A February 4 trip to the WFCU Centre to watch the Windsor Spitfires in action proved educational for a class of kinesiology students well before the opening face-off.

The 64 students in Jess Dixon’s first-year Principles of Sport Management course toured the facility prior to the game, led through its backstage areas by Nathan Sellon, the OHL team’s coordinator of fan development.

Following the tour, the group heard from Chris Paquette, event and operations manager for Spectra Venue Management, which oversees the centre; and two UWindsor human kinetics graduates: Mike Noetzel, Spectra’s general manager of events; and Felicia Krautner, the Spits’ coordinator of community relations and game operations. Krautner started volunteering for the franchise in her first year of university study.

The connection between the Faculty of Human Kinetics and the Windsor Spitfires provides volunteer and co-op work opportunities for students—current student-intern Jason Tedball discussed his experiences as part of the program.

It was the fifth year Dr. Dixon has taken his class to a Spitfires game.

“The purpose of the field trip is to expose first-year sport management students to what it is like to work in the sport industry and to build their professional network within the field,” he says. “It’s particularly special when we can get some of our alumni to share their career paths with the students as well.”

To cap the evening, Windsor defeated the Sudbury Wolves by a score of 6-1.

Members of the campus community will participate in the iClimb for United Way, February 24 at the WFCU Centre—and have issued an invitation for all to join.

The event raises funds in support of local mental health and counselling programs and involves people across Windsor-Essex County in challenges that promote active living, including climbing more than 1,000 steps inside the arena. Sessions run from 7 to 8:30 a.m. and 3 to 6 p.m.

“We would love you to join us,” says Sheri Lowrie, program administrator in the Centre for Executive and Professional Education and co-chair of the campus campaign for United Way. “Monies raised also credit our annual fund-raising total from the University of Windsor.”

Find more information at www.weareunited.com/iclimb, or contact Lowrie at sherio@uwindsor.ca, phone 519-253-3000, ext. 6730.

Toronto fans and Detroit fans will both find something to cheer during an alumni outing Sunday, February 28.

UWindsor alumni, employees, students and friends will board the Lancer bus to watch a National Basketball Association contest pitting the Detroit Pistons against the Toronto Raptors at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

The $75 cost covers return bus fare, seating to see the game at the 100 level and all-inclusive access to the United Shore Club West with complimentary food and beverage service before, during or after the game.

Find more information, including an online registration form, on the events webpage.

Campus food outlets will operate under revised hours during Reading Week.

The Marketplace in the CAW Student Centre will operate 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. through Thursday and close Friday through Sunday.

The Crocodile Grill in Vanier Hall will open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through Sunday, and serve dinner from 5 to 9 p.m. through Saturday, and Sunday from 5 to 11 p.m.

Tim Hortons in the CAW Student Centre, Odette Building and Centre for Engineering Innovation; Brown Gold Cafés in the Leddy Library and Toldo Health Education Centre; and the Alumni Bru will all close until Monday, February 22, when all outlets will resume regular hours of operation.