People who found ways to explore their sexuality and use it as a coping mechanism during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic had more active and fulfilling sex lives, according to studies conducted by RST Associate Professor Liza Berdychevsky.
The fear, uncertainty and stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on adults’ mental and physical health – and their sex lives, several studies reported. However, new research suggests that individuals who embraced sex as a leisure activity found creative ways to cope with the effects of the pandemic and enjoyed more satisfying and active sex lives compared with people who did not view sex the same way.
Researcher Liza Berdychevsky, a professor of recreation, sport and tourism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, conducted an online survey of 675 adults in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada between February and May 2021. Published in the journal Leisure Studies, the first paper from the project examined people’s views of sex as leisure before and during the pandemic and the effects those outlooks had on the respondents’ quantity and quality of sex.
The sex-as-leisure perspective was defined in the study as engaging in sexual activity for purposes such as recreation, relaxation, self-gratification or personal development.
“When sexual activity is pleasurable, freely chosen, and intrinsically motivated, it aligns with most definitions of leisure activity,” Berdychevsky said. “The sex-as-leisure mindset affects sexual inhibitions, attitudes and practices, and it is congruent with the view of sexual health as key to our overall wellbeing and quality of life.”
The paper “Sex as leisure approach during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on the quantity and quality of sex life” is available online.
Growing up in Guangzhou, China, Suiwen “Sharon” Zou quickly learned the importance of marketing a business.
Zou’s parents are entrepreneurs and they run their own factories.
“My parents, they are very savvy business people,” said Zou, an assistant professor in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the University of Illinois. “Growing up, I was educated by my parents that financial resources are an important means, if not the most important means, to an end. That got me very interested in business, in different business principles. So I always have that in mind.”
When Zou left China for the United States to pursue a graduate degree, she was focused on business. When she chose Texas A&M—in part to be near the person who became her husband—she gravitated toward an interest in marketing because of her advisor, whose research involved marketing.
“I was taking multiple classes, and specifically two classes that really got me to shape my research agenda. One was a class with the marketing department,” she said, “and the class discussed influential papers in psychology and behavioral economics. That started to plant the seeds.”
In the final year of her doctoral studies, she took a class that connected marketing and the financing of park, recreation, and tourism services. That’s when everything clicked for Zou, and she was hooked. Zou completed her Ph.D. at Texas A&M and then, with her husband urging her on, she applied for the job in the College of Applied Health Sciences at Illinois.
“I was not confident I would be able to get tenure here,” she said. “But my husband told me I have the support. So when I came (to Illinois for the job interview), there was this celebrity crush, you know? And then (RST Professor) Monika Stodolska picked me up from the airport. I could not believe it, because I was citing her work. I could not believe I was meeting people that I cited in my research!”
Now, she said, “I study how people have fun.”
Precisely, the overarching goal of Zou’s research is to improve tourism/leisure experience and community well-being by examining consumer’s perceptions and devising innovative marketing practices.
A recent study involved fee-based pricing at the Indiana Dunes National Park.
Zou said it was vital for public parks and other tourism industries to build a sustainable revenue model and not to solely rely on decreasing funding from state and federal sources.
The primary purpose of Zou’s study was to “understand visitors’ and surrounding community residents’ perceptions of Indiana Dunes National Park user fees to inform a fee structure that balances revenue generation and equitable access.”
During and after the COVID-19 pandemic, Zou said, “parks saw explosions of people visiting.” While that was great for parks in terms of revenue, it also led to increasing operation costs at a time when government funding for these sites is being reduced.
“The specific goal is to find out how visitors see the park fees, and are they fair?,” Zou said.
The RST researcher said her preliminary findings indicate there was no consensus from study participants on what “fair” means, and that tension between fairness principles partly explains the longstanding controversy and debate on public land user fees.
Zou said tourism industries need to diversify their revenue streams because of declining funding from state and federal agencies.
“It’s like an investment,” she said. “You need to diversify in order to have that sustainability. You need to be more entrepreneurial with your funding sources. As for pricing user fees, how we can design a fee structure based on visitors’ diverse levels of perceptions and willingness-to-pay so that it is more acceptable to the visitors and we’ll get more revenue for the underfunded park services.”
