Last year, graduate sports medicine student Lisa Meneely wanted to show her seven-year-old son Derric around the Student Recreation Center, but at the time the facility was only available to people over age 18.
Now Meneely can take Derric for a swim in the pool or teach him how to play racketball on weekends as part of the Family Recreation Program, which launched Saturday.
“The program’s mission is to make available times when students and faculty can come together and recreate with their children,” Physical Activity Director Dennis Munroe said.
The program is available for adults already eligible to use the Rec Center at a cost of $1 per child. Leighton Pool will be open to families from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Designated basketball, tennis, racketball and squash courts will also be open Saturday mornings from 10 a.m. to noon.
“We’re just slammed with use from 3 p.m. on (during the week), so that limits us to weekends,” Munroe said.
But Saturday morning, no one used the program, Rec Center employee Wendy Martin said. The senior journalism major worked at the Rec Center on Saturday during the program’s hours and did not notice any children in the building. She said she suspects that people aren’t aware of the new program yet.
Meneely said she is excited that the facility is now available for the growing number of parents on campus.
“I am glad the Rec Center now has the resources available that support our unique position,” she said.
She added that the program offers parents the opportunity to lead by example in demonstrating the importance of physical activity to their children.
Meneely is not the only student parent who has wanted to bring her child along to the gym. Last year, students with families began inquiring about when they could bring their children with them to the Rec Center, Munroe said.
He added that the program was developed in response to surveys sent out last year. According to the surveys, families’ strongest interest was the swimming pool.
“We have always envisioned that we would open the Rec Center to children,” he said.
But it wasn’t until last year that the building’s renovation was complete and the program could be organized, he said.
Because of safety and liability issues, the Rec Center needed to add training so that employees would be able to perform CPR for children, Munroe said. The Rec Center also hired additional employees for the Saturday and Sunday shifts and added changing tables in restrooms, he said.
The strength and conditioning areas will not be available because of safety issues, and babysitting will not be offered either, he said. A brochure with a more detailed explanation of the services and guidelines is available.
Martin said she thinks more people will take advantage of the program once the word is out.
“I think it’s great, especially for students who have families that want to work out with their kids,” she said.