Keeping students involved and moving, the Nicholls campus recreational center strives to provide athletic activities by offering many options and opportunities for interested students.
The recreation center operates many facilities and establishments on Nicholls campus: the Ayo pool, Shaver Gym, Stopher weight room, racquetball courts, tennis courts, aerobic classes, flag football and intramural volleyball.
“The biggest thing to keep in mind is that we manage a lot of programs that are spread out throughout the campus,” Michael Matherne, director of campus recreation said.
Students and faculty members can use their identification cards to freely rent various equipment for tennis, badminton, softball (though no gloves), basketball, football, racquetball, horseshoes, tug-of-war and board games.
“The neat part about this is if someone doesn’t know if he likes a sport and doesn’t want to invest in the equipment, he can come check it out here to see if he likes it,” Matherne said.
According to Matherne, the participation in campus recreation has been great thus far. There are five women’s teams and 18 men’s teams, an approximate 350 students, currently participating in the intramural flag football league that will be playing until Oct. 16.
After intramural football, there will be intramural volleyball beginning Oct. 18 and lasting until Nov. 20. With intramural volleyball, the recreational center offers men’s, women’s, and co-ed leagues.
Two new things done recently were the additions of Club Lacrosse and a cricket team. The lacrosse team, an unusual sport to southern Louisiana, competed last year and this fall and played such teams as Tulane, LSU and even some teams in Texas. Also, there is a group of students trying to start a cricket team, a sport primarily played overseas. The recreation center recently invested in some equipment for those individual students trying to formulate a team.
“If someone is interested in learning more about cricket or wanting to sign up for the team, he should call campus recreation and leave his number for the cricket captain,” Matherne said.
According to Matherne, the majority of the recreation center’s budget goes into student labor, and every program managed is very labor-intensive.
“Every time we open the pool we have at least three lifeguards on duty,” Matherne said. “Flag football is very labor-intensive; we have referees, scorekeepers, and timekeepers. We pay aerobics instructors to instruct the classes. We have staff at the racquetball court in case there is an emergency and also to check out equipment there. The largest percentage of our budget is involved in student labor, which is good because students are always looking for student jobs, and we’re able to employ about 25 student employees.”
In August, the tennis courts were renovated. Every court was resurfaced and given a new net. Also, all the fencing has been painted, and there are new windscreens.
“They’re really, really nice,” Matherne said.
Along with these latest additions and renovations, there is a campus recreation center to be built in the coming months.
“In as little as 48 months, we’re going to have this campus recreation center where it’s going to be one-stop shopping,” Matherne said. “We’re going to have a building on-campus whose sole purpose is to provide all of these activities in one center.”
Students involved with campus recreational activities seem positive and fulfilled in their involvement.
“I love it because I get to referee for the games,” Kristie Simoneaux, an English senior from Plaquemine, said. “I had to learn everything about football, flag football and all the rules, and at the same time I still get to go out there and play with my friends. I think it’s a lot of fun, the referees are fair, the games are at good times and they’re really good about rescheduling. It’s just a lot of fun.”
“From playing so far, I think it’s well-organized,” Kelsi Guidry, a freshman from Larose said. “It’s all working good.”