Stephen F. Austin State University

Volume 2, Issue 3May - July 2011

An INSIDER Look at the Graduate

Assistant ProgramPage 3 Lil Jack Rec Camp

and Group SwimLearn how to register on

Pages 11 and 12

Page 1

Letter from theDirector

1817 Wilson Drive • Nacogdoches, Texas 75962Phone: (936) 468-3507 • campusrec@sfasu.edu

2011Campus Recreation

Staff

Ken MortonDirector

Janice CasperOffi ce Manager

Kelley ConsfordAdministrative Asst.

Kenneth NorrisFacilities

& Membership Services

Michael ManingasOutdoor Pursuits & Safety

Debbie NorrisFitness, Wellness,

& Aquatics

Elizabeth RossPromotions & Sponsorships

Brian MillsIntramural Sports,

Sport Clubs, & Camps

Welcome to the latest edition of the Rec Insider!

I hope this fi nds you in good health and great spirits. As we at Campus Recreation wind down the school year, we fi nd ourselves revving up for summer programs and evaluating all we have done over the past year. It has been a great year at SFA, and Campus Rec has been hard at work providing services, programs and facilities for the students, faculty and staff. One of the programs we are very proud of is the Graduate Assistant program within Campus Recreation. You will fi nd articles and input from both our professional staff as well as some of our GAs. These students bring in fresh ideas, enthusiasm, and experience usually from other programs across the country. We have GAs from UT, A&M, TCU, James Madison, Kent State, CSU Northridge, and even a few home grown as well.

In edition you’ll fi nd info on our Little Jack Rec Camp, Experiential Learning Center, Sport Clubs, former employees, and one of our outstanding student offi cials, Alex Reed, who was selected as an All-American at the NIRSA National Basketball Championships in Austin this Spring.

As always, thanks for keeping up with what is happening at SFA Campus Recreation. Watch for opportunities to join us at events such as the Homecoming Fun Run, or simply to pay us a visit.

Stay in touch,

Ken MortonDirector of Campus Recreation

Page 1 Page 2

This semester, Campus Recreation has been a place to empower yourself in all areas of life: physical, emotional, intellectual, cultural, environmental, spiritual, and fi nancial. You can see how each of our program areas

enhances each of these dimensions in the 2011 Spring Program Guide on our website www.sfasu.edu/campusrec.

Want to fi nd other ways to empower yourself? Check out our blog! You can also fi nd SFA Campus Recreation on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

sfacampusrec.blogspot.com sfacampusrec student rec center-campus rec

twitter.com/campusrec

IMPORTANT EVENTS

This semester, Campus Recreation has been a place to empower yourself in all areas of life: physical, emotional, intellectual, cultural, environmental, spiritual, and fi nancial. You can see how each of our program areas

IMPORTANTIMPORTANT EVENTSEVENTS

The 2nd Annual Campus Recreation Alumni Homecoming Fun Run is already in the planning process! Don’t miss your chance to be involved in this exciting tradi-tion. Last year, 72 participants competed in the 5K walk/run early Homecoming morning, earning T-shirts and other fun prizes. This year, our goal is 125 partici-pants, so invite a friend to join you! Prices are yet to be determined, but registra-tion will begin September 5, 2011. We will have a new theme, new course, and, of course, incredible T-shirts! Shirts will be available until the registration deadline, October 14th. You can still register until the day of the run, but T-shirts may not be available. Check the website at www.sfasu.edu/campusrec for more information throughout the summer. Mark your calendar for Saturday, October 29, 2011! This is one event you do not want to miss!

Campus Rec already gearing up for 2011 Homecoming Fun Run

enhances each of these dimensions in the 2011 Spring Program Guide on our website www.sfasu.edu/campusrec.

