1909-1919

Arkansas Tech University was established by law in 1909 as a Second District State Agricultural school. It was one of four state agricultural schools mandated at that time. Thehistory of athletic competition began in November of 1910 with football and fostered the start of Tech sports. In November of1919, John Tucker gave the Tech Wonderboys their name.

1933-1935

In the fall of 1933, Professor Truman Mcever wasresponsible for thefirst detailed plan for intramurals at Arkansas Tech University. The first form of intramural activity in the fall was softball. As the weather became cooler, a series of touch football games were scheduledand lasted until basketball season. The arrival of spring saw the beginning of softball along with baseball and some track. In the fall of 1935, Henry Hudson, newly appointed Intramurals director, announced thatall males at Tech, who were physically able, were to participate in the program. In addition to football, basketball, and baseball, other popular sports such as golf, tennis, swimming, boxing, volleyball, and softball were included. In 1935, the APC Bulletin had no intercollegiate sports for women mentioned but did say that women could participate on campus in basketball, volleyball, baseball, track, tennis, archery, and folk and clog dancing.

1954-1966

In 1954-55, an intramural program, open to all students, wasa part of the overall athletic program. In 1966, Coach Dobson reset the guidelines for the intramural program and reorganized. The sports offered were archery, basketball, bowling, horseshoes, flag football, softball, golf, rope climbing, tennis, track, ping-pong, and volleyball. Approximately 1,100 to 1,200 students participated at that time. The program was based on a point system to determine the overall winner at the end of the semester. The person with the most points received a trophy and the winning team received T-shirts.

1967-1968

In 1967-68, the programoffered sportsselections amonth at a time. They were organized from October April.

1983-1990

In 1983, ten sports were offered based on student interest. Coach Dobson was succeeded by Rudy Parks, Dr. Travis Arterbury, andDonald L. Dempsey. Dempsey, who had the longest tenure,reported in1989-90 that approximately 700-800 male students participated inbasketball, flag football, racquetball, golf, volleyball, and softball. In 1984, Martha N. Dowell reported that, during14 years as theDirector of Women's Intramurals, she had tried many different sports; however,thewomen's interesthadbeen mostlybasketball, volleyball, and softball. In 1990, Dr. Dowell reported 200-300 women participating. T-shirts weredistributed to the winners of various sports.

1995-1997

In the fall of 1995, Pete Kelly took over both mens and womens intramural programs. Although the intramural office was physically housed in the Physical Education Department, it was now overseenby theDepartment of Student Services.Student Services could provide more services and therefore, contributed to both higher retention of students and a better quality of life. A total of 650 participants competed in the 1995-96 academic year. In 1996-97, SGA purchased 10 new mountain bikes to further expand the program. With new activates being offered, like midnight bowling and a golf scramble, participation grew to an all-time high of 1,600. During 1998-99, the intramural program went without a fulltime director; however, Chris Jones held the senior fellow status and the program continued to grow in participants and spectators. Intramurals soon found itself with a new director, Dana Froud. She became the first female Coordinator for both Mens and womens Recreational Sports. Although her directorship only lasted one year, Froud madeextra murals a realityonce several teams competed in the State Flag Football Tournament.

2000-2005

In September 2000, Kelley Roach took over the Tech Recreational Sports Program. Following in Frouds footsteps, Roach continued the extramural fever. InNovember 2000, hetook a mens flag football team to both the state and regional tournaments. The slogan, "Where Memories are Made," adoptedin 2000, proved itself correct. In the spring of 2001, the men's and womens 5 on 5 basketball champions tooka trip to Wichita, Kansas. Over the next few years, participation grew with new activities like Chasin the Moon 5K and NIRSA Day. In the spring of 2002, womens 5 on 5 basketball was added. The No Limit team won the Tech champion title, state and regional champion title, andatrip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. There, theyfinished 5th in the nation. The fitness champions of Tech also madethe trip to WaltDisney World tocompete at the national level. The Squad finished 10th in the nation for their efforts.

