Most college students will never know what it feels like to throw a touchdown pass against a school’s arch rival, or to sink a game winning basket in the NCAA Tournament.

However, there is still a way to experience the thrill of athletic competition at Sacramento State, recreational sports.

“I love football and I get to play football,” said junior athletic training major Allen Rhone who is participating in a flag football league.

Located near the entrance to the University Union, Rec Sports is the place for students interested in intramurals, fitness classes and sports and recreation clubs to go to.

“We are trying to hit a little bit of everything, as far as sports go,” Ken Morton, director of Rec Sports for the past four years, said. “In addition to that, we also run all the open recreation areas, the great rooms and the gyms and we have fitness classes.

“In addition to that, we have 20 recreation clubs and eight sports clubs.”

Recreation clubs that are offered include cycling, water polo, rock climbing and ski and snowboard. Sports club include rugby, men’s rowing, and volleyball.

“Our programs are out there for people who want to be active without the full-time commitment,” said Caitlin Smith, a junior majoring in interior design who has worked for Rec Sports for three years and currently serves as the supervisor for Open Rec.

The overall goal of the program is to get students involved with campus. Despite budget issues at the end of last spring that threatened Rec Sports’ operation, Morton wants to see the organization grow.

“We have about 2000 students a week in our programs. It’s a bigger program than I know of any on campus, as far as extra-curriculars go,” Morton said. “I’d obviously like to see that grow.”

New facilities that should help are on the way, with the passing of Measure 1 this past April bringing about the RWEC.

“When we get the new Rec Center that will help out. I expect to see about 10,000 students a week in the first year,” Morton said.

Students participate for a variety of different reasons, ranging from the need to exercise to the need to compete.

“I want to stay in shape. I’ve done basketball and football,” senior criminal justice major Mike Horan said, “and it’s pretty competitive.”

Some people even try it just for the experience of participating in intramural activities.

“I tried it freshman year, just to see what it was like,” said chemistry graduate student Will Kerlin, who participated in intramural flag football in the fall of 1999. “It was a lot of fun, and a great way to kill time between classes.”

In addition to some of the more mainstream events that Rec Sports offers, there are also some more unique programs offered. In October, Rec Sports will co-sponsor the Natural High Fair on Oct. 20, an event promoting healthy and safe lifestyle choices. It will also co-sponsor the Ghost Ship Spooktacular along with Peak Adventures Oct. 28-29.

“At UNLV, we had a tournament called ooze-ball, which was mud volleyball… It’s something that I hope to maybe be able to pass on here at some point,” Mark Falkenstein, a graduate assistant working for Rec Sports, said.

Already this semester, Rec Sports hosted a dodge ball tournament on campus Sept. 2.

“We really just wanted to do a big welcome back event and kind of break the ice. We had over two hundred people there. It was great. It was one of our better special events ever,” Morton said.