The Gates Open at 3:00 pm for the Inaugural Event: The Rec SportsPlex Kickoff Co-Rec Kickball Tournament

Opening Day Photo Gallery

Florida State University Campus Recreation and Intramural Sports will throw open the gates to the largest single outdoor collegiate recreational facility in the country, the Florida State University Rec SportsPlex, on Friday, September 14th at 3:00 p.m. With 21 recreational fields totaling nearly 50 acres of playable space, the new Rec SportsPlex represents a four-fold increase in the amount of dedicated outdoor recreational space on the FSU campus. The new facility also includes festival and pavilion space and enhancements for patrons including concessions, changing areas, and training rooms.

Opening day on Friday, September 14th will include the Rec SportsPlex Kickoff Co-Rec Kickball Tournament, an intramural event open to FSU students, faculty, and full-time staff members. Team registration for the kickball tournament will begin Tuesday, September 4th online at the Intramural Sports web site at fsu.campusrec.com/im.

Entry into the kickball tournament is free for FSU students, faculty, and staff teams. Thirty-two teams will be accepted for the event with a random drawing to select the two teams to compete in the first game at 5:00 pm. All remaining teams will compete in first round action beginning at 5:15. The 16 simultaneous games will take place throughout the 104-acre facility, a feat not possible at the Main Campus Fields, the old 12-acre home to FSU Intramural Sports. Games will continue throughout the evening. In addition to being part of the inaugural sporting event at the facility, participants will be able to enjoy various complementary snacks and sports beverages and be eligible to win t-shirts and other prizes.

Following the grand opening on September 14th, Intramural Sports will schedule flag football, wiffleball, kickball, and speedball leagues at the facility for the remainder of the fall. Rec soccer, softball, and 4-on-4 flag football are among the sports scheduled at the Rec SportsPlex next spring. Select sport club teams will also hold practices and host events at the facility throughout the year. Additionally, the facility is available to FSU student organizations for reservation for outdoor recreational activities. The general student body, faculty, and full-time staff are also welcome at the facility for recreation during normal operating hours.

FSU dignitaries, including FSU President T.K. Wetherell, along with colleagues from the Division of Student Affairs and other University departments, Campus Recreation alumni, and other area representatives will take part in the official dedication of the Rec SportsPlex on Friday, October 19th.

Initially proposed by Campus Recreation and endorsed by the Student Government Association in the spring of 2003, the facility was approved to receive approximately $12.3 million in funding from the Capital Improvement Trust Fund in the summer of 2004. A committee of FSU students, faculty, and staff members reviewed priorities for the facility over the next year. In the fall of 2005, the firm of Barnett Fronczak Barlowe Architects was selected to lead the design team. By the fall of 2006, design was completed and Baycrest Corporation was selected as the construction contractor for the project. Construction work began on November 1, 2006 with substantial completion slated for late August 2007.

For more information on the project including monthly construction photo galleries, please visit fsu.campusrec.com/im or contact David Peters, Director of Intramural Sports and Sport Clubs, at 850-644-7698.

Call the Intramural Sports Staff at 850.644.2430 or email us for more information.