Zou is also working with four local, rural communities—Galena, Savanna, Havana, and Grafton—to build up their tourism industries. Those communities have small populations—in the hundreds—but on the weekends, it grows ten-fold, in some cases.
“The goal of that project is to create a toolkit for a rural community that is under-resourced to help to guide their tourism development initiatives,” she said. “We are close to finishing the toolkits.”
One thing is clear from speaking with Zou: she loves her work and her workplace.
“(RST Dept. Head) Carla Santos told me, ‘This is a huge playground. You will have a ton of support to do the research, and you will have a lot of playmates that will play with different toys. And it will be a great place to work.’ And it turns out to be really, really true.”’
Congratulations to the recipients of 2023 scholarships and awards. The undergraduate and graduate students recognized within these pages have shown outstanding dedication and creativity in the pursuit of their personal and professional goals. We are very proud of your achievements.
RST Professor Laura Payne was chosen by the College of Applied Health Sciences to carry the gonfalon, or college banner, at the AHS Convocation in May. The honor of carrying the gonfalon is typically awarded to senior faculty or staff who have had a significant impact on AHS students.
“I am honored to carry the gonfalon for the AHS Convocation because it is a symbol of the mission and values of the college that we embrace and work toward through our teaching, research and service,” Payne said.
Payne joined RST in 2001 as an assistant professor and as an Extension Specialist in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. She is the current director of the Office of Recreation and Park Resources. Payne’s research has examined the relationship between leisure style and health of older adults with chronic conditions and the role of local parks and recreation agencies in health promotion and health behavior change. She has directed several statewide outreach and research programs such as the Illinois Rural Recreation Development Project, Illinois Senior Wellness Initiative, Take Charge of Your Health: Live Well be Well, and the Illinois Health Care Reform Initiative.
Payne considers it a privilege to work with communities across the state to enhance individual and community health through education, research, and public engagement that makes life better for people where they live, work, and play.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to expose undergraduate and graduate students to the meaningful work we do through ORPR and the Leisure, Health and Wellness Lab,” she said. “I hope that I have demonstrated the value of publicly engaged research and outreach to both students and colleagues, and that they will honor the legacies of Al Sapora, Charles K. Brightbill, Joe Bannon, Bob Espeseth, James Brademas, Robin Hall and many more as they pursue their careers.”
Payne was inducted as a Fellow in The Academy of Leisure Sciences in 2019 and received the organization’s Presidents Award in 2020.
AHS marketing and communications intern Janasia Phillips spoke with RST undergraduate student Aniyha Jones, who in spring 2023 was awarded a Paragon Marketing Group Scholarship, about her studies and her career plan. (Answers were edited for length and clarity)
Janasia Phillips: As a fellow student, tell me what I should know about you.
Aniyha Jones: I am Aniyha Jones. I’m a senior at the University of Illinois. I’m majoring in marketing and I’m minoring in RST, which is basically for sports management. I’m from Chicago. I have a sports background. And when I got to college, I realized whatever occupation I want to go in, I know I want it to be sports-oriented. As a college freshman, you’re trying to figure out what is that exact area you want to go in. And I think the pivot for me was building my podcast. I’m the host of the “You’re Wrong, Sir,” podcast. I started it in 2020.
JP: What influenced you to want to be a sports journalist?
AJ: In my freshman year, COVID hit. I was having a great time, and COVID hits, and we all got sent back home. As a result of that, classes are online, which was an adjustment for everybody. So I tapped into my health and wellness. I was getting up at 5 a.m. every day, working out. During those times, I read a lot too. I found a different outlet, and that was listening to podcasts, and I enjoyed them. A podcast that I listened to at the time, called “All The Smoke,” is hosted by Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, former NBA players. I was like, ‘OK, I like this.’It was also what they were talking about. These are the casual conversations I had with friends. I thought, ‘Why don’t I just start a podcast?’ I thought I wanted to be a sports agent, and then I started (her) podcast. But if you look at top prominent sports podcasts, they’re all men. There isn’t a woman being the lead or even hosting on the podcast. I wanted to change that trajectory because I hadn’t seen it for myself. Even after starting a podcast, I thought, ‘I like this but who is telling the stories? And what stories are we telling?’ So when you think about platforms like SportsCenter or ESPN, they only have a limited amount of time for a certain segment. You have to discuss this topic and be concise. Also there’s a lot of institutional racism. A lot of people aren’t picking up golf clubs or tennis, because financially, these sports are purposely being kept away from us. I think a lot of Black people are the muscle of sports, but we don’t own anything. I wanted to change the narrative for the stories that are being built around Black people and also educate us on the history. We don’t know the history of the sports that we’re getting into. That’s my motivation for being a sports journalist.
