New, Expanded Recreational Facilities Set MTSU Apart
Middle Tennessee State University is serious about giving students the opportunity to develop healthy lifestyles.
Serious to the tune of $17 million – the amount that bankrolled a major expansion of MTSU’s Campus Recreation Center and the construction of a Student Health and Wellness Center and a 16.5-acre Sport Club Complex.
“It’s essential to live a healthy lifestyle,” says Dr. Wendy Windsor, the school’s associate director of intramurals, sports clubs and wellness. “It’s not just about working out but managing your overall diet, making healthy decisions, finding recreational activities that you actually enjoy, being mentally healthy and just staying active.”
Students have plenty of options.
In addition to an intramural sports program that features more than 30 sports, the school sponsors 23 club programs ranging from lacrosse and ice hockey to rugby and skydiving.
The Sport Club Complex is now home to some teams that, in the words of rugby coach Mark Williams, had become “gypsies” as they wandered around trying to find adequate space to practice and play.
The Sport Club Complex, located a half mile southeast of the main campus, includes two large multipurpose fields, a walking track, scoreboards and a clubhouse.
“Our last field was uneven and bumpy with no fences,” says Bradley McDuffie, MTSU lacrosse president. “(Before the Sport Club Complex opened), we spent most of our time chasing balls rather than having productive practices."
“Now that we have our games and practices at the Sport Club Complex, teams coming in feel like they are playing at a venue rather than just a field in the middle of nowhere. It’s nice to have our own place to call our home field.”
The Sport Club Complex has given several team sports – including soccer and rugby – a place to call home. But individual pursuits can be found here as well. Even before its expansion, the Campus Recreation Center was home to six basketball/volleyball courts, six racquetball courts, a three-lane track, weight room, exercise equipment, swimming pool and a rock-climbing wall.
Since MTSU pumped millions into the facility, it offers expanded weight training, cardio rooms and a 10,000-square-foot wellness center with a medical staff and pharmacy.
The emphasis on student recreation, wellness and the multimillion-dollar commitment to facilities make MTSU unique among schools its size.
“Before the completion of this project, there was no centralized location for the sports clubs to practice,” Windsor says. “Many were using off-site facilities for both their practices and games.
“This facility sets us apart from many universities in that most have intramural sport complexes, but very few have a designated facility just for their sports clubs. At MTSU, we are fortunate to have both.”
