The January 2021 Rec of the Month is the Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) Trail Point Aquatics and Wellness facility in Ankeny, Iowa.
Trail Point’s Mission: We believe we will transform our communities by creating a safe and engaging atmosphere that energizes everyone to achieve all dimensions of wellness.
Vision of DMACC Campus Recreation: DMACC Campus Recreation is committed to being recognized as a leader on campus and in recreation. We will continue to provide dynamic and diverse recreational experiences which positively engage students through learning and leadership opportunities. We value teamwork, leadership, fun, enthusiasm, guidance and direction.
DESCRIPTION OF TRAIL POINT AQUATICS AND WELLNESS
Trail Point Aquatics and Wellness is one aspect of DMACC’s overall recreational offerings. Every DMACC student, no matter their location, gets a free membership to the facility, provided they are enrolled and paying for six or more credits each semester. The facility is also a community wellness center bringing together the Ankeny Community School District’s Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving teams, local residents, and programs for children.
Trail Point employs nearly 200 part-time employees, many of whom are DMACC students working in positions ranging from intramural officials, campus recreation gym supervisors, life guards, swim lesson instructors, or attendants on our fitness floor, within our kids zone area, or as customer service representatives at our membership desk.
The DMACC Ankeny Campus features football/soccer fields, tennis courts, two outdoor basketball courts and two sand volleyball courts where many of our intramural, extramural and club sport activities take place. Lake Future offers recreational opportunities such as fishing and ice fishing in addition to walking or running around the paved pathway.
The indoor facility is called Trail Point Aquatics and Wellness. This is a 97,000-square-foot facility offering two full-sized basketball courts, two swimming pools, two group fitness rooms, a cycling studio, state-of-the-art exercise machines, strength-training equipment, three racquetball courts, an elevated track, child care services, and fee-based programs and training.
PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS
Outdoor Recreation
Campus Recreation offers students the chance to experience the outdoors through day and overnight trips, and learn skills that enable them to enjoy being outside with a partnership with Iowa State University. Students, faculty and staff also have access to rent items like tents, bikes and outdoor equipment.
Intramural, Extramural and Club Sports
Intramural activities include:
- Flag football
- Basketball
- Volleyball
- Sand volleyball
- Glow in the dark volleyball
- Glow in the dark dodgeball
- Soccer
- H2O battleship
- Golf
- Wallyball
- 5k’s
- Esports
- Canoe races
- Bowling
- Swimming
- Racquetball
- Pickleball
- Ultimate frisbee
- Frisbee golf
- Wiffleball
- Tailgating games
- Card games
- Retro game night
- Fantasy sports leagues
Extramural sports are played against other local colleges. This provides social interaction between the schools and cultivates the habits of good sportsmanship while providing opportunities for top-level competition. Activities include:
- Volleyball
- Sand volleyball
- Basketball
- Flag football
- Esports
Club sports provide competition at a high level, participation in tournaments and opportunities to practice a sport with people who have the same interests. Student-led club sports include:
- Men’s and women’s soccer
FUN FACTS
- In 2019, DMACC Recreation began equipment rentals for items like tents, sleeping bags, hiking day packs, fishing equipment, sporting equipment, workout DVDs and even bike rentals.
- Trail Point partners with a local health system to provide a local office for physical therapy. This office includes the use of the therapy pool, which may also become a lab for the college’s health science area.