JP: Have you always had a desire to tell stories, or did sports specifically bring it out of you?
AJ: I think you find your creativity when you find your passion or what you like to do. And then I think whatever you’re good at, it kind of oozes out. So I didn’t know that I wanted to storytell until I started the podcast. But when I think about little small stuff that I like, like I love documentaries. I love reading. I’m always reading. But I didn’t really connect those to that I could be the person who told the story. I always felt like I would be the consumer. And now I feel like I can do both because of the podcast.
JP: As far as establishing your voice, has that been something that you’ve been able to easily navigate?
AJ: I think establishing my voice is ever-changing and evolving because when I first started my podcast, there was a woman in sports who gave me advice. It’s a male-dominated industry … What is going to make men listen to you. This is where my marketing major has helped a lot because you can have a good product, but if you don’t know how to market it, it doesn’t matter. Before my podcast, I wasn’t a big social media girl. I had to tap in. I was making my own graphics, learning how to edit my own things. I’ve built a community of people who not just support me for the podcast but support me because they believe in me and like my work ethic. I found my my voice by marketing myself and just continuing to learn, like reading books, watching things, such as Colin Kaepernick’s documentary on Netflix with Ava DuVernay. It’s called “Black and White.” I don’t want to be another woman in sports who just wants to represent women in the sports-dominated industry. That’s amazing. But what am I doing that’s different and impactful? And for me, after reading, having conversations, I started to discover telling people about the history of sports and how Black history plays a part in it, that has helped me find my voice.
JP: Tell me about your internship with Paragon Marketing Group.
AJ : When I got to campus, I knew I wanted to be in sports. I joined an organization called The Sports Business Association. But there weren’t any Black people. Sophomore year, I became the first female and Black president of that organization. Before that, they had an event, and my friend and I went to the event. Paragon was presenting, and after they were done, I went up to the two people who were presenting. After looking at their internship and what they were talking about, they weren’t looking for a freshman. They had a position called the Road Warrior Position, and you had to travel and I wasn’t old enough. But my thought was, ‘I’m going to keep this connection.’ I followed up and they advised me to apply and maybe they can tailor it. Matt Waitz emailed me and asked about an interview. We had the interview, and then I had to come to Chicago to go to their downtown office to have the interview. That went extremely well, and I got the internship. So I was their first intern that they had in office, so I built that connection freshman year, and I still talk to them. This morning, I talked to one of their (executives), Tony Schiller. I try to maintain that relationship … I am super grateful for them.
JP: How do you prepare for your interviews?
AJ: For me, the biggest preparation is research. I feel like I have a successful interview when I evoke an emotion from you. Whether you were (angry) because you didn’t agree with something I said on the podcast … if you’re happy—if I got an emotion out of you, I was successful. I think I am successful as an interviewer especially because a lot of the times when you’re interviewing people, they’re media trained. I would say preparing for interviews is just research, knowing the person in and out, knowing where they grew up, knowing what they have been asked before because then you start to see different angles that people haven’t taken it to. It’s just like a natural conversation in terms of talking to them when you know and you’re prepared.
JP: Who are some of the people you’ve interviewed?
AJ: I’ve interviewed (Illinois alumna) Taylor Rooks. I’ve interviewed Kendall Gill, who’s a 14-year NBA veteran. I’ve interviewed Jelani Floyd, who helped start Beyond Management Sports Agency within Chicago, and he now works for Wasserman. I’ve interviewed Aja Evans, who’s an Olympian, a bobsledder Olympian and medalist. I’ve interviewed Michaela Onyenwere, two years ago, she was the WNBA Rookie of the Year. All really dope conversations.
JP: Is there a documentarian you aspire to emulate?
