Welcome to CARSA!
Since opening to the public on May 3, 2015 – the Centre for Athletics, Recreation and Special Abilities (CARSA) has been praised by weight centre enthusiasts, squash players, spin bikers, dancers, yogis, rock climbers and more!
As a Membership Services front desk employee, I get to see and hear about all the exciting programs offered and talk to the many people that walk through our doors.
Exploring CARSA
The 190,000 square foot facility (about the size of 3 football fields) has everything! The 2-floor weight room contains top-notch equipment including brand new cardio machines are designed to have low impact on your joints.
The newly added squash courts and racquetball courts are constantly in use. The brand new spin studio with 30 revolutionary bikes sees drop-in and regular users during every class throughout the week. The amazing TRX studio focuses on body weight suspension training and this new addition to the athletics program has seen a lot of interest!
The mind/body and movement studios are filled regularly by our dance programs, cardio, yoga and Pilates classes which include specialized Bosu and boot camp programs.
The field house, which spans the length of two ice hockey rinks, is used for a variety of drop-in programs including basketball, soccer, tennis, badminton, ball hockey and table tennis. It’s also used for scheduled classes such as martial arts.
The field house just hosted Team Canada’s wheelchair basketball team for a practice and includes an 80m spring-sprung floor track.
Rock climbing wall
UVic President Jamie Cassels
There’s a world-class rock climbing wall, which stands at almost 55-feet tall (you can see UVic President, Jamie Cassels, reaching the top in the image to the right).
This is Victoria’s second tallest indoor wall and the tallest wall within any Canadian university. The wall is available for drop-in climbing and climbing skill classes.
Performance gym
To top it all off, CARSA holds a brand new performance gym. This 2,100 seat arena is the new home for the UVic Vikes basketball program and will host many game nights, creating a seriously awesome vibe and environment throughout our campus.
If you’ve already been to a game night at UVic, you know how intense they get. Now, with this new arena, things are going to a whole other level. I’m IN, are you?
Throughout the facility, you will find accommodations for special abilities. CARSA also contains CanAssist, which develops technologies, programs and services that help people with disabilities improve their quality of life.
Join CARSA
Forecast use for the school year, starting in September, is expected to be exponential. We can’t wait to see all of the students walk through that door and engage in the prime Vikes Nation motto: to participate in active, healthy living.
At a deal of $220.15 for a full 12 months ($18.35/month) for full time students, you can’t go wrong!
These amazing photos were taken during the open house weekend on May 1 and 2, 2015. During these two days, the facility was free for use by everyone (students, staff and community).
For information on services, programs and membership, visit www.vikesrec.ca. Get IN at CARSA!
All photos courtesy of Armando Tura with AP Shutter
