Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Wvuafm tuscaloosa.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Happy Sunday, y'all. You are listening to fit to be tied with Sheena and Nika on 90.7, the capstone. And here we are once again. It's like the end of October.
[00:00:18] Speaker C: How did we get here so fast?
[00:00:19] Speaker B: I have no idea. But I'm okay to be here, I think.
[00:00:24] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm maybe not ready for all the Christmas stuff. I don't have my head on straight for that. And to know that it's like, I think, what, ten, nine more Fridays until Christmas, basically, something like that.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: Yeah. I think anytime people talk about landmark times of the year, whether it's Christmas or Thanksgiving or other holidays or spring break, and you talk about it in terms of, like, x amount of like, Saturdays or weekends versus just the total number of days, it is a reality check.
[00:00:57] Speaker C: It is a reality check. So, yes, I am loving October's weather and, you know, all that good stuff, but I'm seeing the next deadline looming and that is the Christmas holidays.
[00:01:09] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:01:09] Speaker C: I'm just not prepared yet.
[00:01:10] Speaker B: Now, I will say so selfishly for me, this show normally airs on Sundays, and so this episode specifically is going to be airing or going live on Sunday, October 27. And so exactly a week from Sunday, October 27, on Sunday, November 3, I will be 40 years old. So I'll be in the 40 club. So that has been looming on my radar before acknowledging, yeah, a little bit.
[00:01:41] Speaker C: Before Christmas is the 40th birthday coming down the track. Well, happy early birthday.
[00:01:46] Speaker B: Thank you. I've accepted it. At this point, I'm just like, let's just get to 40, you know? And then they have the whole, like, oh, forties are the new thirties and thirties are the new twenties. And me and my husband were talking earlier this year about how whenever we were younger and you would think about somebody who's in their forties, they're pretty much on the brink of death, right? It's like their life is over.
And so I'm like, lord, I hope that's not the case for me.
[00:02:12] Speaker C: Well, you know, I have been in my forties for a minute, so I will say that it is true all the things they say where you still have the mindset of being, you know, quote unquote, young twenties or thirties, but your body tells you otherwise.
[00:02:28] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:02:29] Speaker C: So every day I find something different that my body loves to remind me that you're not 20 anymore. So welcome to that club, my friend.
[00:02:40] Speaker B: Yes. I can't say how many times I have been to the sports medicine clinic this year between calf tears or knee issues or other miscellaneous things related to just existing. Well, mostly running on the treadmill and now having to accept that that is just not how my body prefers to move or is willing to move.
[00:02:59] Speaker C: So, see, you're much better than me because my injuries are more. I slept on my pillow the wrong way. You know, I turned to grab the conditioner bottle in the shower, and now I have, like, a torn trapezius. No, I'm just kidding. But, you know, mine's just more like, just, oh, living my life and being very aware of my age.
[00:03:20] Speaker B: Oh, no. If I don't have the right pillow, I will have a migraine. Time to. There you go.
So it's like all the things, but digress. Thankfully, y'all, if you are listening to the show at this point, I'm sorry, not really. But let me just say, this is not all we're gonna be talking about in today's episode. Thankfully, we have more exciting things that we're gonna be talking about. We have an excellent guest, per usual today, and so that's just a little bit of a teaser. You know, one of the things that Nika and I really enjoy doing is having different campus partners come and talk with us, talk about ways that our students and our faculty staff can get engaged in various things. And we are a health and wellness related show, so, of course it is going to be health and wellness related.
[00:04:06] Speaker C: Yes. And, you know, it doesn't matter if you are 20 or you're 40. You can partake in, you know, these excellent programs.
[00:04:15] Speaker B: I think so. I mean, our guests might change my mind and me realize that my body can't handle, like, all of the things that we're going to be talking about today, but it's totally okay. But with that said, before, I did us into a bigger rabbit hole. We are just going to say we are going to take a break. When you catch us on the flip side, we are going to introduce our guests and get things started for the day. You are listening to fit to be tied with Sheena Nica on 90.7 the capstone.
[00:04:46] Speaker A: Wvuafm tuscaloosa.
[00:04:55] Speaker C: Happy Sunday, listeners. You're listening to fit to be tied with Sheena and Mika on 90.7 the capstone.
[00:05:01] Speaker B: Yes, you are. And if you joined us in the previous segment, I reminded you we are not talking about being in our forties and our bodies falling apart. Rather, we're going to be talking about more exciting things. Specifically, we are going to be talking about the different sport program opportunities with university recreation. And in order to do. So, we have our fabulous guest today, Mister Chris Adams, who is assistant director of competitive sports programs at university recreation here at UA. So, Chris, thanks for being on the show.