Earth Day fi nds a new home at the Pineywoods Native Plant CenterWith the help of the community and various organizations at SFA, we were able to put on our most successful Earth Day yet! As always, local businesses and organizations populated our booths, and this year the involvement reached 30 booths! We also had local musicians, ranging from the well-known Steel Drum Band to various young student musicians. This year we tried something new for our speaker set-up: we had four individual speakers inform the public on topics such as STOP, Recycling in Nacogdoches, and Water Resources in East Texas, and we also had a panel discussion from fi ve local individuals who have all, in one away or another, chosen to live sustainably. The panel was a great success in that it engaged the audience and stimulated a conversation of growth within the community. With the intent of adding new things to Earth

Day, we cross collaborated with Keep Nacogdoches Beautiful in granting the “Partner in Sustainibility” award to Steve Chism, whose efforts to live in a sustainable fashion have been commendable. We were also able to extend our cross-collaboration with SFA organizations by getting two Hospitality Clubs involved, who served the public with food from the Farmer’s Market. Altogether, this year’s Earth Day was very successful and we were very pleased.

A fl uttering friend fi nds a resting place on an unsuspecting visitor at SFA’s Earth Day celebrations.

Page 3

Debbie Norris - Assistant Director for Fitness, Wellness, and AquaticsThe graduate assistant program is a great tool to assist young college graduates into their fi rst professional position. After graduating from college, many young adults enter into their fi rst year as a professional with maybe some work experience that is not always geared towards developing the skills needed for their career fi eld. Some enter with life experiences that are not always inclusive of the relative abilities needed to cope with different work relationships, adapt to change, make good decisions, and handle the pressures of budgeting and running programs on their own.

The GA program is designed to take young professionals and give them real work experience within a more supportive work environment. Our goal is to help prepare them for entering into their career fi eld with an additional two years of experience managing their own staff, trying different theories or methods, and working with the professionals to discover their personal standards and professionalism.

Brian Mills - Assistant Director for Intramurals, Sport Clubs, and Summer CampsThe graduate assistant program gives students in depth experien-tial learning opportunities including basics of scheduling, inventory, purchasing, running a meeting, and serving on a committee. They also learn advanced ideas of professional philosophy, student de-velopment theory, impact of recreation on college experience and campus life, connectedness of student affairs and our role in the master plan.

GA’s have the opportunity to learn from many different profession-als and become exposed to many different thought processes, phi-losophies, and work styles. Everyone is different, so taking all that you learn (positive and negative experiences) and applying that to yourself makes the experience exponentially more important.

My experience as a GA made me a better professional. I learned what my weaknesses were not just as an offi cial but also as a professional and was able to strengthen myself in many different areas. My time at Ohio University taught me that there are many different ways to accomplish goals. Just because something has been run one way for years doesn’t mean it is the best or most effi cient way. Utilizing others opinions and experiences brings more buy-in on many different levels which only strengthens our programs. All of those lessons were critical to my experience here at SFA and taking a traditional program and evolving it into a functioning part of the student experience.

Elizabeth Ross - Coordinator for Promotions and SponsorshipsI think our GA program is strong. Most areas give their GAs room to grow into a professional, room to make mistakes, and room to make decisions/changes to improve the strong base of Campus Recreation. I believe this room for growth is very important to the development of our future professionals.

We have the benefi t of bringing in grads from all over the country with a wide range of skills. This is a wonderful benefi t to our department; it allows our department to continually develop and move with the industry. It also gives our grads a chance to head up programs they might not see from their undergrad experience.

I feel grad development should continue to emphasize the skills our grads bring to the table and add to that throughout their time at SFA. Embrace the student as someone you work WITH not someone who works FOR you and view them as an equal. You may have to help them along from time to time, but then allow them to help you as well.

GRADUATE ASSISTANT PROGRAMA Deeper Look At SFA Campus Recreation’s

Greg Nord - Aquatics GA, Travis Lankford - IMS and Sport Clubs GA, and Kati Van Dunk - Promotions GA pose with SFA President Baker Patillo, Assistant Athletic Director John Branch and Athletic Director Robert Hill in the annual GA Scavenger Hunt.

