Assignment #3 Critical Thinking

Leisure is a hard concept to define. After learning a lot in our class and with the research our group did on our specific organizations, we have finally come up with a definition of leisure. Leisure is freedom from one’s everyday responsibilities and duties. Whether it be out on a private outing at the golf course or watching a sporting event, each organization we researched offered a different aspect of leisure. The multitude of agencies that our group researched was non-profit organizations, sports management, private membership club, Army Co., and campus recreation. Specifically the agencies that we examined were the University YMCA, Division of Intercollegiate Athletics, Champaign Country Club, the ARC, and ROTC. We will further examine their relationships to one another throughout our blog.

The University YMCA has many goals and objectives. It is unlike other YMCAs that exist to provide a recreation center for people in the community. Rather, the University YMCA exists to “engage people in service, reflection, and action.” It also strives to challenge people and instill in them ideals and ethical principles that will serve them well for the rest of their lives. Last, it encourages students to participate in a wide variety of social, political and educational experiences. I truly believe that it exists for a good cause and is serving the community well. It is run by the university but does not receive any money from the university budget. Therefore, it is a non-profit organization. All of its funding is from private donation, which is not a good thing during these economic struggles.
There are many people served by the “Y.” It serves the whole student body and even the faculty of the University of Illinois. I personally believe that the international students are helped out the most by this because they are given a social network when they come in not knowing anybody, as well as a place to hang out. The local, non-student community is also served with certain programs. There are many effective programs offered by the University YMCA. “Dump and Run” is one of the programs that is a key contributor to the university. $25,000 was raised by collecting what would be people’s garbage in the spring (mostly old furniture) and reselling it to students in the fall when they return to school. There are also seminars offered on world issues and many service opportunities around the country and world. I feel like these programs are very useful to the people they are being directed toward.

The University Y has many strengths as a leisure service provider. It does a very good job of offering a social place for people to gather and learn about worldly issues. It also allows people to escape from the work world and their homework by offering them service opportunities in the community and around the world. This is a very good thing and it does a great job of it. The Y has weaknesses as well, though. They do not provide a gym, workout center, or pool like the other YMCAs around the country do. It would be a much better leisure service provider if it did. I believe that the organization does fulfill its goals. One example is Alternative Spring Break, a program where participants travel across the country during their spring or winter breaks and run fundraisers and perform manual work. This is a direct fulfillment of the goals listed earlier.










The Arc had many purposes which made them a great organization. The ARC is a center that provides wellness to students and the community. They do this through activities, workshops, and providing a facility for individuals to do their daily workouts. All these different services they provide all help to make the members happier and allow them to also be healthier. The organization is funded in two different ways. The undergraduate students are charged a fee automatically to the university account and the community can purchase a membership at a very low price with monthly payments. If a student does not want to use the facility they can cancel the charge from their account. Also, a member can bring a guest for a day with a small fee.

The ARC serves many individuals and groups. Like I mentioned earlier all undergraduates and community members are welcome to join. The ARC also serves groups such as intramural sports teams. They have basketball, volleyball, and also host tournaments such as table tennis and badminton. They women’s swimming and water polo teams also practice at the ARC new pool which they have two of one indoor and the other outdoor. The key components that set the ARC apart from other faculties are there workshops. They have a kitchen area that has a mirror on the ceiling allowing individuals to see what is being made. One of the classes they have provided is how to make a meal on a budget. They also have a wellness center that runs a series of different classes throughout the semester which included a laugher coarse last semester.

I believe the size and the range of different activities and information the ARC provides gives them major strengths. The cost for an undergraduate is so inexpensive it is available to nearly every student. The amount of different activates that can be done at the ARC makes it a great place for nearly everyone with a rock climbing wall or even a place to relax in between classes with a place to get food and converse with friends. As of weaknesses sometimes some of the areas can become pretty full but this is expected at sometimes with the large amount of clients they serve. This organization does a great job of fulfilling its purpose. At any given time the ARC has tons of individuals there enjoying oneself while doing something helpful or learning new skills to add to ones wellness.

Champaign Country Club provides a place for leisure and relaxation for
the members of the Champaign community. The objective is to provide a place
for a family or an individual to relax and enjoy the different amenities that they
provide, such as, tennis courts, a pool and the golf course. Its goal is to
provide a place where its members can feel isolated with their family or friends
in an area where many people can enjoy. The members of the country club who
pay a yearly membership fee fund the agency. Each member or family must
pay fee that helps pay for repairs on the ground and salaries of the staff, there
are also many other things that are paid for from the payments of the
members.

The country club itself serves a select number of people. However,
anyone who lives in the Champaign community is eligible to become a
member. The main elements that set this agency apart from others are the
different activities they can provide. It is not just a place for people to play
golf. It is a place to play tennis, swim, exercise and enjoy social activities.
Also, the privacy the country club provides sets it apart from most agencies.

There are many strengths to this private membership club. The main
strengths are that it can be for anyone, from individuals, families or companies.
It also provides many different types of leisure from relaxation to competition.
The weakness could be that it is not open to the public and not everyone has
access to their facilities. I think the organization does fulfill its purpose by
providing different services for all types of people. A family can go to the pool
and enjoy a nice relaxing day by it. Also, a group of can be competitive on the
golf course, the club covers all types of peoples wants and needs.