[00:05:31] Speaker A: Yep. Glad to be here. Thank you all for having me.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: Yeah. Now, you are a first time guest with us, and whether somebody is a first time guest or a frequent flyer, we always like to start things off with a little bit of talk about your professional and academic background. So kind of tell us a little bit about life before UA.
[00:05:52] Speaker A: So I got my start in higher ed, you would say. I started as a student employee at the University of Florida, part time student employee officiating intramural sports, which kind of led me to the chair that I, I'm sitting in now. Got a bachelor's degree in criminology from the University of Florida. Decided late my senior year that I do not want to do that. Thought about going to law school, didn't want to read legal briefs and all that.
Always found myself when my shifts were over, I didn't want to leave the rec center. It was a great place to be. And then it clicked in my head one day that I can do this as a full time job. So I sat down with my professional staff, people who have my job back then, and decided to pursue a master's degree. That led me to the University of West Florida in Pensacola, where I got a master's degree in higher ed administration.
So a little more on track of what I do now and then that after two years there, 2019, I moved to University of Notre Dame, where I had my first professional job coordinator for sport programs up there. Did three winners. Born and raised in the state of Florida. Snow me. My wife is from South Alabama, so we moved back south about two and a half years ago, which led me to here. I've been serving in this role for the last two and a half years. I think that hits everything, right?
[00:07:05] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, okay. So as you were telling your story and then also thinking about that hard turn that you made with your academics your senior year, I'm kind of curious, what did, what did your family think of that? Were they a factor at all? I guess I'm just thinking if I were in those shoes and my family or those close to me thought I was doing one thing and then I'm like, haha, psych. I'm actually going to do something completely different from criminology.
[00:07:31] Speaker A: I mean, they were supportive. My parents were always, they're both employed by the school board back home, so good, steady jobs. Working in higher was a good, steady job as well. But just a major shift like that late in college is not something I think they were expecting. Very supportive. Still, to this day, I don't think they fully understand what I do on a day to day basis, which is fine. You never really know what someone does until you work a day in their shoes, but they were supportive. A little shocked. I was originally just gonna move back home and be a police officer back in my hometown.
Not that I could still do that. It's just not where I feel my talents are best served at this point in my life.
[00:08:07] Speaker B: Yeah, I appreciate you sharing that. And the reason that I wanted to specifically have you acknowledge or mention that is the fact that we often have listeners, especially our student listeners, who they could be in those same shoes. You know, Nika, I know for you as an advisor, you probably have students that are with you that had made the, you know, the significant turn or jump over to your college, and they were in a completely different unit or background, or maybe it wasn't so hard of a shift, but it is still a different academic background. And so I think that it's really cool that you were kind of true to what you knew your passions were going to be professionally, Chris. And, you know, certainly we're very lucky that you made that turn, because it's got you here at the University of Alabama in the role that you have with you right now.
[00:08:57] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:08:59] Speaker C: So you said you loved the rec center and didn't like to leave it, but what drew you to the competitive sports side of it?
[00:09:07] Speaker A: So, a little bit about my background. I grew up around a family of sports officials, so football and basketball.
So on every Friday night, pretty much, I was at a football game with my grandfather, who was a high school football official, high school basketball official. So I started refereeing high school middle school sports when I was 16. State of Florida. If you could drive there, you could referee. When I transferred to University of Florida as a junior, I did go to community college first. I left that out, transferred up through my junior year, a lot of the professional staff that worked within sport programs, intramurals, competitive sports, whatever you want to call it. There's a lot of different names around higher ed or high school sports officials. So naturally, like, they tried to get me to work at the rec center. I struggled with going from making $45 to do a jv game to $8 an hour to do an intramural game. It was more about the camaraderie, but that's just kind of what drew me to that side of higher ed, just the officiating was already there. I just needed a place to plug in on campus to give me that sense of belonging while I'm outside of like, my home environment that I was so used to.
[00:10:09] Speaker C: Yeah, I love that. So you said if you could drive, you could officiate. So that also means that you could get yelled at by parents.
[00:10:16] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:10:16] Speaker C: Yes. And I'm sure you didn't mind trading that in for intramurals.
[00:10:21] Speaker A: I would honestly say some of the punishment getting yelled at intramurals might be worse than stuff.
[00:10:26] Speaker B: Is it ok?
[00:10:27] Speaker C: So see, learning things every day can assume.
[00:10:31] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh my goodness. So I am also curious too, Chris. You know, with your work at university recreation, especially working in sports programs, what are the most favorite things that you like about your job right now?