Page 3

SFA Campus Recreation has been offering graduate assistant positions since before it became a multi-program department in 2006. Like other SFA gradu-ate assistant programs, the graduate assistant receives fi nancial support for graduate study by contributing to the mission of the university. These are gen-erally 12 month appointments with a 12 month renewal option. It is a program designed to give graduate students professional development and experience, both of which are highly valued at SFA Campus Rec.

Here is what a few of the Campus Rec professionals and current graduate assistants have to say about this integral program.

Page 3 Page 4

Many of the graduate assistant positions at SFA are fi lled through NIRSA networking. NIRSA is the leading resource for professional and student development, education, and research in collegiate recreational sports.

Headquartered in Corvallis, Oregon, NIRSA now includes nearly 4,000 highly trained professional, student and associate members throughout the United States, Canada and other countries. Serving an estimated 5.5 million students who regu-larly participate in campus recreational sports programs, NIRSA members are actively engaged in many areas of campus life: student leadership, development, and personnel management; wellness and fi tness programs; intramural sports; sport clubs; recreation facility operations; outdoor recreation; informal recreation; and aquatic programs (www.NIRSA.org).

“How NIRSA stands different than others is that it feels more like a family than a work conference. Being in the fi eld of recre-ation, we understand the importance of how recreation and leisure can increase success in one’s work productivity, outlook on life, and stress management,” says Debbie Norris. “We as professionals fi nd time to enjoy our professional relationships in our fi eld, fi nd time to learn and grow but also to have fun and enjoy programming as well.”

Another active member of NIRSA is Elizabeth Ross, who has given multiple presentations at the annual conference, has chaired two committees, and was a beta tester for the new Habi-tat online community . “I love NIRSA. I think it is a great time to network and meet people from all over the nation. NIRSA is a great way to generate new ideas for a program area or depart-ment and with the launch of Habitat, we can easily continue to keep in touch and start new programs to help the industry.”

To fi nd out more information about the National Intramural-Rec-reational Sports Association, please visit their website at www.NIRSA.org.

Page 4

Scott Berkowitz - Fitness and Wellness GAThe GA program at the rec gives me experience in many different as-pects that I can apply to future employment. Being a GA is a lot of fun and you get to be a professional without actually being a professional. I feel that we could work in more than one program to give us experience in different program areas. I have learned what it takes to be a professional and make decisions about things in my program area. I feel that being a GA has set me up to be a successful professional.

Travis Lankford - Intramural Sports and Sport Clubs GAThe GA program at SFA is a very useful program. It allows grad students, like myself, to further develop skills that are essential to the Campus Recreation fi eld, as well as essential job skills. I like the fact that we get a lot of freedom to run things as we see appropriate. It allows us to show off our creativity and resourcefulness.

The benefi ts of this program are numerous. If it wasn’t for a GA program such as this, I would not have chosen to attend grad school and pursue a master’s degree. I have been given a lot of responsibility within the IMS program and it will be of great benefi t down the road in my career. After graduation, I would like to pursue a career in Campus Recreation and this program here has helped me de-velop into a better professional candidate for the future.

GRADUATE ASSISTANT PROGRAM

Joe Wise - IMS and Sport Clubs GA - participates in a professional development opportunity on SFA’s high ropes course.

Page 3

Current and former SFA GAs, students, and professionals enjoy each other’s company at the annual NIRSA National Conference.

National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association

Page 5

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHTAlex ReedAt the top of his gameAlex Reed started working for SFA Campus Recreation Intramurals in September 2007 as a sports offi cial. Since then he has offi ciated over 300 intramural games in fl ag football, softball and basketball. Campus Rec would like to highlight some of his most recent accomplishments:

• Represented SFA as an offi cial at four different regional tournaments • Selected as an All-Regional offi cial for the UT-San Antonio basketball regional in 2011• Worked the 2011 NIRSA National Basketball Championships hosted by the University of Texas and was one of twelve offi cials selected for All-Amer- ican• Offi ciates high school basketball games for the SFA TASO Chapter. Is the Cofounder and Vice President of the SFA Student Offi cials Associ- ation and will step in as President in 2011

Through his years of offi ciating, Alex has learned lessons and had experiences that have made him better as a student and a person. He has learned how to deal with high-pressure situations. As an intramural participant, he has learned how to keep his composure on the playing fi eld.

