New Season Kicks off for URecFit & Wellness’ Esports League
October 25, 2023
Players can join in the fun at the SMC Campus Center and from home.
Image: Students Eva Masrani, Lincoln McNish, and Justin Maduka immerse in Mario Kart 8 on the Nintendo Switch at URecFit & Wellness.
Player 1, are you set?
URecFit & Wellness’s Esports league is back, with its gaming zone, now available on the SMC Campus Center’s fourth floor.
The opportunity to casually join in, play, and amass Poe Cup points for their schoo’ls Poe Cup Challenge for intramural sports is open to all URecFit & Wellness members. The league welcomes players with diverse skills to compete in their preferred video games with others in the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB)-University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) community.
Jacob Pridemore, MS, Senior Assistant Director for URecFit & Wellness describes esports as “a wide range of activities offered via a gaming platform.” We have a variety of game consoles including Xbox, PlayStation, and a Nintendo Switch.
The gaming zone, besides a PS4, Switch, and XBOX, features a 75-inch TV, controllers, games like Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart, FIFA, and Madden, a couch, and more. Players are permitted to bring their own choice of headsets or controllers or just come to plug in and play immediately.
“Any URecFit & Wellness member is free to use either of the gaming systems—our staff is always there to assist with setup and getting started,” said Pridemore, a committed Madden player, himself.
This area enhances the wellness services at URecFit & Wellness by providing another relaxation option to faculty, staff, students, and UMMC employees.
Pridemore said, “Having esports here is exciting because it introduced a new facet of recreation we didn’t have previously. Once upon a time, UrecFit was just a gym. The introduction of the wellness space and gaming area has expanded our perspective on recreation.”
All UMB students in good standing, including those at the Universities at Shady Grove, get automatic access to the URecFit & Wellness facility with their OneCard.
For more information on eligibility and rates, visit the URecFit & Wellness website.