[00:10:46] Speaker A: Cliche High. Right answer is the students that I get to interact with. We are the largest student employer on campus in university rec. Within support programs, we I think our number is sitting right at 87 program assistants who oversee a nightly schedule all the way down to just a student official who's working a flag football game, throwing flags, pulling their whistle. I would say the student piece of that and student development side of things is arguably my favorite part of my job. Seeing a student come in their first freshman fall semester, finding a place to plug in. And then it doesn't happen a lot. Life happens. Internships, people leave seeing a student come and stay for all four years, watching them grow. They go accelerate, masters, masters, they stay for six years. There's something to be said about a student who wants to not. It's not a lot of money, it's really more about the sense of community.
They want to stay and be a part of that. And I want to see them grow from showing up night one of training their first fall semester to them leading and overseeing a whole nine of programs by their senior year and handling stuff when pro staff's at home doing boring adult stuff. So I would say arguably it's easily working with the student employees. Yeah, there's a lot of headaches on the participant side sometimes. I will be honest there, but working with the students and seeing their growth is probably my favorite part of my job.
[00:12:01] Speaker B: I love that. I think that the way that you articulate that there's such an authenticity to it, being clear that you have a passion for students. That's something that we've often told individuals that have applied for positions in our department is really just that opportunity to be able to mentor students and see them grow. And some of the quote unquote employee issues that you need to navigate through. If it's a professional employee versus a student employee, it's so different, you know, when we're thinking about those, quote unquote, learning opportunities. And I really love the fact that you value that with your job, too. And I know that you mentioned that your master's is in higher ed. When you think about quote unquote end game for you professionally, do you see that always being related to rec programs in higher ed? Are there other ways that you would like to use your higher ed expertise in the long term?
[00:13:00] Speaker A: I think that's always a difficult question.
Firm believer. You never really want to know what you want to be when you grow up, and I don't think that there's ever an end date to that. I tell student employees that all the time.
Right now, I'm very happy in higher Ed and the role I serve. And yes, I leave the office mentally exhausted during the heart of our programs. But when I walk out in the evening and see our student employees getting ready to go out and work our programs, that makes it all worth it for me. I probably would see myself topping out in rec. I don't have any plans of going like the AVP or VP. I don't want to have to go get three more letters behind my name, unfortunately. So I would say I'm very happy where I am now. But you never know. Life happens. Things intervene. I know other folks in the field who have gotten out and have kind of transitioned into some other roles with companies that maybe we've contracted with that work with higher ed campus rec programs across the country. But for right now, I mean, higher Ed's been good to me. Very fulfilling, very fulfilled so far, so. But you never really know what you want to do when you grow up.
[00:13:57] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:13:57] Speaker B: Yeah. I like that answer because we don't want to give any, like, current supervisors, like, a heart attack, being like, oh, my gosh, they're already, like, thinking their best.
So totally, really like that, for sure. But we're going to take a quick break, you guys. On the flip side of things, we definitely want to go into some deeper conversation with Chris about sports programs at university recreation. But until then, grab something to drink, some water, do what you got to do. You are listening to fit to be tied with Sheena and Nica on 90.7 the cat.
[00:14:34] Speaker A: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:14:43] Speaker C: Welcome back, listeners. You are listening to fit to be tied with Sheena and Mika on 90.7 the Capstone. And today we have our guest, Chris Adams, who is the assistant director of competitive sports programs at university recreation here at UAE.
[00:14:56] Speaker B: Yes. And before the break, you know, we went into Chris's background, you know, learned about some professional footprints he's had, as well as academic footprints. And now, Chris, I want to talk to you a little bit about the difference between intramural sports and sports clubs on campus. I know that both of those things kind of fall under your umbrella, so for listeners who may be hearing this terminology for the first time and potentially interested, can you kind of tell us the difference between those?
[00:15:26] Speaker A: So there's really two main differences. One of them is travel, one of them is money.
So intramurals, I'm gonna take myself, Bobby, Billy, and Susie, and we're gonna come over to the rec fields on a Wednesday night, and we're gonna play five, six other UA students, whether it be a flag football game, basketball game, floor hockey, whatever one of our offerings it may be, club sports are gonna be a little more, I wouldn't say organized, because NMRL is very organized. I think we do a fantastic job with that, but it's going to be. Club sports are student led. They're student orgs at their base, student organizations. It's typically former varsity athletes who want to keep playing the soccers, the baseballs. A lot of our northeast Midwest kids come down to play hockey, and they're going to travel and compete against the Auburns, the Tennessees. There's going to be a little more financial input to be a club athlete than on the edmural side, but they're going to host home games here, and then they're going to travel, whether it be 2 hours, 5 hours.