AJ: My favorite sports documentary right now is probably going to have to be “Black and White,” with Colin Kaepernick, the one Ava DuVernay produced. Also, “The Last Dance.” I want to be the person who tells the story of who the athletes are personally, who they are as a human, because we just forget.
JP: What advice do you have for someone who wants to follow in your path?
AJ: In terms of sports and sports broadcasting media a motto that I live by is create to thrive. It’s one that I saw from India Taylor. It really stuck with me because when you’re creating content, you get so caught up in how many viewers, how many listeners. You just have to sometimes stop creating for monetization or creating for other people and create for yourself to thrive, release your creativity. Whoever is supposed to come and be attracted to your work will. Also, there are times where you’re going to go through stuff and you’re going to want to tell stories and feel like you don’t have the resources, you don’t have the opportunity. If somebody will not give you the opportunity, figure out a way to make it yourself. Even if it’s just a low-budget version of whatever you want. But if you keep sitting on your ideas and dreams, they are just going to collect dust. And maybe one day, if you’re sitting on it, you’re going to look up and somebody’s going to do exactly what you dreamed to do.
Welcome to the fall issue of RST E-News! We have had a whirlwind start to academic year 2022-23, enrolling 296 student majors and adding four new professors to our tenure-track and specialized faculties. In this issue, we’ll introduce you to Assistant Professor Nicholas Pitas, Associate Professor Mariela Fernandez, and Teaching Assistant Professors Renata Endres and Jacob Fredericks.
You’ll also read about fascinating research led by RST professors Joelle Soulard, Liza Berdychevsky, Julian Woolf, Mikihiro Sato, and Jon Welty Peachey and graduate student Wonju Lee. We’ll introduce you to graduate student services advisor Tim Tiger and undergraduate student Emily Jordan, who talks about her experiences in RST.
Several undergraduate students also share their thoughts on the 2022 professional applications class, which culminates in a two-week tour of major RST facilities in New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, and Massachusetts. We are so proud to continue to offer that experience to our students. As you’ll learn, not only do they gain incredible insight into the behind-the-scenes operations of major recreation, sport, and tourism venues, but they also forge strong, long-lasting bonds with their classmates.
Our faculty, staff, students, and many alumni and friends all help make the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism a community with purpose. RST faculty is innovative and fully dedicated to our students. Our staff supports both our faculty and students in successfully achieving their goals. RST students are committed to the vision of a world in which everyone has access to safe and healthy leisure opportunities. And our extraordinary alumni continue to stay engaged with the department and its students. I am proud and humbled to be at the head of such a dynamic community. Thank you for your continued interest in and support of this department. As we move swiftly toward another holiday season, I wish you peace, prosperity, good health, and great fun!
RST 180 has a rather dry course title: Professional Applications. But for the students who take the class, it is anything but.
RST 180, which returned in 2022 after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, is a three-credit course that concludes with a 12-day tour of recreation, sport and tourism-related destinations in Indiana, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. This year’s trip included stops in sites such as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Niagara Falls, the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Olympic training site in Lake Placid, the site of Woodstock in Bethel, N.Y., the 9/11 Memorial in Shanksville, Pa., and the Ohio State Reformatory, the site of the movie “The Shawshank Redemption.”
On May 23, more than two dozen students, along with RST Clinical Associate Professor Mike Raycraft, boarded a bus and set out from the University of Illinois campus on their way east.
As much as the trip is about learning the logistics and operations of iconic RST sites, it is also an epic road trip—complete with a five-hour delay due to a bus breakdown.
“My favorite part of the trip was meeting some of the best people and friends that I have ever met,” said rising sophomore Matthew Wargo. “From the beginning, we had to hang out with each other while we waited 5-plus hours for a new bus, and those hours really helped us to bond as a group before we embarked on the bus journey.”
Rising sophomore Nicole Dudek agreed.
“My favorite part of the trip was bonding with all my classmates and making lifelong friendships,” she said. “One instance that sticks out to me is when we all went on a cruise around Glimmerglass Lake in Cooperstown [upstate New York]. We had a free day to spend however we liked, but all of us chose to spend it with each other. It was really a moment where we bonded despite being from different walks of life.”
