How important is exercise for a college student’s overall well-being?
On Aug. 30, ETSU’s Basler Center for Physical Activity held a campus-wide RecFest in order to promote the various physical activities offered on campus through Campus Recreation at the CPA. The event was held from 7-10 p.m., and it showcased a wide array of competitive sports clubs, as well as intramural opportunities.
Aside from booths and tables set up to offer information on each organized sport at the CPA, there was an outdoor climbing wall, a weightlifting competition, fitness class demos and even a rock, paper, scissors tournament.
Don Conner, assistant director of sport programs, spoke about the goals of Campus Recreation.
“Campus Recreation provides a lot of opportunities for students to get mentally, physically and emotionally fit,” said Conner.
Typically, we don’t think of working out as a way to strengthen ourselves mentally, but there is a correlation between being in shape or being physically fit and getting good grades, according to Dr. Heather Sanderson, a researcher at North Carolina State University.
“If a student who does not work out and then adds three hours [of exercise] per week, you are now looking at a 0.18 increase in GPA, which is a major impact,” said Sanderson in an interview with NC State journalist Adam Sardinha.
As for ETSU students, the CPA has quite a lot to offer, and Campus Recreation is constantly adding new activities, as Conner stated.
“This year, we’ve already added lacrosse and a couple other programs,” Conner said. “We want to continue to expand our numbers in sport clubs and we’re always looking to continue to add clubs.”
The RecFest served to kick off this semester’s intramural and competitive sports, with the overall goal being to acquaint students with programs.
“We’ve changed our sport club program,” Conner said. “We’re actually on a 3-level tier system now. We have instructional clubs that just get together and practice … We have recreational clubs that hang out and go do things, and our competitive clubs, like our weightlifting and tennis clubs, compete against other universities.”
ETSU’s CPA is way more than just treadmills and Stair Masters. If you’re a student, and you’re considering being involved in sports clubs or activities, contact Intramural Sports at (423) 439-7978 or register at imleagues.com/spa/portal/home.
