One in five students plays an intramural sport, so why shouldn’t the 21,000+ staff and faculty on campus also get their shot at a championship? This summer we started working with the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration (VCFA) to bring a new meaning to the work week happy hour.
The VCFA is made up of eight different departments on campus, all working together to support and provide excellence on campus. Although we’ve since moved to be a part of the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs (VCSA), we were thrilled to be involved when the VCFA office reached out about its initiative to promote staff wellness on campus. By partnering with the Wisconsin Union to create intramural sports leagues for all VCFA units, coworkers have an opportunity to interact outside of the office. In addition to physical activity, these leagues provide social and emotional benefits. Plus, a little friendly intra-campus competition (and Union meal coupon prizes) never hurt anyone.
Matthew Donovan from Business Services has enjoyed the opportunity to participate, saying:
“This has been a lot of fun because we’re on the team of free agents. We’re from Business Services, the Union, and Housing, and we’ve been able to meet more people than some of the other teams. It’s been fun getting together, coming together as a team, rallying, and winning a bit.”
We’ll be offering sand volleyball and kickball leagues throughout the summer, as well as one-day events and an ongoing step challenge. While we know being active after work can be great for the mind and body, we started the step challenge as a way to promote day-to-day wellness. Individuals with the most steps and most improvement at the end of the year will win prizes, and we will also recognize divisions with the most steps. This initiative isn’t supposed to be about just a few days staff can be active this summer, but a proactive approach to improving overall staff wellness.
The sand volleyball league finished in a double-elimination tournament this week, with some pretty well-matched teams. Rec Sports (that’s us!) won the match against the team of free agents in two games, going home with the champ shirts. If you’re a VCFA employee and interested in getting involved, please contact Abby Van Note at abby.vannote@wisc.edu. Our next event will be a kickball league on Tuesdays — are you in?