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DAPER to offer three new physical education classes

Quarter two will feature broomball, rifle, boot camp for athletes
Lauren Hanley, assistant director of fitness for DAPER, left, took her physical education class outside to enjoy the warm weather.
Caption:
Lauren Hanley, assistant director of fitness for DAPER, left, took her physical education class outside to enjoy the warm weather.

In response to student requests, the Department of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation (DAPER) will offer three new physical education classes in quarter two. The classes — broomball, rifle and boot camp for athletes — will be available for registration on Wednesday, Oct. 12, for undergraduate students, and on Monday, Oct. 17, for graduate students.

MIT undergraduates must complete a swim test and eight points of physical education classes to graduate. To help students meet this General Institute Requirement (GIR), DAPER offers more than 40 instructional activities beginning every six weeks during the academic year.

“We seek student feedback throughout the year, and we get about 700 responses the quarters we collect feedback,” says Carrie Sampson Moore, director of physical education. “We use that feedback to develop new courses, based on facility and instructor availability.”

In broomball, a sport described by Sampson Moore as hockey in tennis shoes, students will learn to work as a team as they scamper across the Johnson Ice Rink. “Ice is a great equalizer,” Sampson Moore says. “You can’t just rely on brute strength and skating ability in broomball.”

Rifle, offered in response to the popularity of pistol and archery courses, will provide students with new tactical challenges. “MIT students like engaging their cerebral side,” Sampson Moore says. “We’re offering this course because there are always waitlists for our weapons classes.”

Physical education instructors worked as a team to develop the quarter’s final new offering, boot camp for athletes. The course was created in response to club sport athletes’ requests for more challenging courses. “In boot camp for athletes, student-athletes will be able to get instruction and great workout in 40 minutes,” Sampson Moore says.

As quarter two registration begins, quarter one — which included DAPER’s first flag football class — winds to a close. The pilot has been successful so far, Sampson Moore says. By the end of the six-week program, she anticipates students will be comfortable executing basic skills and running common routes in scrimmages. The course was particularly exciting because it allowed students to practice on the new, state-of-the-art Roberts Field.

Students can enroll in the new physical education offerings through the Physical Education online registration system on a first-come, first-served basis until Wednesday, Oct. 19, at 1 p.m. Quarter two classes meet Oct. 31 through Dec. 13.

For more information on physical education at MIT, visit the DAPER website.

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