Rising senior Olivia Butters was another student on the trip. Butters is studying business management and is minoring in RST, with an emphasis on Sports Management. Ideally, she would like to work in a collegiate athletics department in operations or facility management,and this type of trip allows her to see those operations up close.
Butters said she was especially excited to meet with Mark Thomas—the recently retired Western District Director for State Parks in New York—whose role included oversight of Niagara Falls.
“I was very excited to hear about his experience running such a large state park,” Butters said. “He had so much knowledge and gave us such a great experience at the Falls.”
Dudek, who plans to pursue a career in outdoor recreation/tourism, was also excited to meet with Thomas, but the most important visit to her was unexpected.
“Cooperstown ended up being the site that was most significant to me, which initially came as a surprise,” she said. “Going into the trip all I knew the town for was the Baseball Hall of Fame, which I was interested in but didn’t expect to fawn over. It ended up being two of my favorite days of the trip.”
Visiting new places and spaces is fun for the students, but they also understand the importance of the trip, in terms of their futures.
“I wanted to explore what career options there were in the field, as well as network with professionals across the country,” Dudek said.
As much as the journey provided students and future professionals with lifelong benefits—especially crucial experience that will inform their future careers—it also included something unique.
“My favorite part of the trip was meeting everyone. I got onto the bus on the first day only knowing two people in the class, and by the last day I could easily call each person on the bus a friend,” Butters said. “I couldn’t say no to this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Matthew Wargo agreed.
“We all had a great time together—even now, a few weeks after the trip ended, we are already making plans to hang out with each other in the fall and later this summer,” he said. “I wouldn’t trade the friends I made on this trip for anything in the world.”
Students visited many noted tourism sites during the RST180 course this summer (Photo provided)
The Hall of Fame tour that serves as the essence of the Recreation, Sport and Tourism 180 experiential course has been the subject of much discussion since it was introduced in 2016.
The 12-day excursion component of the course—led by RST Clinical Associate Professor Mike Raycraft—spans more than 2,000 miles and has drawn attention from local news channels, magazines and newspapers over the years. Students visit notable tourism sites including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Baseball Hall of Fame and the NFL Hall of Fame as well as historic destinations in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
But what makes the course so beloved by its participants? Students who took the course and went on the spring 2024 trip along with a few RST professionals who lead tours on the trip weighed in.
For Axel Mueller, a sophomore studying sport management, getting to know other students was what made RST 180 truly special.
“I was able to meet so many other people within the RST department and get a better understanding of the recreation and tourism side, because at school, I don’t ever see those people much.”
Mueller recalled one of the trip’s hiccups where the lift on their charter bus broke down during a rainy day in New York. The group had stopped for lunch at the famed Anchor Bar, the birthplace of Buffalo chicken wings, and on the way out the lift that was supposed to help Kendall Speaks, an RST major and wheelchair basketball team member, get onto the bus broke, leaving the group stuck in a parking lot for more than an hour.
“I had to squat down, have her wrap her arms around my neck, pick her up, and then carry her to her seat on the bus,” Mueller said. “Of course, Dr. Raycraft was able to arrange another bus that day.”
It was that type of attitude, from Mueller and others in the group, that turned what could have been a deeply frustrating situation into a humorous anecdote, and the tour continued without major issues after that point.
Another aspect of the course Mueller appreciated was getting the opportunity to talk to experts in his prospective field of sports management.
“It definitely opened my eyes a little bit—there’s so many things I can do with a sport management major,” he said. “I would say it broadened my perspective rather than narrowed it.”
Carter Blount, another sophomore in RST, put his perspective on the tour plainly:
“Professor Raycraft makes the trip,” he said. “ He’s done this for so long. He knows all these people and has crazy connections, and he definitely makes it enjoyable.”
Blount went on Raycraft’s spring break study abroad course to London, and despite the exhausting overnight flight and packed schedule, he enjoyed it and was influenced to enroll in the RST 180 course for the second half of the semester. Blount wasn’t alone in this; he said around 20 students who went to London that spring also enrolled in RST 180 this year.
A few fond memories for Blount included cramming into one hotel room with everyone to watch the NBA playoffs, walking the Princeton campus at night where he coincidentally met a student who had gone to the same high school as he did, and watching the sun set over the lake in Cooperstown, New York.
