Sport Management students at KU working to gather information, provide online instruction at Haring Fitness Court

Department faculty developing related grant proposal

By Michael Downing

Students and faculty in KU’s Sport Management program are working to gather data and provide complementary instruction at the new Haring Fitness Court.

“The artwork is very appealing,” said Duane Crider, professor of Sport Management at KU. “However, many of the pieces of equipment can be intimidating. We see this as an opportunity to gather some data and provide instruction that helps users from both campus and community.”

Crider, along with Dr. Michelle Vaughn and Ms. Amy Sandt, are working on a research grant proposal to make this vision into reality. “We submitted our intent yesterday and have communicated with those that think it’s a good idea,” he said.

For now, those using the court can find a QR code provided by the National Fitness Campaign. The code can be scanned and exercises located.

However, Crider wants to provide users with access to the KU web base to collect data and to provide resources in addition to the information from the NFC. “We hope to add a kiosk that would be a source of information and participation,” he said. “We also want to gather information on how much use the Fitness Court gets so that our students in the Sport Management/Fitness & Coaching minor can provide appropriate instruction, information and programming.” 

Already, students in the program have been developing exercises intended to be featured on the KU website and/or YouTube. “The exercises are intended not to take the place of the Fitness Court exercises, but to complement them,” said Crider. “Our students will provide pictures and video of various adaptive exercises that they have determined will make the use of the court more appealing and comfortable for the general user.”

Ideally, Crider would like to include five research students as part of the grant to help get things running into next spring and summer. Then, in the fall, the location would be incorporated into all fitness and coaching classes.

“We see this as an important component to the sustainability of the use of the Keith Haring Fitness Court,” he said. “The Fitness Court is already going to be part of our classes moving forward, so no matter what happens with the grant, we still will have the classes engaged from the Fitness and Coaching program.”