Some of our clubs go up to the east coast from time to time. Crew went all the way up to Boston, Massachusetts, a few weeks ago to compete in a regatta up there. So I would say travel and the money input is probably the biggest difference.
[00:16:36] Speaker C: I love that. So you don't just stop after you graduate high school in your sport if you don't pursue being a collegiate athlete.
[00:16:46] Speaker B: Yeah, I really like that you mentioned that, because I think that in the event that we have listeners that are in high school and they're thinking, well, I don't necessarily see myself coming to UA as a d one athlete. Do I have to give up my sport? Simply put, the answer is no. It sounds like you can be really active with that. And, Chris, for the students that do find themselves being involved in intramural sports or sports clubs on campus, are they actively looking for that experience? Do they know these exist? Like how do I guess students kind of fall into these opportunities?
[00:17:21] Speaker A: For the most part, I think it's mainly word of mouth. Potentially. Siblings have been to UA or played intramurals or clubs, four to different schools, so they know about them when we work Bama balance tabling, like, I would say 80% of the questions that come to our table are about my day job and what I do in a rows and club sports. So I would say social media plays a factor in that. We're trying to make some strides over in our department to kind of get a little more of a footprint out on social media. But for the most part, as much as I hate to say it, in 2024, with all this technology, it's really just word of mouth and people find out about it. And the clubs have their own social media presence, which is great, but I think nine times out of ten, you either just know about it or you don't.
It's really word of mouth more than anything. From my experience working in higher than the three or four different roles I've served. Yeah.
[00:18:07] Speaker B: How many different sports are represented for.
[00:18:10] Speaker A: Your intramural program specifically so this fall across league sports? So a league sport is going to be probably a five to six week commitment. You're going to play every Tuesday night at 06:00 and then you'll have a playoff, and you'll get a champion who gets a free t shirt. We have five league sports this fall and then a handful of tournaments that we'll play on Thursday, Thursdays and Fridays. That's probably eight offerings this fall. And then in the spring we'll do. We're a little more rolled back. We'll do three to four league sports in a handful of tournaments, but we'll hit, just like the varsity calendar, we'll hit, we will hit our flag football. So we'll have our football in the fall, and then we'll have our flagship basketball in the spring, just like you'll have be more heavy for basketball for varsity sports in the spring, and then we'll sprinkle in a softball. So I would say across the gamut, August through May, we probably offer anywhere from 15 to 16 different things, whether it be a league, league, or tournament.
[00:19:06] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:19:07] Speaker C: How many students do you usually have participating in the intramurals in academic year?
[00:19:14] Speaker A: I ran some numbers for a meeting that I came, that I was in right before this. Right now, we are exceeding 3700 right now at this point.
[00:19:22] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:19:22] Speaker C: So that is a great outlet for our students.
[00:19:25] Speaker A: It typically tops out 68 to 7500 every year. Students were and a lot of those are repeat. And you get these people who play everything, and you get people who only want to play soccer or flag football.
[00:19:35] Speaker C: Sure.
[00:19:36] Speaker A: Home for both.
[00:19:37] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:37] Speaker A: But we typically top out around 7500 for admirals, which is a really good chunk of our student population. And then on the club sports side of things, we're topping out around 14 to 1600, depending on the academic year.
[00:19:49] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:19:50] Speaker A: Across our 45 different clubs.
[00:19:51] Speaker B: Yeah. Now, you know, thinking about level of bragging rights and how serious that's taken, like, what does that energy look like in terms of intramurals? And then what does that look like in terms of, like, sports clubs?
[00:20:05] Speaker A: So on the intramural side of things, we have champions. Our stuff is kind of broken down. We have our co wreck. We have a men's offering, women's offering. We'll do a fraternity greek league.
I think that's everything. Sorry, it's been heck of these last two weeks. So as we get into playoffs, things get a little more heated. But it's important to remind our students that the winner of this whole thing gets a free t shirt, but bragging rights. That free t shirt is valued at roughly between seven and $8.
And it's important to not end up.
[00:20:38] Speaker C: In student conduct over something or the student health center.
[00:20:42] Speaker A: When students choose to have themselves removed from a game, they get a little too heated. They come meet myself and another professional staff member, and these are all the things that we discuss with them. So it does get intense, especially on Tuesday night. That's more of our, that's our greek nights. Our fraternities get out there, and there is definitely a competition amongst those fraternities.
90% of the time, it is good spirited, but 10% of that time, you have people who forget that we are on UA's campus. We're gonna have respect for our fellow students.
[00:21:11] Speaker C: No scholarships will be handed out tonight. That kind of stuff. Yeah.
[00:21:14] Speaker A: On the club side of things, it's really, I mean, it gets competitive. It depends on the sport.
