Eastern Washington’s Campus Recreation Department offers many clubs and sports, with a number of upcoming events for students to participate in.

Campus REC has engaged in a new awareness campaign for their sports and events using Facebook , Twitter and Instagram.  They have also introduced a new slogan to represent themselves: What are you doing after class?

Mike Campitelli has been the director of Campus REC at EWU for 21 years. According to Campitelli, Campus REC has a wide range of sports and events to offer students this fall.

“We offer the traditional sports in the fall and spring, such as flag football, outdoor soccer and softball,” said Campitelli. “We also offer basketball, volleyball and indoor soccer for fall, winter and spring.”

Some of these upcoming events taking place at EWU include paintball, laser tag, badminton, four-on-four volleyball, three-on-three basketball and Eagle Hold’em Poker. Campitelli also stated that there is one other event that stands out more than the others.

“‘The Grind’ is an on-campus skiing and snowboarding event that will take place Oct. 25,” said Campitelli. “There will be big trucks that bring in lots of fake snow on JFK field to create an X-games like event.”

Rick Scott, Coordinator for the Club Sport Federation at EWU, states that EWU offers these new and different programs to help students become more involved with the school and other students.

“We’re always expanding, trying to offer new clubs, sports and events,” said Scott. “A lot of the time students don’t join because there is a lack of awareness… [These] clubs give students the chance to participate with other students in a competitive yet fun and safe environment.”

Brian Trabun, a junior, joined the climbing club and is enjoying every moment of it.

“It feels good to be apart of the climbing club,” said Trabun. “I have been climbing on and off for three years and last year was my first year on the climbing team. Being on the team really made my climbing ability go ‘up’, and I got to meet a bunch of sweet climbers.”

According to Trabun,  joining a club is an excellent experience and a great way to meet new people.

“Try as many club and intramural teams as possible,” said Trabun. “We had a bunch of beginners on the climbing team last year. Climbing is one of the rare sports where you can be a beginner and still climb with others who are more experienced. This is really one of the best ways to get better at a sport; you have to train with people who make you stronger.”

The clubs and sports on campus are coordinated by EWU, but the initial ideas come from the students. As stated by Campitelli, it is the students who can help create fun programs for themselves and others on campus.

“Student feedback is always welcome, and we are open to suggestions for new club sports or events”, said Campitelli. “We encourage our students to check our page on Facebook or the school website, and even visit us at the URC… There’s enough stress from college life, and we seek to provide on-campus opportunities that are fun, memorable and safe.”