Kinesiology students host Poker Run to raise funds for Wings of Eagles

Students from the department of kinesiology had the task of creating a fundraiser for their kinesiology 430 administration of sport and fitness programs. After a few ideas, they settled on an 11 event Poker Run that took place on Sunday from 12 to 2 p.m.

kicking — One of the stations had people try to kick the ball over a huge obstacle. Photo credit: Hana Beaty

“The class is taught every Fall,” professor of the course Dr. Traci Ciapponi said. “We have always done a fundraiser but this is the first time we’ve done a Poker Run on campus. We decided we wanted to try this, this year and see how it worked.”

This Poker Run was held at the Rugby Field behind the University Stadium. Entry was $10 at the door with a WIldcat ID and $15 without one. Tickets were $5 dollars cheaper for students and non-students before the 25th.

All proceeds from the fundraiser were set to be donated to the Wings of Eagles. A local charity that supports research for children suffering from various serious illnesses.

x's and o's — Having a different spin on the popular game tic tac toe. Photo credit: Hana Beaty

The rules were simple; there are 11 events. You earn the right to select a single random poker chip from a bag for completing each event. These poker chips have various amounts of points on them. The winner of the Poker Run is the person with the most amount of points from their 11 poker chips.

Students from kinesiology 430 were set up at each station and kept track of one of their events and administered a single poker chip upon completion.

The randomness of the chips is there to incentivize taking your time instead of rushing through the events. Participants are encouraged to use the full two hours and enjoy each activity.

Three legged — It is always fun to have a buddy at your side for a three-legged race. Photo credit: Hana Beaty

Events held:

Field goal kicking
Pitching at a net
Throwing a football through rings
Kicking a soccer ball through various goals
Tic-tac-toe with balls
Beanbag toss into three hoops
Cornhole
Three-legged race
Hula Hooping
Stretching
Working out

power throw — Having fun throwing balls and see how much ball speed you can do. Photo credit: Hana Beaty

“It’s a great event,” said Ciapponi. “I just think our attendance is rather low. We tried to do a lot of advertising and get things out. It was in student announcements and faculty announcements. That’s one of the questions we are going to be addressing as a class. To see what they feel why there weren’t as many people as we hoped.”

The few dozen people who did show up participated in each event. It took around half an hour to 45 minutes for each competitor to complete the run.

Ricardo Tovar can be reached at [email protected] or @rtovarg13 on Twitter.