April 7, 2023 | SPORTS | By Olivia Xerras
Do you like getting involved with intramural sports on campus? Do you wish there was a beginner level or less time-consuming option to try a new sport or activity? If either question leads to a yes, you’re in luck.
Director of Campus Recreation and Adam F. Press Fitness Center, Chris Starr, and Assistant Director, Andy Obringer, have put together a new IM series for Colorado College students to enjoy, aptly titled the Second Saturday Series.
Recognizing that not every student can commit themselves to a rigorous league schedule or play in a full-blown tournament, the series provides a recreational opportunity where students can play for just a few hours and be done on the same day. For those who identify as competitive, points will be awarded to the top finisher(s) and the results will count towards an overall ranking system. A Second Saturday Series Champion will be crowned at the end of the academic year.
Sign-ups, details on upcoming events, and registration information can be found on the intramural website by searching “Second Saturday Series.” There, any CC student can sign up to play in a friendly competition every second Saturday of the upcoming blocks.
So far, this spring semester, this series has included a basketball shooting contest in Block 5 and a pickleball tournament in Block 6. Upcoming events include a campus golf event in Block 7 and a grass volleyball tournament in Block 8.
The series has been a major success thus far. Block 6 attendance for the pickleball tournament exceeded expectations. Over 40 teams registered, and courts had to be added to accommodate such high interest.
More advertisements will be up for a campus golf tournament at the start of Block 7 and there are big hopes to keep this positive momentum going. This specific event, however, is not a traditional game of golf. This game will be played with a singular golf club and tennis ball.
Details are being finalized in the weeks leading up to the event, but each hole will be played on campus grounds and strokes will count towards how many times it takes a participant to hit a campus landmark, such as the Lover’s Statue by the Olin Fishbowl.
Other ideas that have been considered include a cornhole competition, a wiffle ball home-run derby, and a Spikeball contest. Starr and Obringer have opened up this series for suggestions. All recommendations are welcome and will be taken into consideration for upcoming events. Starr encourages students to stop by the Fitness Center to help promote future Second Saturday Series possibilities!
To find more information about the next two Blockly events, look to Daily Digest posts, RA’s, emails to IM Captains and previous Second Saturday participants.
Hello Madam Xerras,
I work for Bon Appetit your campus food service, in the Catering Department. A student who worked with us earlier in the year, Katy Chapman, mentioned that she rowed in high school. I think you referred to rowing at Tufts in a previous article about intramurals. Lately, I’ve been obsessed with the idea of flooding Monument Creek, next to the campus, to create a venue for rowing. I wonder if there’d be student support, even if it was available only as an intramural activity.
I’m pasting the “propaganda letter” I’ve been emailing various people in town.
Hi,
I’m trying to generate some buzz for the idea of creating a rowing pond on Monument Creek. Of course, approval of such a project would have to come from somebody, probably the City.
Rowing machines have become very popular in recent years. Many health-conscious citizens engage in this form of exercise because it provides a “total body workout”. There are even “indoor rowing regattas”, competitions done on these rowing machines. But the experience of rowing on real water can’t be adequately duplicated.
Well, we have a rowing pond just waiting to happen, right here in downtown Colorado Springs! Two kilometers long, from the Bijou Street bridge, north – to just past Uintah Street. No renovations would be needed to the existing road bridges over the creek at Dale and Uintah Streets – the shells (rowing talk for boats) could pass under the existing arches. I’m sure local gym rats would jump at the chance to row on real water!!
After a devastating flood a hundred years ago, the banks of Monument Creek were fortified by workers with the Works Progress Administration – think Roosevelt and the Great Depression. The creek is just waiting for action. A simple, inexpensive, earthen dam with a spillway on top, reinforced with the uprooted saplings and other vegetation pulled from the bed of the creek, would certainly suffice to detain the water. Material could also be dredged from the northern end of the course. This would allow the height of the dam to be minimized. A rowing channel only needs to be 2 meters deep. The flagstone and concrete lined creek banks would easily hold the water on the sides of the reservoir. Those laborers from long ago would be tickled to death knowing that their hard work was finally being put to good use.