“I can’t think of a single night where I wasn’t in someone else’s room,” Blount said, referring to the close-knit evenings the group spent together after the day’s tours were done.
“It reaffirms my perspective that there are Illinois people everywhere, but also in places you would never think of,” Marshall said. “It’s a reminder to just keep my eyes open and look for connections wherever I can find them.
Todd Marshall
RST student
Blount spoke about the positive experiences the group had with their hosts, with the students who were able to ask questions about internships, careers and their own experiences breaking into the industry. He also discussed how the class itself enhances the trip, saying “you spent eight weeks studying the places you’re going to visit, so it’s cool to go see them all at the end.”
Todd Marshall, an RST graduate student at the University of Illinois, had a slightly different experience than the other students on the trip. As a graduate student working closely with Raycraft, he got an inside look at what it takes to organize and deliver experiential learning opportunities that will serve him well as he enters the field. Marshall was heartened by the large number of alumni they connected with at the locations they visited, taking the opportunity to learn from people not much older than him who successfully made it in the sport management industry.
“It reaffirms my perspective that there are Illinois people everywhere, but also in places you would never think of,” Marshall said. “It’s a reminder to just keep my eyes open and look for connections wherever I can find them.”
Chris Willis first met Raycraft in 2019, while he was doing research for his book on Red Grange, an Illinois alum who played for the Chicago Bears from 1929 to 1934 and is one of the most famous NFL players of the 20th century. When they met, Raycraft mentioned the tour, leading Willis to offer his expertise as head archivist at NFL Films in New Jersey. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic preventing the addition to the tour for a few years, eventually students were able to visit the studio, libraries and research facilities at the headquarters.
“We provided an overview and general information about what NFL Films does, and the facility is a big part of that,” Willis said. “We have everything under one roof.”
Willis is no stranger to hosting tours at the facility, saying they have around five or six per year, usually with friends or family of employees or groups of students like the ones from the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism. Willis confessed he enjoys leading student tours the most, saying he prefers “talking to a younger crowd.”
“Some of the subjects we study are between 50 and 100 years old, so it’s fun to interact with younger students or fans and show them what we do or talk to them about NFL history or the history of NFL films,” he said.
The highlight of the tour was the studio, according to Willis. Many students, sports fans themselves, recognized the place where many of the NFL’s talk shows are filmed and enjoyed seeing the back end of their favorite sports productions.
Mark Thomas found his love for working at parks while working at a summer camp in Rockford as a teen. After graduating from the department of Parks and Recreation (now RST) in 1975, he managed the grounds of a college campus for seven years until it closed. For a long time, Thomas found jobs outside of the industry, doing work in consulting, retail and politics before he was able to work his way back into parks, where he was asked to host RST 180 at Niagara Falls in 2016. At that point, he had been serving as the western regional director of state parks in New York since 2007, with a main office in Niagara Falls.
“I have a tremendous amount of experience,” Thomas said. “The students have a lot of great questions about the park, and so I’m able to elaborate on that for them.”
When the RST 180 students first arrived at Niagara Falls at night, the lights (a $4 million system whose installation Thomas took part in overseeing) shined orange and blue to welcome the tour, an experience cited by many students who went on the trip. They saw the natural landscape and participated in the Maid of the Mist boat tour offered by the American side of the park. Thomas said the students were curious and engaged with the tour, regarding both the history of the falls and the logistics behind managing them.
“They love the tourist experience—who wouldn’t, right? It’s a great experience, but they also embrace the learning aspect of the visit as well.”
Grace Burns, a senior majoring in statistics and minoring in RST with hopes to go into sports analytics post-graduation, was excited by the prospect of the course but admitted to feeling anxious about going on a long trip with complete strangers. Her worries ended up being unfounded.
“Going into it not knowing anyone, I was definitely really nervous,” she said. “I was like ‘Oh my gosh, what did I get myself into?’ But I met so many people. I’m almost glad I didn’t go with my friends because it allowed me to branch out more.”
Burns’ favorite memories from the trip include a night she and several other members of the tour went out for karaoke in Albany, and listening to a panel at the NCAA headquarters where she was able to speak to someone with a career in sports analytics and recordkeeping.
