Sport bringing the campus back to life
31 August; Melbourne University Sport
It’s late August, the sun is out, and the Sports Precinct is thriving with activity. The pool is full of participants in the Water Safety Program; students are taking full advantage of Badminton and Tennis court hire, and crowds are flocking in to watch sporting club finals.
After two years of interruptions, participation in sporting activities across campus is increasing. Over 13,000 students have returned to campus to participate in recreation, fitness and sport programs so far this year. Part of that is due to the ambitious Reactivation Program launched by MU Sport. The program was developed late last year to support the University’s plans to encourage students and staff to return to campus and provides a fresh approach to encouraging students to engage in regular physical activity by activating space across the University.
New and returning students have been provided with the Student Life Active Pass, which provides students with complimentary access to fitness services, club come-and-try sessions, pop-up activities and events across campus. So far this year, over 70 activities and events have been held on-campus, including giant inflatables and lawn games on South Lawn and pop-up group fitness classes around campus, while sporting clubs have taken the lead to engage with students through over 150 free intro sessions to their club activities.
While the program started brilliantly, the ambitious goal over three years is to engage with 30,000 unique students across all recreation, fitness and sport programs.
Despite a focus on providing new opportunities, existing programs are starting to thrive and meet or exceed 2019 numbers. Badminton, squash and tennis court hire has been in high demand, with the Nona Lee Sport Centre stadiums constantly full of students playing badminton, with casual court hire numbers exceeding 2019.
The Water Safety Program is also slowly returning to 2019 numbers, with over 550 students enrolled in the Semester 2 program. The free aquatics education initiative for students launched in 2017 and has seen over 5000 students graduate from the program, predominantly international and female.
A big second half of Semester 2 awaits with a range of activities and events for students to engage in. In collaboration with the University Health Promotions team, MU Sport will deliver ‘Recharge Week’ from 6-8 September in line with R U OK? Day. The week will showcase and provide a number of health and wellness activities for students to engage in at no cost. We have more fun and free activities planned on South Lawn; a team of students will head to Perth to represent the University at the 2022 Uni Nationals, and summer sporting clubs will begin to take the field. For a full list of activities or to sign up for the Student Life Active Pass, click here.
Melbourne University Sport is supported by funds from the University’s Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF). The SSAF helps provide a range of recreation, fitness, and sports programs for students and supports sporting clubs, teams and student-athletes.