“I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of other students around campus that I otherwise would have never known.”

Not only has Alex learned valuable life lessons through his time in Intramurals, he has also gained important experience.

“This experience is defi nitely preparing me for being a coach in the future.”

Brian Mills, SFA Assistant Director for Intramural Sports, Sport Clubs, and Summer Camps has also been impressed with Alex as an offi cial and student staff member.

“Alex Reed is one of the more unique stu-dents I have worked with. He is a great com-bination of athlete and offi cial. He is a pas-sionate and very talented player. He is a very professional and personable offi cial. He rides the fi ne line between administer-ing games and letting them play out. Like everyone else he has his faults, but he is a great offi cial and a better person. He is passionate about sports and will go on in the future and be an amazing infl uence in young athletes’ lives as a coach and hopefully as an offi cial.”

Alex will graduate from SFA in Spring 2012 with a degree in Kinesi-ology and will be potentially looking for a graduate assistant position for another university’s Intramural Sports program.

Page 5

• Represented SFA as an offi cial at four different regional tournaments • Selected as an All-Regional offi cial for the UT-San Antonio basketball

• Worked the 2011 NIRSA National Basketball Championships hosted by the University of Texas and was one of twelve offi cials selected for All-Amer-

• Offi ciates high school basketball games for the SFA TASO Chapter. Is the Cofounder and Vice President of the SFA Student Offi cials Associ- ation and will step in as President in 2011

Through his years of offi ciating, Alex has learned lessons and had experiences that have made him better as a student and a person. He has learned how to deal with high-pressure situations. As an intramural participant, he has learned how to keep his composure on the playing fi eld.

“I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of other students “I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of other students around campus that I otherwise would have never known.”

Not only has Alex learned valuable life lessons through his time in Intramurals, he has also gained important

“This experience is defi nitely preparing me for being

Brian Mills, SFA Assistant Director for Intramural Sports, Sport Clubs, and Summer Camps has also been impressed with Alex as an offi cial and

dents I have worked with. He is a great com-bination of athlete and offi cial. He is a pas-

young athletes’ lives as a coach and hopefully

Alex will graduate from SFA in Spring 2012 with a degree in Kinesi-ology and will be potentially looking for a graduate assistant position for another university’s Intramural Sports program.

Page 5

Fitness and WellnessFitness and WellnessResistance Bands are very easy to use and are a versatile piece of exercise equipment. You can isolate one muscle, or do exercises that use multiple muscle groups. They are different than using a normal weight due to the stretching of the band making it harder throughout the range of motion. You have the ability to perform exercises for all major muscle groups using this piece of equipment. When using resistance bands be sure to go through each motion in a slow, con-trolled movement to reduce the risk of injury and to also make the exercise more effective.

Chest PressFind a stationary object such as the leg of a table, fence post, or even a light pole and pull the band tightly around it. Facing away from the pole, grab both handles and lift your chest to ensure you are not arching your back. Your arms need to be parallel to the fl oor with your palms facing the ground. Press the weight forwards, focusing on not moving anything but your arms. Slowly bring the band back to the starting position.

RowsWith the band still wrapped around the pole, this time, turn around and face it. Grasp both handles with your hands in a neutral posi-tion where your palms are facing each other. Slightly bend your knees and roll your shoulders back to engage the muscle. Slowly pull the band in towards your ribs while focusing on pinching your shoulder blades together. In a controlled manner, bring the bands back to the starting position.

SquatsStand with your legs slightly more than shoulder-width apart,

stepping on the band ensuring that it is under the arch of your shoe. Grasp each handle and place your arms at your side. Focusing on keeping your back from arching, squat down to where your legs are no more than 90 degrees. Slowly stand back up to the starting position. Be sure to keep your knees be-hind your toes throughout the movement of this exercise.