Like, we have six, eight, seven foot tall rugby guys that play, they get heated. On the soccer side of things, you get more yellow cards hitting out, especially if we're playing in Auburn or Tennessee. So there is that rivalry that you would see in varsity sport as well. But on the intramural side of things, people get a little too heated. It's important to remember that these games are also officiated by your students or your fellow student peers. Like, you can sit next to them, chemistry at 02:00, and then your referee, you're in real game at 730 that night. And they are working a part time job just like you might work a part time job, whether it be here on campus or at shake Shack around the corner or something. Something along those lines. And they're doing their best within their given ability.
[00:22:04] Speaker B: I like that.
[00:22:05] Speaker C: I do love that.
[00:22:06] Speaker B: Obviously, Nika, I know you are just biting at the bit to now be involved as a faculty staff member. So what does faculty staff involvement in these opportunities look like?
[00:22:18] Speaker A: And on the integral side of things, they would pay. We have our play pass model. You pay $20 each semester. You can play one thing, you can play all of our stuff. If you want to play just a tournament, it would cost you $5. All that's through our registration website.
Faculty staff, the only caveat with them is if they want to come and play something in the building, they have to have a membership to the building.
[00:22:39] Speaker B: Sure. Okay.
[00:22:40] Speaker A: Outside sports, our flag footballs, our softballs, our soccers. You'll see an uptick in faculty staff participation there. Sign ups look a little bit different from you all or from an undergrad student. A lot of our, all of our stuff is pulled from the registrar. So, myself included, I don't show up as being registered for classes because I'm not. All you have to do is call our sport programs office Monday through Friday, 10:00 to 04:00 or reach out to a professional staff member. We change some settings on the back end so you don't come up as suspended when you try and shut in for you.
[00:23:08] Speaker C: I just have to clarify. Cause we talked in our first segment about me being old.
Am I going out there with a bunch of 19 year olds who can whoop me if I'm gonna, you know, let's say theoretically I'm gonna play flag football or am I gonna be put on a faculty staff team where we're all kind of like, hey, we don't wanna have to pay a co pay today.
[00:23:29] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:23:30] Speaker C: We all have that mindset.
[00:23:32] Speaker A: So here you're gonna be in with the 18 to 22 year old.
[00:23:35] Speaker B: Okay. Okay.
[00:23:37] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:23:37] Speaker A: Other schools I've served at, we had, when I was at university Notre Dame, we had some grad faculty staff leagues.
[00:23:41] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:23:42] Speaker A: A lot more participation, interest up there. There just isn't enough here to kind of sector that off.
[00:23:47] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:48] Speaker A: But we do like to offer a good amount of like, leisure activities. So we'll do a cornhole in the quad in the spring. We do.
We did floor hockey. I mean, that's. It's kind of controlled madness over at the whit. In our indoor soccer field. We'll do. We'll do some more of those leisure offerings. We do softball. That's really my sport of choice. You just gotta swing about and run for a little bit, then stop and then run a little bit and stop.
So we like to offer a good mix to create that sense of belonging and environment that's more welcoming to folks that may not want to run up and down a basketball court for 45 minutes and just want to throw some cornhole bags on a Friday afternoon.
[00:24:24] Speaker B: Okay, we might can make a cornhole.
[00:24:28] Speaker C: What I'm hearing is that that student that's in my 02:00 chemistry, I could be refereeing them at 07:00 that night. No, I'm just like, now, do you.
[00:24:37] Speaker B: Ever have faculty, staff? Do you sign up to be ref?
[00:24:40] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:24:41] Speaker B: Or is that a. Or is that more so exclusively like a student employment opportunity?
[00:24:46] Speaker A: Student employment opportunity. With how HR structures it, we have. You'll have students who graduate in December and then are in town through spring. We can't even let them stay. Honor. It's a whole. How HR structures is.
[00:24:59] Speaker C: Just to be clear to my listeners, I am not wanting to do any of this. I just want to go watch with some popcorn if this plays out. So I just think that would be really good people watching.
[00:25:10] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. And absolutely. On that note, let's take a break because now I'm like thinking of all the things related to what I want to do this once. What would I want to do? But we've got to take a break, you guys. You are listening to fit to be tied with Sheena and Nika on 90.7 the Capstone.
[00:25:30] Speaker A: WvuaFm Tuscaloosa.
[00:25:39] Speaker C: Happy Sunday, listeners. You're listening to fit to be tied with Sheena and Mika on 90.7 the capstone. And we're here today with our guest, Chris Adams, the assistant director of competitive sports programs at at UA University Rec. And over the break we were talking about the different sports clubs. We've been talking about intramurals on the last segment. And now over the break we were talking about the sports clubs. And you mentioned, Chris, that one of your most successful ones, that I didn't even think that would be one, but I am so excited about it, is ballroom dancing. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?
