Athletics Centre Is Changing
With the Times

November 19, 2003

By Rachelle Cooper

Spinning class participants (including fitness and lifestyle director Pat Richards, second from left) are reflected in the mirror of newly renovated Room 300 over the squash courts in the Mitchell Athletics Centre.
Photo by Rachelle Cooper

Anyone who's been to the Mitchell Athletics Centre this fall to catch a varsity game, take a fitness class or go for a swim will have noticed it's been constantly changing. The lower weight room has relocated to the upper east balcony, the cardio machines are now all grouped together in one room, and a hallway has been re-established in the back of the building on the east side.

These changes only scratch the surface of the renovations and new facilities and programs being added to U of G's athletics complex.

Athletics director Richard Freeman says buying more equipment and revamping programs are necessary to keep the University community fit and healthy.

"Our philosophy of healthier bodies, stronger minds is a proven fact that applies in the workplace, in the study room and in residences," he says. "We will explore any opportunity we have to increase the fitness level of our campus community."

In anticipation of the increased number of students arriving in the double cohort year, Freeman began a review of all facilities and programs almost two years ago.

"We wanted to make sure we had the necessary facilities, and we wanted to make sure our programs were consistent with the needs and wants of our clients," he says.

He notes that campus fitness programs used to be highly structured, which could make it difficult to accommodate the varying schedules of students and employees.

"We've now expanded the number and the timing of activities to better suit people's schedules," he says.

The growth in the number of people using the Athletics Centre's facilities this fall is evidence that Freeman's assessment of client needs is paying off. As of Sept. 30, 2,211 people were registered in more than 100 interest classes - including personal training, pilates, yoga, kayaking, rock climbing, belly dancing, kickboxing, water running, tai chi and spinning - offered outside of the 74 weekly fitness classes available at the centre. This semester, 169 faculty and 219 staff members bought memberships, bringing to more than 15,000 the number of students and employees who have access to the facilities. About 7,000 people participate in the dozen intramural sports offered every semester.

To accommodate all these programs, Freeman says optimizing available space, improving customer service and hiring more staff have been critical.

When it comes to hiring staff, fitness and lifestyle director Pat Richards has long believed there's no need to look outside the University to recruit new instructors. In the early 1990s, she began offering courses to certify people as fitness instructors, personal trainers and weight trainers. A decade later, U of G employs more than 90 instructors qualified to provide these services.

"We have a solid group of trainers who can help people get back into activity or achieve their fitness goals," says Richards.

Finding instructors is simpler than finding space in the Athletics Centre to accommodate new programs. But where there's a will, there's a way. To introduce spinning classes this year, for example, Freeman had the space above the squash courts renovated and bought 13 "spinning" stationary bicycles to install there.

Now, Athletics Centre members can sign up for any of 22 weekly spinning classes, where instructors lead participants through hill climbs, sprints and flat surface riding.

"The addition of spin classes provides a welcome change for those of us who enjoy a new challenge," says Margaret Timmins, an administrative assistant in the Department of Food Science who is registered in two weekly classes.

People can try a spinning class for free once exams begin or take a drop-in class anytime for $5.

The decision to move the weight room to the east gallery was largely to lighten traffic flow in the main lobby, says Freeman. More than 90 per cent of the people using the weight room are men, and in the old location, they had to walk through the lobby from the men's locker room to reach it.

The relocation has allowed Freeman to dedicate the old space to a new martial arts centre. "The weight room doesn't require the quietness that some of the martial arts do. Now, people participating in martial arts will have the ability to concentrate and focus on their activity."

Grouping the stationary bikes, rowing machines, stair climbers and elliptical training machines together in one room to create separate cardio and circuit training/light weight rooms was a response to client feedback, says Freeman. He says the next step will be to buy more mirrors and more equipment to increase weight training in that area.

Before this fall, the only indoor access to the Gryphon Dome from the Athletics Centre was through the men's locker room. A former hallway on the east side of the building has been rebuilt to give women easier access to the Dome.

Freeman also plans to dedicate a supervisor to let people re-enter the Athletics Centre from the Dome through the back door to enhance safety.

He and Richards agree they will keep looking ahead at future fitness trends to keep their members happy.

"I think we'll see more of a blend between yoga and pilates and fitness or yoga," says Richards. "I also think stretching classes with balance work will return to help participants improve their balance and flexibility, and water training, especially water running, will continue to grow."

Other planned changes for the Athletics Centre itself over the next two years include improved signage, the purchase of more weight training equipment and mirrors for the circuit area, additional cardio equipment for the cardio theatre, renovation of the business office in the main lobby and renovations to the red pool.