– W. Connor Ross
***The writer is enrolled in Comm 240 News Reporting.***
The BeFit Live and Learn Community of Fort Hays State University went to Kansas City, Mo., April 23-24 to “experience an alternative fitness activity.”
Eight FHSU students and two faculty members visited the Kansas City Chiefs Sports Lab, toured Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs professional football team, and visited Sky Zone, an indoor trampoline park that offers “an alternative fitness activity.”Sky Zone offers open jumps, a Foam Zone, SkyRobics fitness classes, 3-D Dodgeball and SkySlam basketball dunk courts.
Anita Walters, instructor of health and human performance, was the faculty member who coordinated the trip. Steve Sedbrook, associate professor of health and human performance, also accompanied the students and drove the van.
The BeFit Live and Learn Community took this trip to experience a new and fun type of exercising different than traditional workouts, Walters said. The “Community” participants did not receive any additional credit hours or receive a grade for taking part of the trip. They did, however, discover a new fun way of exercising to bring back to the campus community.
“The Kansas City Sports Lab is an educational lab geared for fitness of younger students,” Walters said.
At Sky Zone the students and faculty spent a majority of their time on 3-D Dodgeball and jumping into the Foam Zone.
Breanna Bezona, Johnson sophomore, was one of two peer mentors of the group who went on the trip. Bezona said her favorite part of the trip was when Sedbrook jumped into the foam pit, went to the bottom and couldn’t get out.
The group was given a full, private tour of Arrowhead Stadium, including the Hall of Fame, the press boxes, and media row. The tour guide shared a lot of the history of the Kansas City Chiefs and of football in general.
“We had a really good tour guide,” who shared the history of owner Lamar Hunt and explained his value to the game of football as one of the founders of the American Football League, Walters said.
Last year the BeFit Live and Learn Community went to Colorado Springs, Colo., for a tour of the Olympic Training Center. Unfortunately, the trip came the day after the Boston Marathon Bombing, and, due to extra precautions taken by the staff, the tour was very limited.
This was the first year the BeFit Live and Learn Community has taken a trip to Kansas City. Walters said she believes this year’s trip was much more educational and a better experience for students.