[00:26:14] Speaker A: Yeah. So ballroom dance, since I've been here is one of our probably best. It goes and competes and does well nationally. We've got a handful of clay shooting, does well nationally every year, but really on the administrative side, of things is where they really excel. A lot of our clubs do really well on that side of things. Being student led, it is tough to be a full time student. Organize a club, take in dues, organize trips. It's a lot of herding cats, students who don't want to read emails and answer text messages or phone calls. So it is a tough task on top of being a full time student. So they've been one of our best. And for me, on our side of things, on the professional side, I don't. I love the sense of competition and going and putting that a on your chest and beating other teams by as many points as possible, but you could lose every game. But if you're good on the administrative side of things and communicate well with us, do what you need to do to be successful, to stay in the good graces of U rec and, and the university, and not putting the university itself at risk for anything is really the success that I see on the club sports things.
[00:27:18] Speaker C: So where would one go to cheer them on?
[00:27:22] Speaker A: So they're gonna practice every Monday through Thursday from seven to nine in our fitness studios inside of the main university, Rex park.
[00:27:32] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:27:33] Speaker C: Now I really may have to get my popcorn and go watch this.
[00:27:36] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:36] Speaker C: Because, you know, I do love dancing with a star, so I'm gonna really love to, you know, cheer on our student body.
[00:27:43] Speaker B: I know, I just. Yeah. I'm so fascinated from this. And this makes me so excited that we've had you on the show today, Chris. And, you know, when I think about you and your role, I'm kind of curious, with your department within UREC, how many professional staff do you have and what are all the different functions that y'all do to support, support your student workers and just the clubs and intramurals in general.
[00:28:07] Speaker A: So you're talking about professional staff support.
[00:28:09] Speaker B: Programs specifically, or you rec as a sports program specifically.
[00:28:13] Speaker A: So there's three full time staff, so it's myself, two coordinators, and then we are. One of the few rec departments still has a graduate assistant.
[00:28:20] Speaker B: Very nice.
[00:28:20] Speaker A: We have a graduate assistant who works with us as well. So the four of us are the kind of leadership team we're overseeing.
I'm sorry, can you repeat the question? I lost my train.
[00:28:31] Speaker C: Yeah, you're good.
[00:28:31] Speaker B: Yeah. Basically, just how do you support your student employees? Basically, kind of like, what are your main functions other than just making sure everybody's following the rules?
[00:28:43] Speaker A: So we, for us, our jobs don't end at 05:00 that's really when stuff is getting going for the evening for us. So we take all day planning. A lot of what we do in the office is supporting sport clubs and getting their stuff in line for travel and making sure that clubs aren't overspending their budgets. So we support clubs through that side of things. On the student employee side of things, we are making sure that all of our ducks in a row, so when they show up at 530 for that first game, that everything is going to go off without a hitch. I mean, there are fires to be put out and then we do not end our jobs, like I said, at five, like we will be out on site, like I'm out last week when it's 40 degrees out, given students hot chocolates, they know that I care about them being there in the cold weather and making our programs possible, because without those student employees, like, programs don't just happen. And I think participants forget about that a lot of the times. There's not three striped shirts out here. This game either is going to happen or it's going to happen at a level in which you're not satisfied with customer service at a space.
So that's the kind of support we give them. And then to kind of give you a higher. We have five program assistants, so there's five nights of programming. Those five lead students oversee all those programs. So we have one league sport going we could have. We're in the middle of three right now. Volleyball is ending tonight with our championships. We have about 30 supervisors, and each one of them is going to be in a field or a court to check in people and be that first face of sport programs. And then we have 25 to 40 student officials who all they do is officiate. So we support them from evals. At the officiating level, those supervisors are going to evaluate them and how they're doing their job, and they know what to approve on. Program assistants are evaluating the supervisors and their role and how they function on a daily basis. And then we evaluate program assistance and how they can. We meet with them twice a week to kind of go over some pd stuff, how we can better serve the program as a whole. So that's top to bottom, there's a lot more to it. We have a finite amount of. Finite amount of time a day with how we support students. But being seen and being present is really the biggest way that myself and my staff can support those students.
[00:30:46] Speaker C: I love that because from the advisor's point of view of things, when students come to me and say, how can I get more experience?
How can I get build my resume, build my skills up. I love that.