Bicep CurlsWith the band still under the arch of your shoe, grasp both han-

dles of the band. Standing tall with your legs shoulder width apart, place your elbows fi rmly against the side of your body. Without moving your arms, bend your elbow while lifting the band upwards. Once you reach your full range of motion without moving your arms from your side, slowly

lower the band back to the starting position.

Triceps KickbackWhile stepping on the band, ensuring it is under the arch of your

shoe, bend your knees slightly and grasp the han-dles of the band. Bend at your hips while maintaining a fl at back, and place your arms at your side. With your arms bent, straighten them out to make them even with your body. Slow-ly bring your arms back to the starting position.

Sta

rt

Fini

sh

Sta

rt

Start

Start

StartFini

sh

Finish

Finish

FinishBicep Curl - Biceps

Tricep Kickback-Triceps

Chest Press - Pectoralis Major

Squats - Gluteus Maximus, Hamstrings, Quadriceps

Rows - Latissimus Dorsi, Rhomboids, Trapezius

Which muscles will you work?

Resistance bands can be purchased at any sporting good retail location (Academy, Wal-Mart, Target).

BLAST FROM THE PASTWhere They Are Now

An update on former Campus Rec employees

If you are a former Campus Rec employee or participant and want to be featured in this newsletter, please contact us at ejross@sfasu.edu or 936-468-5844. Please include your experiences working at SFA Campus Recreation and what you’ve been doing since your time at SFA. If possible, please also include a recent picture.

Who Am I?

Page 7

Teresa Adams graduated from SFA in 2007 with a degree in Criminal Justice. Teresa worked for Intramural Sports as an offi cial from March 2004 until graduation. She also worked as a fi tness assistant and in the Outdoor Center in her time at SFA. She was very active in Campus Recreation and Intramurals. Her Campus Rec softball team competing in the championship game in 2007.

“Some of the best memories I have at Campus Rec are the days of hanging out in the Outdoor Center talking with OP people, or at training days when we had to do trust exercis-es. I liked the way we were all from different backgrounds and different majors, but we were all part of Campus Rec. I know I’m a better person for knowing all those people.”

Teresa now works for SFA UPD. She loves Nacogdoches and took her job as a traffi c offi cer in hopes to stay in the area. She hopes to fi nd a job in forensics in the future.

“My advice for a future alumnus is to stay in contact with your friends and don’t forget to come back and visit the school where you learned a lot, and not all of it which was in the classrooms. Enjoy your time at Campus Rec and remember to always have fun wherever you end up.”

Laura Dokupil graduated from SFA in December 2007. She started working for Campus Rec in the Spring of 2007 as a softball umpire. She then started working as a cycling instructor in the Fall of 2007 when the new facility opened. Her best experience in Campus Rec was the grand opening of the new recreation center.

“That night was awesome! We had relay races on the track and even had rubber ducky races in the lazy river...we ate pizza and hung out in the facility all night!”

“Campus Rec helped me by opening the doors to a whole new career path for me. I never knew that jobs like that existed! I can remember thinking how cool it would be to be the fi tness graduate assistant or even to have a job like Debbie’s, but I fi gured that since I was a psychology major instead of Kinesiology that I was not qualifi ed. Little did I know that you do not necessarily have to have your degree in kinesiology to get a rec sports job. Campus Recreation showed me that it is possible to make a living while living your passion, fi tness!”

Laura’s advice for current Campus Rec employees is to make the most of experiences while working for Campus Rec.

“In the career world of today, employers are looking for diversifi ed applicants that have a whole set of different skills rather than just one skill. Even if you major in something completely different like music you can gain experience in the Campus Rec world by being a group X instructor, umpire, building manager, etc. The skills learned from these positions will help give you the edge that you need to get the job over other applicants.”

Laura is currently working as the assistant director of fi tness at Angelo State University in San Angelo, TX.

Teresa (Back Row, Second from right) with her 2007 Softball Championship team.

Where Are YOU Now?An update on former IMS participants

Who Am I?

Page 7 Page 8

Do you know these past Campus Rec Intramural participants? Is it you? Help us remember those who have helped keep the strong IMS traditions of SFA by sending us what you know! If you know the names of these players, please email us at millsbrian@sfasu.edu or call 936-468-1434.

