What Happened to Handball at Stony Brook?

Outdoor Courts Were Demolished for Stadium Construction
Students Who Don't Play Tennis Were Left with Nothing
But Indoor Racquetball Courts That Mess Up Their Game

SIGN THE PETITION TO REBUILD THE COURTS! 
FORWARD IT TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!

http://www.petitiononline.com/Handball/petition.html

by Emily Tu

When Steve (Chi Wai) Poon, now a senior and President of the Handball Club, came to campus from NYC, he wanted to be able to continue to play the game he had been introduced to as a junior in high school. With a double major in AMS and ECO, he needed something to relieve the stress. He started the Handball Club as a way of finding others who loved the game too. (Though their stress reliever does not always relieve stress during tournament competition time!)

Forced to use the indoor racquetball courts he also had to deal the inefficient reservation system firsthand. Rather than walk away from the frustration, he took the initiative and got it computerized.

Now he has taken his and the other members frustration with not having outdoor courts, or even proper indoor courts, and is reaching out to his peers to help the University see that the silent students they have been ignoring do not want to be silent any more! 

Help make outdoor courts at SBU a reality again! Click on this link and sign the petition, then forward it to all of your friends.

To:  Campus Recreation

Dear: All Stony Brook Students and Handball Fanatics

It has been 4 years since the old handball courts were torn down to build the new Stony Brook Stadium parking lot. There was a proposal to rebuild a new handball court right next to the outdoor basketball courts with nightlights. Unfortunately, the person who was in charge of this project left. Since the demand for the new outdoor handball courts was subtle, it was easily overlooked. However, this is not the case. There is a high demand for the new handball courts. Since the creation of the Handball Club and its awareness, the racquetball courts in the Sports Complex are constantly overbooked. People need to book two weeks in advance to guarantee a time slot available to them. Building an outside handball court will definitely relieve the stress from the racquetball players. Another benefit from building the handball courts is that other sports can benefit from it too, such as tennis, soccer, racquetball, and volleyball.

Handball is a competitive sport that should be recognized for its social integration. Many people have played this sport, due to its availability in most parks in the city. Anybody can play this sport easily and it is cost efficient. There are no expensive equipments to buy or any maintenance fee to play this sport, just a handball and a wall. There are no physical discriminations in this game. It is a sport that improves hand-eye coordination and it is an excellent from of exercise. The purpose of the Handball Club is to bring back the Unity in the Community. "It is a wall that brings people together." It serves as an effective icebreaker, as well as a form of stress reduction activity. It is truly creating a bridge for people to interact with one another and have fun in the process. In a nutshell, building an outdoor handball court is very beneficial towards a better social community. People would not go home on the weekends, if we provide some exciting activities for them to participate.

According to the Campus Recreation, "Our primary goal is to enhance the quality of life on campus for the students, faculty, and staff by providing a diverse range of programs and facilities to meet your recreational needs... We have something for everyone!" However, with the absence of a handball court, we don't have something for everyone. Especially, when handball is something that brings students, faculties, and commuters together. Many universities have Handball courts and we should not be an exception! Please sign this petition for rebuilding our Handball courts, so we can put our student activity fee in good use.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Some of the comments made by signers were very apropos. While John Cheng's approach is exclusive in the opposite direction, he does have a point when you consider that 35% of SBU undergrads (and 39% of freshmen) are from NYC (see links to official stats below):

http://ws.cc.stonybrook.edu/offires/Student%20Characteristics/
Graphs04/geofresh04g.shtml

When someone from the city moves off-campus in their junior or senior year, does that change these stats and make it look like more students are from the burbs? http://ws.cc.stonybrook.edu/offires/Student%20Characteristics/
Graphs04/geoug04g.shtml