Eastern Illinois University Campus Recreation

Mission and Vision

The mission of Eastern Illinois University (EIU) Campus Recreation is to provide EIU students, faculty and staff with informal and formal recreational activities regardless of ability. They wish to promote a safe and enjoyable environment, encourage participation and promote healthy lifestyles.

Facility(s)

The Student Recreation Center (SRC) was built in 1990-1991 at a cost of $6.4 Million. The facility is 70,500 square feet and consists of the following features:

Six multipurpose courts for basketball, volleyball, badminton and pickleball.
Three studios which includes a functional training room with Life Fitness and SYNRGY360
Weight room.
Light free weight area.
Combined cardio/strength area.
Three stretching spaces.
Lobby with table tennis and study area.
Office space for recreation pro staff, graduate assistants and equipment check-out.

EIU Campus Recreation intramural fields has space for up to four soccer or flag football fields; a softball quadplex; pavilion with storage, sound system and WiFi; and an outdoor grill. The department also has outdoor courts with lights for tennis and basketball. Outdoor pickleball will be arriving soon.

The disc golf course has nine holes and a practice basket. The course is built on an old executive golf course and uses some of the former greens as targets with baskets.

Campus Recreation also shares use of the Padovan Pool, Lantz Racquetball Courts and Lantz Fieldhouse with Kinesiology and Recreation as well as Panther Athletics. The Padovan Pool is a six-lane, 25-yard aquatics center and is home to the Panther Swim Teams. The fieldhouse has a quarter-mile indoor track and five indoor tennis courts.

Programming

Intramural Sports

Campus Recreation offers structured team sports, single/double tournaments and sport-related special event opportunities for eligible students, faculty and staff. Students are trained to officiate and supervise team sports, and manage all tournaments. While the program is designed for competitive fun, the foundation is sportsmanship.

Group Fitness

Campus Recreation offers group fitness classes to all members and students including everything from Zumba to sports conditioning to meditation. Classes are taught by student instructors or members of the professional staff.

The group fitness staff also offers Fitness Instructor Training (FIT) once or twice every year. The class is led by the group fitness graduate assistant and instructors currently teaching in the program. FIT trains new instructors over a full semester and the department hires leaders directly from the training program.

Esports

The EIU Esports Arena opened in September 2019 and has been very popular since. EIU fields multiple competitive teams. The Esports Arena sees an average of 250 people per week. The arena has 12 PC gaming stations and two TVs for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox. It also has a coaching station and smartboard for competitive teams to practice and watch playback.

Fun Facts

The SRC was home to the Illinois High School Association Girl’s State Badminton Tournament for more than 10 years.
Campus Recreation hosts a regional archery tournament for preteens and teenagers every March. The competition includes more than 500 archers.
All programs are run by students, both graduate and undergraduate.
95% of daily users are students at EIU, and 51% of the student body uses the SRC every semester.
Professional staff have been with EIU a combined total of 45 years.