Growing up in metro Detroit, Adam Fancher would go on camping trips with his family to the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan. Crossing the Mackinac Bridge for the first time, he was blown away by the woods, rock formations and Great Lakes that made up the stunning environment.
Then his older brother went to Northern Michigan University (NMU) located in Marquette, Michigan — a.k.a. the UP. “We’d visit him throughout my high school years,” said Fancher. “I looked at going to college at Western Michigan University, but I just knew I was going to go to NMU.”
While an undergrad, he worked in the outdoor rec center. After graduating and a stint in the Pacific Northwest running and opening successful bike shops, Fancher returned to NMU in 2021 to take on the role of Intramural Sports and Outdoor Equipment manager.
However, Fancher’s story parallels that of the two other leaders on the NMU Rec Sports team. Katie Moe, the assistant director of Campus Recreation, had over a dozen relatives who were NMU alumni. She worked in Rec Sports as a student, completed a graduate assistantship and took a job at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She returned to NMU soon after.
The final member of the small but mighty Rec Sports team is Tricia Bush, the director of Campus Recreation. She grew up in Marquette, went to NMU, was a student employee in Rec Sports and is now leading the department.
“I wasn’t one of those people who was like, ‘I can’t wait to graduate; I’m getting out of here,’” recalled Bush. “I was perfectly content staying here along the lake because I love the activities we can do in town recreationally.”
Getting Outdoors
That’s one of the big draws of NMU, a school that sees about 7,000 students on its campus, with nearly 80% being Michigan residents.
To take advantage of the local landscape, the Outdoor Recreation Center (ORC) conducts trips around the area, including waterfall hikes and white water rafting in Northern Wisconsin. There’s also a partnership with nonprofit organization Noquemanon Trail Network to allow for free student rentals of fat tire bikes, snowshoes and more.
In addition, unique winter programming activities include everything from ice climbing to cross-country skiing. Students can also access the 38-foot-tall Nicros climbing wall in the Physical Education Instructional Facility (PEIF) of the NMU Sports Complex.
Fancher shared his main goal for Outdoor Recreation is to introduce students to the outdoor space they have readily available. “We’re trying to make sure people feel confident going into the spaces for the first time,” he said. “For a lot of students, we’re their first introduction to things like ice climbing, rock climbing, fat tire biking and cross-country skiing — things some of us take for granted might be their very first time trying it. That can be a scary thing.”
EXTRA CREDIT: How creative outdoor recreation experiences are encouraging student engagement.
One way they’re working to introduce students to the outdoors was a recent event called Demo Day. Rec Sports reserved a $30 campsite at a community campground just two blocks from campus. Bush shared there was a fire with s’mores, camping gear from the ORC was set up to show what could be rented and there were opportunities to stand-up paddleboard as well.
While the attendance was lower than they hoped, the impact was huge for one student. Bush shared the director of housing called her after Demo Day. A student who had been struggling to get involved attended the event and tried stand-up paddleboarding for the first time. “The student went back, and they were talking about paddleboarding the whole next day,” said Bush.
As Fancher shared, they’re continuously looking for different avenues to reach out to students. “We’re constantly trying to grow,” he said. “A big part of coming to NMU is the outdoor environment. We’re trying to find things that help students get out.”
NMU’s Local Community
Aside from the environment just beyond the doorstep of NMU, another unique factor of the Rec Sports team is the surrounding community.
Faculty/staff as well as spouses and children can access many programs and offerings of Rec Sports. In addition to those membership and student fees, there are also community rates that many alumni in town take advantage of. It means the center is full of age-ranges and people from all walks of life. “As a kid, I remember coming in here with my family all the time,” Bush recalled.
The community can take advantage of the fitness center that includes:
- Equipment from Freemotion Fitness, Precor, TRUE Fitness and more.
- Group fitness classes.
- Kids Climb every Friday night for younger climbers.
- Some intramural sports like volleyball.
- And much more.
Fancher shared when he was a student, having the community involved in the same space was impactful. Participating in rock climbing while at college, he recalled there were a lot of older community members around who were part of the beginning of rock climbing in Marquette. Due to this connection and community, he grew in the sport.
EXTRA CREDIT: Check out USF’s state-of-the-art bouldering wall.
But the impact didn’t stop at rock climbing. “I met a lot of people who did end up helping me transition after graduation to adulthood/a full-time job,” explained Fancher. “You don’t get stuck in the weeds of the university; you have different outlets for things.”
Today, Fancher has seen that same impact continue. Volleyball teams consist of students and outside community members. Students are teaching youth in swim lessons and are learning how to work with the parents of the young swimmers enrolled in the program. Bush has even heard how some community members have become like extended family for NMU students.
“Having community members allows our student employees the opportunity to network and make connections,” said Moe. “It allows those students who are recreating the same opportunity. It also serves as a recruitment tool to potential youth from surrounding communities.”
Partnerships Outside of Northern Michigan University
But community impact goes beyond the relationships built between students and other members. Bush also shared several of their offerings are due to the surrounding community’s willingness to partner with them.
For example, two club teams function due to community groups. Sailing partners with the Marquette Yacht Club, and the Crew Team partners with the U.P. Rowing Club. These community organizations provide equipment, waterfront space, training and more. “If they decided they no longer want to work with NMU, then those clubs would no longer exist,” said Bush. “I feel like every conversation we have leads back to the community in some way.”
On the flip side, NMU is positively impacting the local community through its summer camp. Bush shared they run it due to a shortage of childcare in the summer. Fifty campers are on site daily, from kindergarten to fifth grade, in addition to a smaller tween program which caters to a dozen campers per day.
In 2023, Bush said the 50 spots per day for the entire summer camp offering were filled within eight minutes of registration opening. It was a crazy first for the program, and they plan to offer it again in 2024. Prices will be raised due to increasing staff wages in order to be competitive, but they aim to not overcharge parents.
EXTRA CREDIT: This local partnership brings adaptive sports to WKU.
And overarching all of this is the fact they’re in a big transition. In July 2023, Rec Sports moved from being part of the Athletics department to now fall under the Northern Student Experience (NSE) pillar at NMU.
It’s a move Rec Sports has looked forward to, despite the challenges of change. However, Bush noted they can be highlighted more as part of NSE. For Fancher, with a large part of his job focused on the student experience, it’s a better fit. “It puts us on a little bit better-lit path in a lot of ways,” he said.
But even as they settle in this big transition, it all comes back to serving students, faculty/staff and the local community in Marquette. And no matter what division Rec Sports falls under, or what challenges arise for the department, the small but mighty team at NMU will continue to press forward. “Being part of a small but mighty team is both a huge honor and accomplishment but can also be very challenging,” said Moe. “Our small but mighty team has always just gotten it done.”