Do you know these former Intramural participants? Do you know where they are now? Is it you? If you are or know any of the participants in these pictures, let us know what you/they’ve been up to since your/their time at SFA. Please email us at millsbrian@sfasu.edu or call 936-468-1434.

BMF’s - 1st Place Men’s Softball 1986

Ken Clower, Craig Leverette, Steve Griffi th, Kyle Standley, Brad Stormes, Dennis Werner, Bobby Maas, Jamie Thompson, Brian Bufkin,

Jace Rogers, Wil Trotter

Silver Bullets - 1st Place Women’s Flag Football 1986

Paula Brown, Jana Tucker, Gay Shields, Connie Barber, Deidre Gandy, Jamie Pridgen, Julie Lunquest,

Helen Hall, Shannon McCollum, Stephanie Brutsche, Monica Gill, Amy Flint, Virginia Bartusch,

Coaches: John Leonard, Todd Grimes

Page 9

Sport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsSport ClubsNOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

Want to get in touch with old club members? Please email us at millsbrian@sfasu.edu or call 936-468-1434 and give us some details about your experience with the club program, when you were a part of the club, and who you are looking for. We will do everything we can to help.

Women’s Soccer Finishes the Season StrongThis semester the women’s club soccer team made an impressive showing at their last tournament, hosted by Texas A&M Univer-sity on April 29 and 30. Teams included Sam Houston, Lamar, A&M, LSU and UTA. The SFA women tied Sam Houston 2-2, beat Lamar 4-1, lost to A&M 3-1, and beat LSU 2-1 to make it to the fi nals, where they lost to A&M 5-1.

“We played very hard and were excited to beat LSU, who beat A&M 3-0. They were our best competition.”

Despite the tough loss, club president Jenna Pierce is ex-cited about the next season.

“Our plans for next fall are to get even more girls to come out and play with us and to practice and get ready for our tough games against Baylor and A&M.”

The women’s team received Sport Club of the Year at the SFA Sport Clubs Banquet on May 2.

“The Women’s Club Soccer team has come such a long way since it started a few years ago. We have a full team and compete with some of the top schools. Next year we hope to get some more fans out to support us!”

Men’s Soccer Wraps Up Season at Texas State Tournament

This spring semester, the men’s club soccer team com-peted against teams including Houston Community College (L 1-7), Sam Houston (L 0-2), and Northwestern State (W 2-0). They fi nished the season at the Texas State Tournament on April 15-17, falling to UNT and St. Edwards University.

Student Offi cials Association Members Gain Regional Experience and RecognitionThe students of SOA are staying active and truly making a difference not only in NCCS Region IV activities (NM, TX, OK, LA, AR, MO, KS), but also in other regions. Cur-rent members include KC Dunham, Warren Upson, Ryan Bassett, Jason Morgan, Collin Cirrone, and Alex Reed.

Here is what the offi cials have been up to this year. KC Dunham was selected as a fl ag football offi cial for the Western Kentucky Region II Flag Football Tournament. Ryan Bassett was selected as an offi cial for the SFA Region IV Flag Football Tournament. Jason Morgan represented SFA as an offi cial at the UTSA Region IV Basketball Regional Tournament and at the SFA Region IV Flag Football Tournament. Alex Reed was selected as an offi cial for the UT Region IV National Basketball Tournament.

SOA is currently working on being selected for an AAU basketball tournament. They are also prepping for the Region IV Flag Football Tournament that will be held at SFA November 4-6, which they hope to be the largest in the nation.

The members of SOA focus their time not only on offi ciat-ing in college-sanctioned events, but also giving back to surrounding communities. They are highly involved in helping out area youth leagues in basketball, baseball, and football.

Page 9 Page 10

In the next issue of the

Celebrating SFA Campus Recreation’s 4th Birthday!

2nd Annual Homecoming Fun Run

Sport Club Alumni Games

Where are YOU Now? - The Bandits

REC INSIDER,