Sports > August 19, 2004

By Jason Mazda

Sports Editor

Everyone knows Wake Forest has some of the nation’s best varsity athletics in the nation. What some people don’t know, however, is that the university also offers top-of-the-line programs for students in search of club and intramural opportunities.

Campus Recreation offers everything from club lacrosse teams to intramural roller hockey to a ballroom dancing club.

“Campus Recreation wants to provide something for everything,” said Max Floyd, the director of Campus Recreation.

Campus Rec offers 29 different clubs, each of which are student-initiated, -run and -governed. All one has to do to join is contact a club and find out when they meet. Information about each club can be found at http://www.wfu.edu/campusrec Most of the clubs, Floyd said, will take all who are willing to stay the course. The most important thing is to get involved at the beginning of the semester, though, as some of the clubs are very competitive and set their teams early.

For those who want to get involved in something but don’t want to commit to a club, intramurals are perfect. In 2001, Wake Forest was listed by the Princeton Review as one of the top five schools in the nation for intramural sports. By the time this year’s senior class graduates, Floyd estimates that over 82 percent of men and 58 percent of women will have played intramural sports.

Floyd gives most of the credit for those accomplishments to the students who take part in the sports.

“All that was due to the massive amounts of participation we’ve had,” Floyd said. “The caliber of student that comes to Wake Forest needs high-caliber programs.”

While Campus Rec already offers a wide variety of club and intramural opportunities, Floyd said one of the most important things to know is they are always open to new ideas.

“We respond to the interests of students on campus,” Floyd said. “We try to be creative.”

In recent years, Campus Rec has added clubs like women’s fastpitch softball, fencing, crew and ultimate Frisbee, as well as intramural roller hockey. They are currently looking to start intramural dodgeball and kickball in response to recent interest in each of these sports.

Opportunities also exist for students to do more than compete.

“While 99 of 100 students are in it to play, some will go a little deeper,” Floyd said.

Students can be officials and eventually move up to supervisors and even graduate assistants. Floyd said some former students have taken that path and eventually found jobs in recreation departments at other schools.

“In every one of these programs, we’re dependent on enthusiastic students to help us run them,” Floyd said.

In the end, Floyd and his staff hope that Campus Rec can enhance the college experience for as many students as possible in various ways.

“It’s a great diversion from a strong, tough academic institution,” Floyd said. “It’s a great medium for creating a balance in your college experience, and without it, I think students are missing out on experiences they need to have.”