONE OF THE MOST PROLIFIC GROWTH AREAS IS FOUND AMONG THE NATION'S COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.

Leisure professionals understand that most Americans possess at least a casual interest in sport and, therefore, seek to provide opportunities to fulfill the demand for sport through programming. Many people desire spectator-sport opportunities, and professional and amateur sports organizations have created substantial sporting events to fulfill that niche. Many, though, seek more active participation, and leisure professionals have attempted to create recreational sport opportunities to meet the needs of that group. Recreational sport programs have found their way to the core of almost all recreation programs today offered in public and private, nonprofit and for-profit, college and university, and employee-service recreation settings. Although service settings differ in what they offer and how they administer programs, many of the basic delivery techniques are similar.

Growth in sports programming continues in most service settings, but one of the most prolific growth areas is found among the nation's colleges and universities. This area is growing because of the age range of the population it serves, the ability to provide adequate on-site facilities for comprehensive programming in a variety of sports activities, and the opportunity to conduct programs for different levels of ability and interest.

Recreation on college campuses, referred to as recreational sport, traces its roots to the early twentieth century. As schools began to develop athletic departments in the late 1800s and early 1900s, administrators realized that although a significant population was served by the athletic program, there were many students who could not, would not, or simply did not participate in intercollegiate athletics. Thus, there was a need for sport participation among the masses. Colleges and universities were frontrunners in the development of sporting pursuits in America (Snyder & Spreitzer, 1978; Dulles, 1965), and it is generally recognized that recreational sport was "born" in 1904 at Cornell University.

The collegiate coaching staff at Cornell provided specialized instruction to students who were not on intercollegiate teams (Meuller & Reznik, 1979). All through the country, students wanted physical exercise that was more interesting and fun than the rigid calisthenics and exercise/gymnastic programs favored by the faculty (Mueller & Mitchell, 1960). However, as they were not athletes participating on intercollegiate teams, coaches were asked to instruct students in sport for reasons other than competition.

According to Snyder and Spreitzer (1978), in their book Social Aspects of Sport, collegiate sport originated as an informal student movement. First there were sport clubs -- groups of students interested in sporting activities such as rowing, baseball, football, and track and field. These students joined clubs to participate in activities that were generally dismissed by faculty as frivolous. One college president commented that sport activities were ungentlemanly and certainly unhealthy. The president of Cornell, however, thought it appropriate that students be allowed to pursue athletic interests without joining an intercollegiate team. Thus, the concept of playing sports for the sake of participation began to take hold on college campuses and, in 1913, the University of Michigan and Ohio State University began intramural athletic departments. The purpose of those departments was to organize and schedule sport for the recreational enjoyment of the students.

Defining Recreational Sport

Professionals who program and deliver recreational sport have trouble defining this field. Hence, in many professional discussions of recreation, the field of recreational sport is often overlooked. This article will focus on the growth of college and university recreational sport programs and attempt to further define these programs and their role in the larger park and recreation profession.

Collegiate recreational sport can be described as recreational programming of many types but primarily that centered around sport and physically active pursuits that occur on the college and university campuses of the United States and Canada. Recreational sport also comprises programming at correctional institutions, military bases, private clubs, and other similar locations where there is a captive audience of primarily young adults. This article concentrates on recreational sport on the college campus.

As previously stated, intramural sport programs were originally intended to provide students the opportunity to participate in various types of sport programming. The idea of intramural athletics caught on because the intercollegiate (or varsity athletic) program could support only a few "elite" athletes, while the college or university included many others who also wanted and needed recreational opportunities. As the popularity of intramural athletics grew in the early 1900s, Dr. Elmer Mitchell, considered the father of intramural sport, wrote Intramural Athletics, the first textbook on the topic, in 1925. Not long afterward (1928), the University of Michigan erected the first building dedicated primarily to intramural sport. Since its inception on the college campuses of Cornell, Michigan, and Ohio State, intramural sport is now considered just one component of recreational sport programs found on virtually every senior and junior campus in the country.

The Growth of Collegiate Recreational Sport

As recreational sport programs have grown and general interest in health, fitness, and physical activity has increased, recreational sport has become much more than just intramural sports. According to Mull, Bayless, Ross, and Jamieson (1997), "recreational sport includes programming sport activity for fitness and fun" (p. 2). Recreational sport is an area of recreation that employs thousands of seasonal, part-time, and full-time staff. It is guided by its own professional association, the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA). Modern recreational sport departments provide programming for a large, active, and diverse population. Recreational sport programs are offered in modern, state-of-the-art, multimillion-dollar recreation facilities that compete with municipal and private recreation. In fact, on many college campuses, recreational sport programs are equivalent in staff, budget, and sheer size to the programs of a mid-sized municipal parks and recreation department.

