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The Room Where It Happens: RecSports

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RecSports serves students, faculty, and staff by providing a wide variety of programs and well-maintained facilities for almost any sport- or fitness-oriented person.

RecSports: a brief history

  • 1909 First tennis court built on the Hill behind South College
  • 1919 Tennis Courts on Hill removed as part of construction on Ayres Hall
  • 1921 Four tennis courts built on Wait Field (current site of Walters Life Sciences Building)
  • 1923 Four tennis courts expanded to seven
  • May 1966 Cornerstone laid for Stokely Athletics Center and later on the Armory-Fieldhouse first in use during the 1966-67 Basketball Season
  • May 1967 Student Aquatic Center was completed
  • November 1967 Student Aquatic Center dedicated
  • Fall 1970 HPER building opened. Used for both women and men, albeit originally built for men only
  • 1972 Student Aquatic Center was the training center for the 1972 US Olympic Swimming Team
  • 1974 Athletic Department installed an inflated indoor practice dome on the site of the former Varsity Tennis Courts (where the Neyland-Thompson Football facility is today), which became known as “the Bubble”
  • 1976 Current Varsity Tennis Courts Built
  • 1982 Student Aquatic Center hosted a dual meet between the USA and the USSR

    Students playing pool in the Aquatic Center, 1967

  • October 1987 New practice facility was announced and the Bubble would be located to the noncommuter parking lot behind the Student Aquatic Center March
  • 1988 The Bubble opened at its new location, allocated for general use by the student body
  • Weekend of March 13, 1993 the Bubble collapsed under the weight of heavy snow
  • 1996 Women’s and Men’s Olympic training hosted at the Student Aquatic Center
  • 1997 Bubble replacement completed
  • Summer 1997 Intramural fields adjacent to the aquatic center converted from natural grass and mud to artificial turf
  • April 2000 Ground was broken for the new $20.3 million student recreation facility
  • August 2003 TRECS building used for first time
  • September 2003 Grand Opening of TRECS
  • September 2005 Complete renovation of multiuse intramural fields finished, featuring a drainage system and attention to safety
  • 2011 Ground broken on the 38-acre Recsports Complex on Sutherland
  • 2013 RecSports Field Complex on Sutherland opened
  • 2017 The Bubble deflated for the final time due to safety concerns
  • Fall 2023 Studio 18 opened, formally known as Studio 8 and 10, additional workout space for RecSports members