Campus Recreation offers variety of physical activity
Todd Hansen
Issue date: 8/25/08 Section: News
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Last year was the first that Wii games were presented at UNO. Session one, which lasts from Sept. 14 to Oct. 16, features "Wii Bowling." Later in the semester, "Wii Tennis" will be available.
Intramural sports gives students a venue for friendly competition and an opportunity to play the sports they loved growing up. Many intramural athletes competed for their varsity teams in high school but campus recreation offers different leagues based on competitiveness.
Students looking to try something new can find a beginners league just for fun, or athletes looking for competition can find a more competitive league.
Some students might wonder why pick Nintendo Wii over Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. Well, playing Nintendo Wii actually puts the player in the game. They have to emulate the motion to produce results while playing.
If someone is playing "Wii Boxing," they would have to actually throw a punch. In "Wii Golf," they have to swing the club.
"We did research and found they were health benefits to playing the Wii," said Mike Kult, assistant director of intramural sports.
According to BBC News, playing the Nintendo Wii could burn up to 1,800 calories a week when playing an average of 12 hours each week. In a study done by Liverpool's John Moores University, that kind of activity could lead to a weight loss of 27 pounds per year.
There have been obstacles in getting participation for the leagues, but Kult said the popularity is slowly growing. The problem, Kult said, was that they were not getting a great location to play.
Also, Wii is not offered for free during the week due to the expensive cost of the system.
"We are going to focus on special events that last one night to grow the participation," Kult said.
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