Outdoor recreation allows people to connect with each other and with the world around them. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the outdoors was the only safe place to gather. Today, many campus rec professionals are still looking for creative ways to offer programming or use outdoor spaces to meet student demand.
Traditional outdoor recreation spaces — mostly natural and artificial grass fields — are important to many programs in campus recreation including club sports and intramurals. However, they require a valuable resource not readily available to many campuses: space.
This is an issue that requires creative thinking at the urban campus of Cleveland State University (CSU). By maintaining a positive relationship with the Athletics department and sharing some of these areas, they can serve more students.
“The biggest thing we’ve learned and benefit from is partnering with other departments on campus,” said Mackenzie Lamar, the assistant director of Competitive Sports and Aquatics at CENTERS, LLC @ CSU. “Our relationship with the Athletics department alone has allowed us to offer so much more than we have in past years. This allows us to expand our participation and variety of types of clubs offered, intramural leagues, and a variety of camp activities to keep kids active and engaged.”
EXTRA CREDIT: Hosting large sports tournaments lessons and tips.
Krenzler Field, the university’s outdoor soccer field, is used for most of club sports’ practices and games. University Recreation and Wellbeing also hosts weekly intramural leagues on the field.
In addition, it’s used in CSU’s summer camp programming where kids play on the college sports field. This program is where the staff’s creativity can really shine with the brainstorming of fun, kid-friendly activities, including an outdoor obstacle course.
During the winter months, a dome is installed over the field to allow for continued use.
“This benefits not only the varsity teams but our club teams and intramural offerings, as well,” said Lamar.
Besides turf fields, there are many other spaces that can be used for recreation. Being creative with usable space is a great way to meet the demand for outdoor programming. An example of this is at William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and the part of campus called the Matoaka Woods.
This area features walking trails, a zip line and a boat house on Lake Matoaka where students can rent water sports equipment at no cost. According to Linda Knight, the executive director of Health & Wellness, the importance of holistic wellness greatly affects what programming and events are held in this area.
“We’ve put up hanging lights so students can hang out by the water for stress relief,” said Knight. “Much of the work to the area was done because of looking for spaces for students to get out of their dorm rooms during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
EXTRA CREDIT: How rec centers are using the local environment to their advantage.
Another interesting use of outdoor space for recreation is at the University of Washington (UW) and its Waterfront Activities Center. The docks on Union Bay are open for students to use for swimming or sunbathing. Plus, the rowing and yacht club utilize the docks for practices and club events. During warmer parts of the year, the department allows students, staff and the general public to rent out canoes and kayaks.
Gregory Reinhardt, the associate director for Programs & Assessment at UW, noted the increase in demand for outdoor fitness. He emphasized what’s great about this trend is the ability to ease into it as you assess student interest.
“Meeting this need can include starting small with existing offerings that can be taken outside,” said Reinhardt. “This modification allows departments to pilot outdoor fitness offerings with little to no added cost before making any significant investments in equipment or spaces.”
UW does this through outdoor mindfulness and yoga classes held on the lawn near the rec center. Having meditation or Zen classes in nature presents a challenge to participants because of potential distractions. It’s also another way to encourage students to get outdoors in a region with fickle weather.
Another way to get students outside is by creating spaces with outdoor exercise equipment. These areas can be useful and valuable to students with busy schedules.
EXTRA CREDIT: Outdoor fitness equipment has a positive impact on mental health.
“It seems easily accessible equipment or stations on campuses are becoming increasingly of value,” said Reinhardt. “Outdoor fitness parks or stations allow students to complete a few exercises in between classes or other commitments. It also allows for more spur-of-the-moment exercising.”
Knight has also seen these trends becoming more popular. The Health & Wellness staff at William & Mary offer some fitness classes outside and are working with Greenfields Outdoor Fitness to add an outdoor fitness space.
A big factor behind the implementation of outdoor recreation is student demand. Because it continues to be popular on campus since the COVID-19 pandemic, students and staff began seeing the mental health benefits of being outside more often.
With that, student input is a large factor in the planning process of outdoor fitness initiatives. Figuring out what they want influences staff’s choices like where equipment will be placed and what will be included. Doing so leads back to the department’s main goal of continuing to improve mental health on campus.
“Everything we do in campus recreation supports our participants’ well-being,” said Knight. “There are many studies that show being outdoors and ecotherapy are so important. At a time when concerns about mental health are at an all-time high on college campuses, make sure you know how your new idea can best support participants’ mental health.”
Along with providing these opportunities, the hope of recreation staff is students will learn about the benefits of outdoor fitness.
“If there are any positives that came out of the pandemic, it’s the importance and benefit of outdoor programming and opportunities,” said Knight. “I don’t always like to say programming because we educate our participants on the benefits of the outdoors. They can do so much on their own without a program.”