We don't, maybe, I guess, traditionally think I'm gonna be a supervisor or work in intramural sports, because that's fun. I'm just gonna go out there and have fun. But like you were saying, you're learning how to manage people. You're learning customer service. You're learning all these things that you could get, like you said, in an off campus job, but it's on campus, so you're getting paid for it, but you're getting all this transferable skills. Transferable skills. And you're doing it under, you know, the professional guidance of you and your staff.
[00:31:34] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:31:35] Speaker A: And the four of us have all been in their shoes, so we all started as student officials at one point, some of us longer than others.
We've all been in their shoes, so we were never going to ask them to do something that we wouldn't have already done ourselves or would currently not do.
[00:31:49] Speaker C: So I have one more question. Do you happen to see that all the students that you know are in these roles? Do they have a particular major? Like, do they all come from, let's say, sports management or the business school, or is it just really anyone who loves sports?
[00:32:05] Speaker A: It runs the gamut. I mean, we get a lot of the sports management kids because they want to come in, and a lot of our pas, they do a lot of organizing on club travel side of things. There's professional development opportunity there. One of them organizes a lot of our home club or sport club events with time and making sure everything's set up logistically there. Honestly, and I don't know why this is. We get a lot of engineering students.
[00:32:26] Speaker B: Huh.
[00:32:26] Speaker A: And that's just rec as a whole.
[00:32:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:32:29] Speaker A: Student, staff wise, we get a lot of those engineering students. Our old graduate assistant, she did five years here, and she was the stem to MBA program, so she was engineering to business. So I feel, yes, I have a master's degree, but a lot of them are much smarter than I will ever be or ever aspire to be, which is how they think and how they execute. To watch, we have a young man that works in our front office. Like, when I have a computer issue, he can literally just go in and hit some buttons and launch coding and fix something.
[00:32:57] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:32:58] Speaker A: And that's such a. Such a great asset to have to be able to put out a fire that I wouldn't be able to put out myself.
[00:33:03] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:33:04] Speaker C: So I love that because it's not what I think. Students come in and think, well, I'm not a kinesiology major or spirits management major. So I wouldn't do well in this role?
[00:33:12] Speaker B: They would, absolutely. No. I think just the way that you described that hierarchy and all the different levels of involvement that that somebody employed in sports programs can have is really phenomenal. And I think that's a great segue into one of the things I wanted to make sure that we touched on, at least in this last, bigger segment with you, Chris, is what kind of quote unquote, success stories have you heard from students who have been able to participate in sports programs, whether that be just as a participant or really working on the logistics side, either officiating or managing things?
[00:33:46] Speaker A: So success stories from my time when I was a graduate assistant at University of West Florida. I mean, I had students there who ended up wanting to go be a GA somewhere else in intermurals and clubs, and they didn't end up in what I do currently, but are still in higher ed and working on the facility operations side of things at another institution, Florida, at their student student union. So they're still in that neighborhood of student development and working with students.
But you have someone who comes and say, like, you completely changed my outlook on, and whether I realize it or not, like I did, I'm never going to really push someone into the field, but I'm willing to help you get there if you initiate that conversation. So I would say that's probably my biggest success story. That student, she was actually my student for my first professional job, and then a year later, she asked me to be a reference when she was applying for graduate assistance, which is easy. Yes, obviously. And then on the intramural side of things, you get, like I said, there are some headaches. We get a lot of, why can't you do this right? Why can't you do that right? But one that really sticks out. Last year for intramural basketball, we had we do championship night. We did it in the adaptive facility, so you kind of get that big arena feel.
We had a last second shot. Kid hits a three pointer to win the game. Place goes nuts. Kid gets MVP award. They get their free shirts to get him some clout down on the strip.
But then I take that play, I get in my office the next morning, because at our base, we are fans of just sports. I take that clip and I send it to the team captain so his buddy can put it all over his social medias, and he responds back, thank you so much. Like, this is the most fun I've had playing basketball in a long time. So, like, one or two emails like that make having to put out the fires and everything worth it, I would say. And on the club sports side of things, like some of these presidents and vice presidents are managing budgets of more than I have to operate with through my budgets here at UA, they're managing upwards of $150,000. So when they go into a professional interview, I mean, if you're going to a business interview and I'm coming in saying, I've already managed budgets of 200 plus thousand, like those success stories there, whether they realize it or not, like, yes, you took this job or you stepped up to be a club leader your sophomore year. Three years from now, this is all you're going to talk about in a professional interview. And I, like, play a piece in that. But the onus is on them to want to grow, and I'm here to help them every step of the way.
[00:36:13] Speaker B: Okay, like, we gotta take a break. But, like, again, the fact that your passion for this is so evident, I love that so much. Normally, in our closing, we kind of go rogue and ask our guest a very random question. But. But there is a little bit more that I want to continue with this current conversation. But we're gonna take a break real quick, you guys. You are listening to fit to be tagged with Sheena Nica on 90.7 capstone.