“That’s what initially got me into sports analytics,” she said. “I love all the records in sports, especially baseball—there seems to be a stat for everything. So, it was really neat to hear from him.”
RST 180 exemplifies the passion for educating, events and entertainment, and accommodating all who travel, whether they are sports fans, history buffs, or national park enthusiasts. The class and tour provide a unique experience for students that puts them on both sides of this transaction.
“I would encourage everyone to look into the class even if you’re not RST affiliated and even if you don’t know anyone,” Burns said. “It sounds clichéd, but it was really awesome, even if you’re not into sports.”
Camille Hobby’s life has always revolved around sports. She grew up moving from city to city as her father, Marion—currently the defensive line coach for the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals—coached at various colleges and in the NFL, but her personal passion was always for basketball. Now, at 23, graduating with two degrees, three ACC tournament wins and a Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament championship under her belt, the 6-foot-3-inch center is ready to start a new chapter in her basketball career.
Camille Hobby ultimately wants to be a coach. (Photo by Fighting Illini)
“I think it was kind of just a natural progression,” Hobby said. “I’ve been around sports my whole entire life. I definitely want to stay in sports—college athletics, professional, whatever the case is, so in the future I want to be a coach. I want to get into coaching, and I thought it was the best idea for me to go into (the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism).”
Hobby graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a master’s degree in recreation, sport and tourism in May 2024 after spending her fifth year of eligibility with the Fighting Illini women’s basketball team. Hobby earned a bachelor’s degree in sport management from North Carolina State University, where she would have played all four years, had COVID-19 not taken a season away.
“I had one year [of eligibility] due to COVID, so I transferred primarily because of basketball, because of having that extra year. But then I wanted to continue that sports management realm of study, so that’s how I ventured my way to the RST department.”
In deciding where to spend her last year of eligibility, a few key aspects drew Hobby to choose Illinois. She said the school’s reputation was one factor in her decision, giving a nod to the iconic “Block I” impact on a resume.
“Everyone sees the I. Everyone knows the logo, you know, and that’s extremely important, especially when you’re going into jobs and looking for future places of work.”
She also highlighted the university’s emphasis on community and academics that impacted her decision.
“It’s a tight-knit community—definitely a college town. So, that played a huge role into that [decision], especially playing basketball in an environment that supports the needs of the team, and having great academics was important to me.”
After college, Hobby wants to play professionally in Europe before moving on to coach basketball, putting both her degree and lifetime of experience playing basketball to use. She said coaching would allow her to have a positive impact on the lives of other young athletes, something she has not only experienced from an athlete’s perspective but also witnessed through her father’s own career.
“He played a huge part in that,” Hobby said. “I’ve seen the incredible players that he’s coached in the past and he’s been influential in their lives and that’s something that I want to do, is to make an impact on young people’s lives and get them to be the best versions of themselves.”
Hobby also reflected on how her experience earning a degree in RST aided her service-oriented view of coaching, saying “I’ve always been a person that wants to help people and be of service to others and make them better, and I feel like that’s kind of what the RST department is; it is in the service business of helping others and showing them things and that’s kind of where my heart lies. That’s where I know my dad’s heart lies as well, helping those around us, and the best way, I feel, to do that, is through coaching.”
The program not only helped Hobby prepare for coaching as a public service, but it also emphasized to her the importance of diversity and inclusion in coaching.
“I feel like the biggest part of being a coach is the diversity and equity part of it—universal design and making sure that there’s a space for everyone. I feel like that’s so important, especially as a coach. You want to make sure that your players feel like they are important, feel like they are accepted, whoever they are, what makes them different and unique.”
One specific experience in the program stuck with Hobby: watching wheelchair basketball club teams compete. She recalled how it made her re-think diversity in sports, saying, “that was completely eye-opening for me. I think a lot of the time we hear about having that inclusion, having diversity, but a lot of the time there’s not much action behind it. To see them and see how competitive they are was really inspiring, and it just allowed me to get into that—finding equity and inclusion for everyone. Not just in terms of race or gender, but for someone who has challenges that limit them from playing traditional sports.”
Hobby intends to follow in the footsteps of the people she has looked up to: her father and her own coaches, who she said inspired her on and off the court.