On today's college campuses, the recreational sport program offers a variety of sport and fitness programs not only for the student but faculty/staff, their families, emeriti, and other "friends" of the university as well. Most programs in the United States offer all or some of the following recreational sport options:

Intramural sports: Competitive sport programming for students (usually excluding the varsity athlete). Intramural sport programs typically comprise expansive traditional and nontraditional competitive sport activities.

Club sports or sport clubs: Clubs for students who are not varsity-level competitors but still have the desire to compete against teams from other campuses. Sometimes these clubs are as talented as varsity teams, and it is not unusual for the clubs to compete with varsity teams from other campuses. However, their own institutions have chosen not to award them full varsity status. (Many colleges have started to offer club sports as the first step toward generating interest for a new varsity sport.) It is also not unusual for universities to sponsor club-level teams when there is an overwhelming interest in a current varsity sport and, thus, a desire to accommodate those players who don't qualify for the "elite" class.

Fitness programming: This has been the area of largest growth in recreational sport over the past two decades. Universities offer their students the opportunity to pursue vigorous exercise, often providing elaborate, state-of-the-art facilities and equipment. In addition, to provide fitness and wellness programs and instruction for students, many recreational sport programs combine expertise from several campus departments. An example might be planned and supervised exercise programs that combine professionals from student health care, professors in academic programs, and professionals in the recreational sport program.

Drop-in or informal recreation: Open recreational facilities, in which students choose to participate in self-directed activities like weightlifting, jogging, billiards, racquetball, swimming, basketball, volleyball, or general exercise.

In addition, many recreational sport departments offer one or more of the following programs: (a) sport and fitness instruction (both credit and noncredit); (b) outdoor programs including outdoor-equipment rental and leadership programs; (c) ropes courses; (d) extramural competition for intramural sport teams at the regional, state, and national level; and (e) a variety of special events.

Recreational Sport Professionals

Collegiate recreational sport in the late 1980s and '90s has been characterized by an explosive growth in new facilities. The NIRSA, created in the 1950s, represents recreational sport professionals in a variety of settings. Colleges and universities across the nation, both large and small, have added multimillion-dollar recreation facilities to their campuses. In many cases, those facilities are strictly for recreational use, not for athletic practice or events. However, many schools share the facilities among various departments. In addition, most of the facilities offer the latest in cardio-exercise apparatus, recent innovations in facility designs, and modern equipment. Additionally, the trend in constructing new facilities is continuing, as several universities have plans to build recreation facilities.

Professionals in the community and private recreation sectors should be aware of collegiate recreational sport for two reasons. The first is competition and potential cooperation between programs and facilities. Because recreational sport departments deliver programs and services not only to their students but also to faculty/staff and their families, alumni, and the community, other local recreation departments may find themselves in direct competition with the college for members. A municipal or commercial recreation provider should be aware of the offerings of the recreational sport program, and may want to explore collaborative ventures to prevent unnecessary program duplication, thus avoiding redundancy and the inefficient use of resources.

Professionals in the field of recreation should also be aware that a recreational sport program enables a large segment of students, which will soon be entering the employment market, to receive training and experience in recreation programming and facility management. At many institutions, the recreational sport program operates like a community recreation agency. There are large budgets, participant problems, political pressures from campus constituency groups, and a board that advises and supervises the staff. Student employees, often assigned a great deal of responsibility, learn how to deal with the challenges of providing recreation services and programs to a large, diverse, and demanding population. Those experiences better enable them to pursue a job in the "real world" within the profession of parks and recreation.

References

Dulles, F.R. 1965. A history of recreation. New York: Appleton-Centur-Crofts.

Mueller, P., and Mitchell, E.D. 1960. Intramural sports. New York: The Ronald Press.

Mull, R., Bayless, K., Ross, C. and Jamieson, L. 1997. Recreational sport management (3rd Ed.) Champaign: Human Kinetics.

Mueller, P., and Reznik, J.W. 1979. Intramural recreational sports: Programming and administration (5th Ed.) New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Snyder, E., and Spreitzer, E. 1978. Social aspects of sport. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall Inc.

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