Note: The Greenway Foundation, in Denver, which exists to develop watershed areas in Colorado, has done preliminary work looking into improving the Fountain/Monument Creek area. Please see Media-PacketCOS-Creek-Plan.pdf (downtowncs.com)
Problems:
USRowing prefers a straight course. Unfortunately, a public swimming pool and tennis courts in Monument Valley Park currently block the path of a straight line running from the Uintah Street bridge, through the Dale Street bridge, to a prospective starting/finish line just south of Bijou Street.
Pickleball has swept the nation as the sport of choice for old geezers, like me. So, there would undoubtedly be push back at the idea of removing the tennis courts. However, tennis courts are much less expensive to build than a rowing course. Perhaps the courts could be relocated by means of a land swap that would allow the picklers to do their thing somewhere else? The Broadmoor recently did a land swap with the City.
However, even if a channel was not cut through the Park, rowing could still be done on a crooked course.
Extras:
A Colorado College Women’s team (the NCAA doesn’t do Men’s Rowing), training at altitude, would be UNSTOPPABLE.
National Women’s Championships!
USRowing DOES hold intercollegiate competitions for men.
National Men’s Championships!!!
The Olympic Training Center might even be encouraged to move their rowers from the Oklahoma City Olympic Training Facility: elevation – 1,000 feet, to the Springs: elevation – 6,050 feet.
OLYMPIC CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!
The Air Force Academy, UCCS, even the new Pikes Peak State College, might decide to field crews. The high schools could even join in. Members of the military at Ft. Carson, Peterson AFB, and the other bases in town might organize teams. Pueblo might find a place to build a course for its citizens, as well as the students of CSU-Pueblo. In fact, other in-State schools with nearby waterways, such as DU, CU, UNC, CSU, Metro State, and others, might join the fun, building interstate rivalries that would eventually draw crowds of hungry, thirsty, sleepy fans.
The narrow course could be supervised to serve the greatest number of rowers during training sessions. Rowing machines would supplement the workout regime of these athletes.
If the sport becomes so popular that the venue gets overcrowded, additional courses could be erected up and down the watershed.
The City could allow swimming in the pond behind the dam, as they do in Prospect Lake at Memorial Park currently. This might ease the pain of sacrificing the downtown pool.
Kayaking, canoeing, and other boating activities could also be done there.
If stocked, fishing might be encouraged.
The problems with algae growth in Prospect Lake could be avoided by draining the pond periodically. This process might also assuage the people at the Water Court, if they resist holding back water that farmers desperately need in the Spring and Summer months.
Locals might skate and play ice hockey on the frozen creek in the winter. After all, not everyone can afford the commercial rinks.
In fact, Colorado College might consider holding outdoor hockey matches on the creek, as is becoming popular with the National Hockey League. Someone told me the Air Force Academy held an outdoor hockey match at their football stadium recently.
Colorado College owns a property called “the Stewart House” on Wood Avenue, three lots north of Uintah, where it houses guests and hosts receptions. The backyard of the house has direct access to Monument Creek. The basement is HUGE, and completely unused. Perhaps the basement could be used as a boat house. If not, the City owns property next to the Creek in several locations where a boathouse could be erected.
If the new parking structure at Robson Arena was unavailable, there is a pedestrian bridge across I-25 near Dale Street. Rowers and spectators could park their cars in the quiet, residential neighborhood west of the Interstate, and cross the highway to the creek. Bristol Elementary School has a small parking lot a few blocks away. Plus, the City owns small lots of land west of the sound abatement wall where people could put their vehicles.
Spectators could also park downtown, which would bring additional foot traffic to shops and restaurants nearby.
Furthermore, the Young Life organization has an office building parking lot right next to the proposed Start/Finish line. They might be talked into allowing parking on weekends. That would also be a perfect spot for food trucks to set up.
I hope you’ll seriously consider supporting what would be an exciting addition to the downtown neighborhood, as well as to the City in general. Perhaps you could mention this idea to the members of your gym. Please ask them to contact the leaders listed below, as well as their local City Council Members.
Chris Lieber Principal, N.E.S. Inc. (719) 471-0073 or clieber@nescolorado.com
Jeff Shoemaker Executive Director, The Greenway Foundation (303) 818-8078 or jeff@greenwayfoundation.org
Thank you,