We all know that Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) is not the most sports-orientated campus in the world. Known mostly for our artistic and creative campus culture, sports is not what one would think of in relation to the FCLC campus. However, despite the apparent lack of interest in sports on campus, there are, in fact, quite a number of sports fans hidden within the walls of FCLC. Hoping to stir interest in FCLC’s sporting community, the Campus Activities Board (CAB) has decided to plan some spring athletic and sporting activities to attract the FCLC sports enthusiasts.

With the arrival of spring, CAB hopes to get people out and active with a number of events. “One athletic event we’re going to be doing on campus is a Quidditch event. It’s going to be on Tues., April 6,” Ryan O’Toole, FCLC ’12 and the athletic chair of CAB, said. “We had [a Quidditch event] last year and it was a big hit with the campus community.”

As well as getting people to be active, CAB also aims to appeal to fans of the Harry Potter series. “This will give people the opportunity to live out their fantasy,” Hillary Fisk FCLC ’12 and president of CAB, said. “This will allow people to get to know and interact with each other while doing a sporting activity.” In addition, Fisk also mentioned that laser tag could be a possibility during CAB’s annual spring fling event.

Aside from on-campus athletic events, CAB has also been planning off-campus trips to Madison Square Garden (MSG) and Yankee Stadium. Having offered FCLC students discounted tickets to Knicks and Rangers games in the past, O’Toole looks to continue these outings in this upcoming year. “We’re working to do at least one off-campus event either at MSG or somewhere else before the end of the year,” O’Toole said.

Sponsoring two trips to MSG last academic year, CAB has yet to plan a trip to a sporting venue this year. “We haven’t done as many this year because CAB is going through a transitional year,” O’Toole said.  “We’ve been trying to spend our money on fewer events but do bigger events.”

Another problem CAB has encountered in coordinating these outings has been the ticket prices and timing of these events.

“[Buying tickets] has become expensive and finding the right date to have an off-campus event has been an issue,” Fisk said. “Our academic calendar is so jam-packed with clubs that we don’t have the time to do it because it may conflict with another event that is happening.”

Nevertheless, Fisk stressed that off-campus events are something they’ll look to continue in the future. “This is definitely something we keep in mind for the future. We know the students like it,” Fisk said. Having gone on these off-campus events before, Umair Khan, FCLC ’12, is looking forward to his next Fordham trip to MSG. “I thought it was really great. It was a bargain, we had decent seats for the price we paid and attending an event at MSG is always amazing,” Khan said.

Tara Aquino, FCLC ’12, also attended one of CAB’s sponsored events to MSG in the past. “I was kind of impressed with the MSG event. The seats weren’t as bad as I thought they would be,” Aquino said. She added, “I would like to see some basketball intramurals and tournaments on campus. I know there have been a lot of people wanting to play spring basketball.”

Sharing the same vision as Aquino, the Resident Assistants (RAs) in McMahon Hall are currently planning a three-on-three basketball tournament for the first week in April. “We’re planning a tournament through ResLife  for April 9,” Ojala Naeem, FCLC ’12 and a McMahon Hall RA, said. “People want to get involved in sporting events since there are not many sports here at Lincoln Center. It’s after March Madness so people will be in that perfect basketball state of mind.”

Also having a sporting event in the near future is the FCLC Paintball Club. Hosting an outdoor event on April 16, Charlie Puente, FCLC ’12 and paintball club president, hopes to get people to enjoy the “excitement” of outdoor paintball. “I feel it would be amazing to get a lot of people to do something they’ve never done before,” Puente said.

Whether it’s an off-campus sporting event sponsored by CAB or a basketball tournament organized by Residential Life, there are a number of exciting physical activities planned for the FCLC sports fan.