What can students rent from the Rec Center equipment desk?
Students can rent everything from racquetball rackets to sea kayaks through the Rec Center equipment desk.
Basketballs, weight belts and racquetball equipment are only the start of things the equipment desk provides to students, faculty and staff.
Tents, camp stoves, canoes, kayaks, horseshoes, water coolers, measuring tapes, ponchos and bullhorns are just some of the items available, said Ben McGuire, assistant director in charge of equipment and outdoor recreation operations.
The equipment desk also rents out volleyball and softball kits.
“People don’t have to have their own bats and gloves and balls,” said McGuire. “We can provide them that for a small fee that goes to the keep up of the equipment.”
How do students check out equipment?
Items used inside the Rec can be rented from Equipment Desk between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. Students leave their IDs and get them back when they return the equipment. Some of the equipment requires a nominal fee; a racquetball racket rents for 50 cents an hour.
The equipment desk also reserves the outdoor tennis courts and softball fields and the indoor racquetball courts.
Camping equipment is kept at the Special Olympics pool. The Rec Center has 21 canoes, 13 sea kayaks and three trailers, McGuire said.
“It’s a little-known fact that this is available to students, faculty and staff,” said McGuire.
Students can rent, for example, a four-person tent, four sleeping bags, a two-burner stove, a lantern and a large ice chest for the weekend for $52.00.
Can they rent boats, too?
There also are canoe and sea kayak packs available. The canoe pack includes a canoe, two paddles, two lifejackets and two seat cushions for $20 for the weekend. The sea kayak pack includes a kayak, backrest, paddle and lifejacket for $20 for the weekend.
So, students can check out items for more than a day?
McGuire said the equipment desk puts together special packages for holidays such as Spring Break and Fall Holiday so students can rent more equipment for a cheaper price.
Students, faculty and staff can call McGuire at 578-8371 to reserve camping equipment, canoes and sea kayaks. They can pick up the equipment on Fridays at the Special Olympics pool and return it the following Monday.
The Rec Center will be offering canoeing and kayaking workshops in the spring, as well as supervised, guided trips to Alligator Bayou outside of Baton Rouge and Two O’Clock Bayou in the Atchafalaya Basin near Lafayette, La. The equipment desk also provides literature on location of parks and places to canoe and kayak.