[00:36:43] Speaker A: WvuaFm, Tuscaloosa.
[00:36:51] Speaker C: Welcome back, listeners. You are listening to fit to be tied with the Sheena and Mika on 90.7 the Capstone. And we are wrapping up today with our awesome guest, Chris Adams, the assistant director of competitive sports programs at UA's university recreation.
[00:37:06] Speaker B: Yes, and before the break, Chris was talking about some quote unquote success stories he's had from students. And, you know, really, I just kind of wanted to wrap up today's show, Chris, with you, sharing some words of advice for maybe any of our student listeners or maybe just people in general who may want to pursue a professional role similar to what you're doing right now. You know, is there something that you wish you would have known in Hindenhe site? Just some things to keep in mind, kind of. Some general things related to that?
[00:37:38] Speaker A: Yeah. So, I mean, the best thing to do is just get involved, find a place to plug it on campus, because it can be my job, it can be working in university programs, student involvement. It can be anything higher ed related. It's like if you find a job on campus that you really like, I mean, there's a professional staff member that oversees you who gets to do that, and that's how they feed their family and pay their bills, asking those folks questions of how you got to where you are and seeing their story. And I promise you, like if they see something in you, like they will invest their time and energy in you more than you could ever know. So I would say, just don't be afraid to ask questions. And if you find a place that you truly feel like you could make a career out of it, don't bury those, those thoughts or feelings. For me, it took several proddings to get in to work in the university of rec center. Like I talked about, I made $45 to a jv game and then I made 862 to do an hour of intramurals. Kind of a steep paid decline there. But if it wasn't for the prodding and the poking from folks that I knew when I was in University of Florida, like, I would be sitting in this chair right now.
[00:38:39] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:38:40] Speaker A: So I would say it can be a very rewarding career. I will be honest, you don't make the most money working at higher ed.
I'm very upfront with students about that. But like I said, when I leave in the evening, I know that all the work I do in the office makes program as possible for students. And seeing like my student employees grow, it can be a very rewarding career. But I would say, like, don't be afraid to shift tracks. Like I have degree in criminology. I tell students all the time when I meet with them at freshman orientation and stuff like that. There is something for you in life. Like we talked to you talk about those transferable skills. You could walk across the stage in four years and have a degree that you don't want to use. But if you have those transferable skills that you learned in college, like you can do pretty much anything. So that kind of be my answer to that question.
[00:39:23] Speaker B: I like that.
[00:39:23] Speaker C: I love that.
[00:39:24] Speaker B: Yes. And I know Nika, for you cause you started out in more of like pr.
[00:39:30] Speaker C: I started out in communication and pr and did got my four year degree from Alabama roll tide from College of Communication and information sciences. Love them. But then worked in the field for five years and knew that that's not really what my calling in life was.
And came back in my late twenties as a full time traditional master's student in health education, health promotion and completely changed my life and career and trajectory. And it's never too late. The time's going to pass anyway, is what I tell everyone.
[00:40:06] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:40:06] Speaker C: Don't worry about thinking that you got to do it in four and you got to have the decisions made. When you step on campus the first day of class, you jump.
[00:40:13] Speaker B: No, I mean, just the fact that we're able to share that kind of wisdom.
I think about my own undergrad experience, even though I did pursue nutrition, have stayed in that. When I think about opportunities that I've plugged in, like, I was a resident advisor, I was a hall director of Tutweiler. If there are not transferable skills with directing that building, I don't know what is.
[00:40:35] Speaker C: I mean, now look what you're doing now. You're directing now, and you probably learned the bulk of that not sitting in a classroom, but actually living that life.
[00:40:44] Speaker B: Yeah, that was my getting my first feet wet with a p card for a university. And now I know that we've got to be a stickler with that. You know, at the professional level, it all goes together.
[00:40:55] Speaker C: So students get out there, go to class, but then also get involved. Get involved in sports, get involved in internships, just get a involved. You never know where life's gonna take you. And I think that's what Chris has taught us today. You just never know where life's gonna take you.
[00:41:08] Speaker B: I agree. Chris, thank you so much for being on the show today.
[00:41:11] Speaker A: Absolutely. Always happy to talk about support programs and how I got to my spot in life. And if I can ever be a resource for anybody listed, just let me know.
[00:41:18] Speaker B: I love that.
[00:41:19] Speaker C: I do, too.
[00:41:20] Speaker B: With that said, roll tide, y'all. You have been listening to fit to be tied with Sheena Nica on 90.7 the Capstone.
[00:41:31] Speaker A: Wvuafm tuscaloosa.