My agency was the Reserve Officers Training Corp (ROTC). My main topic was Armed Forces morale, welfare, and recreation units. I choose it because I wanted to learn more about how the ROTC worked as an organization. The goals of my agency are to provide people with leadership and other important qualities that will help throughout your career and your life. If you join the ROTC you also get first hand experience with a job in the armed forces branch that you choose. So you can use it as a chance to learn and gain experience for a future job and that will help you out on your resume and effect whether or not you get the job. The ROTC is also a good thing to have on a resume because you learn a lot of leadership experiences in the ROTC.

The federal government funds the ROTC. The individuals served by this agency are college kids but they fight for our country so it serves the whole United States. One thing that sets the ROTC apart and makes it special is that it helps college kids pay for their schooling but doesn’t take away their social life and they still get the college experience. One good thing the ROTC does is provided the enlistees with good leadership and qualities to help them out in their future jobs and careers. The only weakness I could think of is that it might take away a little bit from your college experience and you could die when you serve your term. The organization does a very good job of filling their goals and fulfills their purpose to help with college kids.

The ROTC is similar to a couple of other recreation sponsoring organizations. One that I think it is a lot a like is a nonprofit organization. I think this because the purpose of both is not to make money it is to help people. So both are for the wellbeing of people that they affect so that makes them alike. They are also both federally funded. Another organization I think is similar to mine is employee service and recreation programs. I think this because both have special things that you can only do if you are a part of their organization or an employee. They both give you special benefits for working with their company or organization. It also is similar to a private membership organization because of those same reasons to.

The Division of Intercollegiate Athletics was one of the leisure service providers our group looked into. The type of agency it reflected was the sports management industry. The goals and objectives of DIA, was to provide an opportunity for students, fans, and athletes to enjoy sports in an entertainment setting. The way they went about this, was to offer events such as football, basketball, and other sporting events that fans could go to. The event coordinating of these sport outings would be organized by the DIA, and everything from fan giveaways to before and after game day events would be run by the DIA. DIA has funding from multiple sources, which include students, alums, season ticket holders, fans, and contributions from the I Fund. The great thing about DIA is that it is open to all demographics because of the vast range of events DIA offers. The key program elements that set this agency apart from the others, was their ability to coordinate sporting events from football to basketball that have kept fan loyalty at a high level.

The strengths of this agency is the overwhelming amount of support from students and fans that will keep DIA stable, coming from an economic standpoint. The diversity of the agency lets them provide multiple opportunities away from sports, such as charity events. The reason diversity and fan loyalty are strengths are because it lets the agency be versatile in terms of what services they are providing as well as the longevity for the agency to keep running. Customer satisfaction and accommodations of students and fans alike also improve the fan loyalty. Although, the sports industry is not recession proof, the popularity of sports gives the upper hand of this agency in an economic standpoint. The weakness of the agency is that there is a narrow focus of people, therefore only providing opportunities for a minimum amount of people. Other agencies are more open to a larger demographic, although the sports industry is on the rise in terms of woman as well. Another weakness of this industry is the high demand of jobs with a minimum amount of openings. The competition for these jobs also does not bode well in terms of work opportunity for incoming graduates. Those are the strength and weaknesses of sports agencies.

There are many similarities and differences with sports agency compared to other industries such as campus recreation and private membership organizations. Some similarities are that all of them offer leisure service for the public. In terms of the specific one’s I have mentioned, they are all similar in the type of leisure that is provided. All of them have a hand in sports, whether it is campus recreation and the services they provide in their facility to a private golf course. They all find leisure in sports related activities. Some differences that these agencies share is the demographic these agencies appeal to. The private membership organizations tend to be more on the side of the rich, because they offer a fee to join their organization. Campus Recreation has a broader field of people, being open to the general public and offering numerous services that appeal to different genders and age groups. The sports agency generally offers sports related events, therefore if you are not a fan of sports or the entertainment surrounding a sports event, then this may not be the place to spend your leisure. In terms of the responsibility DIA has to serve the public, I believe the organization fulfills its goals. The reason being is if you walk around the University of Illinois on any game day, you will see the vast amount of fan support and events that are going on within the game. One of the largest events held at UIUC is Midnight Madness which DIA has organized. The purpose of a sports management organization is to offer sporting events for the general public in a entertaining way, which DIA has done a well job of throughout the years.

Each agency, although different in many aspects, shared some similar qualities. They all demonstrated some aspect of leisure. Another quality they shared was that each organization existed to serve a certain group of people, whether it be fans cheering on their favorite team, or people in need around the country. Although each organization served people, the specific demographic were not the same. Each agency focused on a different group of people. For example, the campus recreation agency and DIA focused mainly on students, while private membership club focused on people who want to be isolated, and be among the select few. The YMCA focused on students and faculty; however the ROTC focused on people who wanted to serve their country and make a difference. All in all, although we came up with our definition of leisure to be freedom from our daily responsibilities, the concept of leisure can never fully be developed. With our examination of the agencies we researched, we feel confident in what leisure means to us.