Five teams with 20 student-employees each at the Heskett Center will compete for 10-point opportunities and for one iThrive scholarship at Wichita State. The teams gain points for themselves and for the team. At the end of the year, one student with the most points wins a scholarship.

The competition allows any Heskett student-employee to compete for a scholarship. Over the summer in an NFL style draft, director of campus recreation Eric Maki commissioned five general manager captains at the Heskett Center to select their teams.

Fitness instructors, intramural officials, lifeguards, facility staff and personal trainers were all drafted into a team and are now given 10 opportunities to gain points.

“We wanted to try and get the students that work in campus rec to not only connect with one another, and engage in programs and services we host, but to also engage and get involved with some of the other really quality programs and services that are hosted all over campus,” Maki said.

At the end of the semester, the top male and female and the team captain with the most team points will receive $50 gift cards to the bookstore. In May at the end of the year banquet, the overall winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship, two runners-up will receive $500 scholarships, and the team with the most points will win a trophy.

“I’m really involved on campus,” said graduate student Umair Zoumy, Inferno team captain. “I go to events, volunteer and stuff like that, so it’s a good initiative for a place like this to push people who have not initiated the feeling of doing good like volunteering and going to events.”

Zoumy said the competition allows for students who wouldn’t normally participate a reason to do so.

“This experience not only helps them, but it helps their whole team,” Zoumy said. “I think this initiative needs to happen in other student organizations as well. I’m on the SGA senate, and I think something like this would help get the new members up and running.”

Along with Zoumy, Maki wants students to enjoy the college experience.

“We know that our students will gain that out of classroom experience that will help prepare them to exit college and we know these programs, like going to a diversity and inclusion session or learning how to tighten up their resume writing, will prepare them for that,” Maki said. “Our real goal is that they’re going to realize what they are gaining from this and hopefully they will start to attend more on their own or just tell others to attend these things. We just hope they gain a more comprehensive experience to attending WSU.”

For Junior Reece Wilson, captain of Rival wRECkers, the experience allowed him to interact with others on campus and make new friendships within his team.

“I’ve definitely gotten to know my team better and it’s driven us all to work harder for the team,” Wilson said. “I feel like we have the best all-around team because everyone kind of does their part and tries to participate to earn points for the team.”

Wilson and Zoumy think the experience is benefiting their teams greatly. “Some of the people on my team are new to this, so once I tell them they should go to an event or try something new, they keep asking me when another event is so they can continue to go,” Zoumy said. “Not only do they want to go to all sorts of events, but they also want to keep up our team’s points to stay in the lead.”

The competition closes for the semester on December 9 until the spring semester starts. When the semester closes, three top students will earn a bookstore gift card. On May 5, the Heskett Center will hold an end of the year banquet for the participants and announce the scholarship winners.