CSUN sports clubs’ practice times are bumping into each other because of a lack of available space.

The clubs’ practice schedules are often overlapping and practice hours have been changed in response to an increase in kinesiology activity classes for the spring semester.

“It’s frustrating for me to schedule all of these clubs,” said Bryanne Knight, facilities coordinator for the Associated Students and graduate student in recreation studies.

Scheduling for sports clubs is made around the Kinesiology Department’s schedule of classes, Knight said.

“Academic classes have priority over everyone else,” Knight said.

This semester there is a high demand for kinesiology classes, and as a result, the dance and martial arts clubs have lost a few hours of practice time, Knight said.

“Classes like yoga and activities courses have become more popular,” said Michelle Messiha, assistant director of A.S. Recreational Sports. “There is a greater demand for academics courses.”

There are 11 sports clubs in A.S. Recreation’s Sports and eight of those clubs use Redwood Hall rooms, Messiha said.

“We have more and more sports clubs that want facility time,” Messiha said.

The Aikido clubs have to deal with shorter practice hours and instances of overlapping schedules with other clubs.

“Each time we changed times there would be either another class or another club practicing (in the scheduled room),” said Vaijayanphi Sundaram, Aikido club treasurer and computer science graduate student.

“Last time we practiced there were cheerleaders practicing with us in the room,” Sundaram said.

Redwood Hall only has one room with proper practicing mats for the cheerleading squad, dance and martial arts clubs.

“We need mats,” Sundaram said. “In Aikido, we roll a lot on the ground, and the floors are hard so people could get hurt.”

Erin Kiser, cheerleader adviser and assistant director for athletics marketing promotions, expressed the same concern about safety.

“My number one concern is safety. I don’t want (the cheerleaders) practicing on hardwood floors without mats,” Kiser said.

The cheerleaders’ schedule overlaps with the Aikido club’s only practice time on Thursday nights in RH 251, Sundaram said.

“The cheerleader squad needs an hour and a half to warm-up before basketball games and there was a club there,” Kiser said.

Kiser said basketball games are on Thursdays in the spring semester and not in the fall semester.

“It’s a little bit of a tricky situation,” Kiser said.

In the spring, the number of students who take Kinesiology activities classes is higher than in the fall; around 2,000 students, said Carole Oglesby, chair of the kinesiology department.

“Space is a very high demand thing,” Oglesby said.

Some University Student Union and A.S. officials said the limited amount of space in Redwood Hall highlights the need for a new recreation center at CSUN.

A 2001 survey done at CSUN showed that one of the greatest demands was for a recreation center, said Debra Hammond, executive director of the USU.

The current fitness center inside the USU is too small for the needs of the CSUN students, she said.

“It doesn’t have the scope and breadth of what students want,” Hammond said. “Sports clubs and intermurals could use the recreation center.”

Because ASREC sports is third in priority behind academic classes and athletics a recreation center is needed, Messiha said.

“The solution to this (less time for sports clubs) is we need to have a recreation center,” Messiha said.

Joseph Wilson can be reached at city@csun.edu.