Amongst the many organizations and programs that the campus has to offer for students to join, there is one particularly dedicated to the recreation and wellness of the students. This program is called UREC and is directed by William Harrell, the director of Recreation and Wellness.
The UREC office is located at the Batten Student Center and it has multiple programs to offer to our campus community. It includes aquatics, a rock climbing wall, a disc golf course, the fitness center, outdoor activities and recreational sports.
“All UREC activities are for all of campus. Faculty, staff and students can enjoy what we have to offer,” Harrell said.
Anyone can sign up for any of the activities that UREC has to offer. “Depending on the activity, there are a number of easy ways to sign-up. We do instagram sign-ups, QR codes and basic tabling for when Marlins walk through campus,” Harrell said.
Intramural sports are one of the very popular activities in the UREC program. “Sports such as flag football league, futsal league and volleyball league have been very popular this year. We also help club sports with space to enjoy their sport,” Harrell said. Club Soccer was part of the futsal league that was held this semester in early March.
“There were a bunch of teams and everybody played with each other at least once. And then those results were used to do the seeding for a tournament. It was good, my team ended up winning,” the president of Club Soccer, junior Ethan Labelle said.
The participants of this futsal tournament were not only soccer players, but instead were a variety of other student athletes and students. “Anyone was able to join, we had guys from other sports teams in the school and people who haven’t even played soccer before,” Labelle said.
This is the first year of Club Soccer and its president stated that they are still figuring things out to create within UREC. “We’ve talked about several other events to be added, and how much interest there would be if we do a seven vs. seven tournament. Also, any other events that include being outside, like outdoor soccer,” Labelle said.
Future plans for UREC are yet to be added. “We have talked about adding a kickball league and ultimate frisbee this next semester (Fall 2022),” Harrell said. There are also plans to bring back the frisbee golf course.
Harrell and the UREC team encourages students to take advantage of these programs. “We want everyone to experience physical health and wellness through the activities we have. That may be checking out one of the 5 paddle boards that we have in the back, or taking a bike for a ride around campus. You can even check-out a harness to use the rock wall; we even have UNO cards,” Harrell said.
Anyone that is interested in checking out some of these fun stuff to do or have questions about UREC, can visit their Instagram @VWUREC.
By Steven Serrano
sdserranocruz@vwu.edu