In 2002-2003, the first ever national championship was awarded to "Kami Kaze," a male softball team. Another trip to Orlando was made, but this time with male and female basketball and fitness teams. 2004 broughteven moreexcitement. Not only did Shawn Caldwell received All-American status as a flag football official but Jason Keys alsoreceivedthe honor of All-American Basketball official. In the spring of that year, Tech hosted the state 5 on 5 basketball tournament, and that fall,"The Angels" won the first female regional flag football championship and traveled to the national tournament in New Orleans, LA. In2005, Tech hosted the 10th AnnualAIRSA State Flag Football Tournament. "The Rollers", Tech FlagFootballIntramural Champions, finished 2nd in the men's division.

2006-2008

After a 6 year reign by Director Kelly Roach, Brian Henderson was hired to take the Intramural and Recreational sports program to new heights in the 2006-07 academic year. Within Brians first month as the new Director, the "St. Leo Saints" won Techs 5 on 5 basketball championship . They went on to win the regional tournament, hosted by the University of Missouri. Mary Buford was selected as Regional Tournament MVP and won a 32" plasmatelevisionand the teamqualifiedfor Nationals at Ohio State University. In the summer of 2007, the addition of two graduate assistantshelped complete the staff of Tech Recreational Sports. A new office wasconstructed in theUniversity Commons Club Houseand became the newhome for the TechIntramural & Recreational Sports Staff.

The 2007-08 seasonboasted arecord number of participants and more students competed in intramurals than ever before. The "Saint Leo's Saints" Women's 5 on 5 Basketball team won the University of Missouri Regional Tournament once again and Jillian Jacimore was named tournament MVP. With the addition of two new backstopson the intramural field, a new shed for intramural equipment, a new shed and canopy for the mountain bikes, and the purchase of eight new Specialized Mountain Bikes, the 2008-09 year made great strides.

2008-2012

In the summer of 2008, theIntramural & Recreational Department was once again under new direction. Arkansas Tech Alum, Grant Watts, was hired as the ninth director. Thefall of 2008saw arecord number of participants in intramural events. History was made bothon and off campus as the men's flag football team, "En Fuego," won the state and regional tournamentsand advanced to play in the national tournament. The women's flag football team, "Evil Shenanigans Part Deux," received runner-up at state and third place at regional's. Five Tech officials worked the state flag football tournament and of those five, four worked semi-finals and three worked finals. Tech Official, Spencer Gay, evenreceived a bid to NIRSA Regional Tournament.

2009 ushered in"A Centennial of Memories" as Arkansas Tech celebrated its Centennial Anniversary. Tech was well represented in flag football and basketball extramural tournamentsand was evennamed the2009 ACIS National Women's Champion.Thenewly formed Outdoor Connection Center purchased kayaks and camping tents to provide members of the Tech community another way to enjoy what the Natural State and River Valleyhave to offer. The Fall of 2010brought upgrades to the intramural fieldsincluding theinstallation of lights and a permanent storage building. In the Spring of 2011, Tech won the first annual Arkansas State Intramural Softball Tournament hosted by Arkansas Tech.In the2011-2012 school year, the departmentadded another component, Zumba hit campus and was well received by the students.Currently, Campus Recreation encompasses not only intramural sports and outdoor recreation but alsofitness and other special events.

2012 - Present

In July of 2012 Luke Calcatera was named the new Coordinator for Campus Recreation and the tenth director at Arkansas Tech University. The year brought many new changes with the construction and development of a sprinkler system for the intramural field, new dirt infields for softball, and added equipment available for student rentals. The growth of the Outdoor Recreation program has increased in popularity growing from three events in 2012 to fourteen events for the 2013 season ranging from beginners fly-fishing on the Little Red river to hiking to Signal Hill the highest elevation point in Arkansas. The 2012-13 school year saw numbers grow in activity in intramural sports, rentals, outdoor recreation and fitness also adding a Yoga class for the Fall 2013 school year.