By John Harden/reporter
The sand volleyball court on NE Campus is usually empty with few footprints showing little signs of activity.
But on Friday, students, staff and faculty had a chance to dive into the sand.
Everyone who participated in the NE wellness game played mostly for fun instead of competition and received prizes ranging from water bottles to ChapStick holders.
The HPE department promoted the event with posters and fliers for about two weeks and attracted both amateurs and athletes.
The promotion helped persuade many NE students like Sara Materne to participate in the scheduled event.
“I like volleyball. I’ve been playing since sixth grade, but I didn’t know if I was going to play,” Materne said.
“But I saw the posters and fliers today, and I figured I would come on out.”
Along with intramurals, NE Campus also offers students the opportunity to participate in one-day events like sand volleyball along with bowling, tennis and 5K runs.
“I enjoyed myself, and I love that they offer games like this for students,” said NE student Ryan Hicks.
“I haven’t played volleyball in a couple of years, but I’m happy I got a chance to play today.”
One attendee said that the warm weather was right for sand volleyball as more than 20 students gathered to play.
“I think it was quite a treat compared to the yo-yo weather we’ve been having,” said NE HPE staff member Osler Kamath. “I thought it was a lot of fun. It was a picture-perfect day.”
Kamath said he hopes warmer weather will draw players.
“I think [the court] needs to be used more,” he said. “I’m sure when the summer months come, we’ll see more students on it.”
The next NE wellness game scheduled is tennis at 12:45 p.m. April 24 on the tennis courts.
Early sign-up is not required. Students need only show up the day of the event to play.