“Having people who advocate for you, people who are just good people who want to see you succeed, that’s important. To see them, it makes me want to be like that in the future: always encouraging my players, believing in them, and wanting the best for them.”
Bob Espeseth was an RST faculty member for three decades (Photo provided)
It’s no surprise that a man who was as outgoing as Bob Espeseth dedicated his life to creating opportunities for others to be outdoors.
“When we grew up, we were always doing stuff, always camping a lot, being outdoors,” said Robert Espeseth, one of Bob’s five children with wife Mary Anne. “That was just us. Part of the trips was to get to see the country … we got to grow up seeing a lot of the parks and a lot of the country and different things.
“He was always happy to meet everybody. He went out of his way when he traveled to look up people and stop in and visit, or at the very least call when he was in the area.”
Espeseth, who was a faculty member in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at Illinois from 1973-95, died on Dec. 15, 2023 at the age of 93.
Espeseth grew up in Wisconsin and earned a degree in landscape architecture at the University of Wisconsin, all while serving in the ROTC. Espeseth’s ROTC commitment sent him into the Navy, where he was on active duty for three years. He was an ensign in the Navy when he was the films officer for the USS Purdy, a destroyer that traveled around the world to provide support in the Korean War.
“After he got out of the Navy, he went back and got his master’s degree, and then he started working for the Wisconsin parks system,” son Robert said. “He was instrumental in developing and modernizing a lot of the Wisconsin State Parks, the rails to trails.”
Espeseth also worked in parks administration in Michigan before coming to the University of Illinois, where he was a professor of leisure studies. Colleagues remembered him as warm and helpful.
“He was kind and fun-loving. He was very quick to laugh. Most of my memories are I would go for a run in the morning and he and Mary Ann would walk from their house on Healy Street down to Prospect Avenue.”
RST faculty member Kim Shinew
“And they were standing in front of this tree on Healy one day. And just something about it made me stop, which was unusual. When I run, I usually don’t stop. I stopped, and he said, ‘Do you know what kind of tree this is? And I said, ‘I have no idea, Bob. And he said, ‘It’s a ginkgo tree. They lose their leaves in one day.’ And he said, ‘Long after I’m not around, when you go by this tree, you think of me. And I always have. I always just thought of him when I ever go by that tree.”
In addition to his academic endeavors, Espeseth volunteered for more than 45 years for the Champaign County Forest Preserve District, first as an elected official and later as a foundation board member. His volunteer work and philanthropic endeavors played a significant role in establishing and caring for nearly 4,000 acres of preserves, the Museum of the Grand Prairie, and the Kickapoo Rail Trail.
“He knew the important role that public parks and places like forest preserves, the role that they play in overall life satisfaction and quality of life and places of exercise,” Shinew said. “I know that he really valued and appreciated the outdoors. He was an advocate for that in communities.”
“When I came and Bill McKinney was the (RST) department head, Bill’s area was public parks and recreation. Bob played a big role in that.”
Even now, Shinew said, the connection between landscape architecture and community planning and engagement—two other significant RST industry fields—is significant, a testament to Espeseth’s pioneering work.
Espeseth was also, not surprisingly, an advocate for environmental causes and helped to launch the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, which support coastal, marine and Great Lakes communities through research, extension and education. The Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, one of 34 Sea Grants in the United States, is focused on the southern Lake Michigan region—104 miles of heavily urbanized and industrialized shoreline in Illinois and Indiana. Espeseth was at the helm of IISG from 1982 through 1994.
But family and greenspace were really Espeseth’s loves. He was part of the National Parks and Recreation Association, and thanks to that, he took his family on many trips.
“We stopped at every state park and national park in the country,” Robert said. “Well, he would pose us, all of us—my brothers and I—in front of the sign to the park, the entrance to the park to take a picture of the entrance. Part of it was he wanted this file of information, but then he also could use it as family pictures. We used to joke that our father has the best collection of park entrances and bathrooms, because he’d always shoot the restroom facilities, how they were designed, how they were landscaped with natural stone or other things.
“So we’re posed in front of stuff, whether it was in Yosemite, whether it was Yellowstone, whether it was in Grand Teton, whether it was in Craters of the Moon Park, you name it. We used to joke he has the most amazing collection of bathroom pictures in the United States.
