Numerous activities across campus, including intramural sports, Club Sports, and various recreational outlets, help students stay active and provide needed breaks from the academic rigor of university life.
The intramural sports program continues to experience remarkable growth as nearly 3,200 students signed up to participate in more than 20 different sports last semester. There are currently 354 teams competing within the program, which offers everything from softball, dodgeball, and tennis to billiards, flag football, and table tennis. Some sports offer coed teams.
The most popular intramural sports are basketball, indoor soccer, coed volleyball, and broomball. Outdoor soccer, disc golf, and beach volleyball are also student favorites.
During peak competition times, there are about 19 intramural games being played per hour across campus, with an average of about 325 games per week.
The program gives many of Liberty’s NCAA athletes an off-season source of competition. It also employs 100 student workers who supervise, referee, umpire, and keep scores and statistics. These work-study positions help many students offset the cost of their tuition.
With the addition of men’s and women’s cycling this fall, Liberty’s Club Sports program will have grown from five teams and 82 student-athletes in 2008 to 35 teams and more than 500 student-athletes in 2015. Teams travel all across the country to compete with the best athletes in their sport.
Liberty has invested heavily in world-class facilities for both intramural and Club Sports teams. Projects have included an expansion of the LaHaye Student Union, construction of the Liberty Mountain Intramural Complex (featuring lighted turf fields and sand volleyball courts), and the development of the East Campus Athletic Complex, which includes fields used for lacrosse, field hockey, and intramural soccer. Liberty’s LaHaye Ice Center and Thomas Indoor Soccer Center are also widely used.
Many other opportunities for recreation are available to Liberty students as well, including the Liberty Mountain Trail System, which is made up of over 50 miles of single- and double-track trail systems for running and biking; Liberty Mountain Skate Park, featuring a half-pipe, rails, and an observation deck; the Equestrian Center, where students can board their horses and take riding lessons; and Camp Hydaway, which offers fishing, kayaking, a ropes challenge course, ATV track, and campsites.
