Finding Value As Rec Sports Staff
Xander Reeves ’29 and Liliana Lara ’27 give a glimpse into their lives, their jobs and how they found community through Rec Sports
XANDER REEVES ’29: UNDERSTANDING THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE GAME
For Xander Reeves ’29, working for Rec Sports can mean spending the morning with Youth Programs campers and the evening officiating an intramural soccer game.
“Handling the kids is very similar to handling intramural athletes out in the field,” Reeves said. “At the end of the day, it’s just a bunch of people having fun and taking fun things seriously.”
Reeves is a general engineering sophomore from Sour Lake, Texas. A couple of friends from his freshman leadership organization who played intramural basketball introduced him to Rec Sports. After playing intramural soccer, Reeves became more involved with Intramural Sports when he applied to become an official, trading his role as a player for a referee whistle.
“I think Intramurals is the best job on campus,” Reeves said. “I think the schedule works very well. Everyone in the office works very well with all the officials. Every shift is fun and I’m excited to show most of the time and it’s a great time because everyone’s always joking, having fun but also being serious when it needs to be.”
Soon after Reeves joined Intramural Sports, Nick Heiar, program director of Intramural Sports, shared a job opening with Youth Programs. Reeves jumped at the opportunity and became a Youth Programs counselor.
“I’m one of the younger counselors, so I can relate to [the kids] a lot more,” Reeves said. “A lot of them have grown up playing Fortnite. I was playing Fortnite before they were born, so it’s just a lot of being able to relate to them on a level they understand and connect to.”
Whether working with children or adults, managing conflict is an important part of Reeves’ roles with Intramural Sports and Youth Programs. This summer, Reeves officiated a championship game where teams competed for the ultimate prize: the championship T-shirt.
“In this game, I saw as the participants started chirping at him a little bit, but [Reeves] managed that very well,” said Rylie Rogers, intramural supervisor. “He stayed calm. He was very respectful and was very considerate of all the participants and how he was calling the game, which I think influenced the ending of the game and allowed it to be a fair game.”
His fairness and calm demeanor come from a place of understanding and familiarity with the sport, the players and the team. Rogers pointed out that before the game starts, Reeves introduces himself to the players and builds a rapport with them, thereby instilling confidence in the calls he will make throughout the game.
Xander Reeves ’29 makes a call during an intramural softball game at the Penberthy Rec Sports Complex.
“You have to put yourself in their shoes,” Reeves said. “I understand, I’ve played sports, I know how it is. Especially in competitive leagues, they’re out there fighting for that T-shirt. So, you can see how other people might take it a little too seriously. I take it very seriously. I’ve had my fair share of yelling at refs, so I understand where they’re coming from, and I never really take it personally.”
This fall, Reeves is preparing to step into a field supervisor position. In this role, he will be responsible for making sure the courts and equipment are ready for every sport while continuing to officiate. Despite the new role, one thing remains unchanged: the connections and friendships he made through Rec Sports.
“We all hang out outside of work,” Reeves said. “It’s a great time with intramurals. It’s a lot of the same people and that’s really the point that gets me through it — just liking the people I work with.”
LILIANA LARA ’27: ENCOURAGING POSITIVITY THROUGH LIFEGUARDING
Keeping Rec Sports pools safe and open requires a dedicated team of lifeguards. For Liliana Lara ’27, lifeguarding is about more than keeping watch over the pool. It’s also about creating a positive environment for the people around her. With a strong swimming background and two years of previous lifeguarding experience, Lara found a natural fit with Rec Sports Aquatics.
“I met Liliana when I started in my position a little over a year ago, and she was so welcoming [and] so sweet,” said Kendrick Allmendinger, Aquatics coordinator. “Every time she comes into her shift, she’s always positive. She’s always willing to help out. She’s been amazing at picking up shifts over the summer whenever we need someone to come in and help out.”
Despite having prior experience, Rec Sports requires all applicants to recertify, as the interview process includes a physical swim test.
“I was really nervous about the interview, just because here in Rec Sports we have a 17-foot dive well, and part of my interview was to go retrieve the brick from the 17-foot pool, which I have never done before,” Lara said.
Eventually, she got the job and found her place within Rec Sports. Lifeguarding can be an unpredictable job. Some days are filled with helping patrons, performing rescues or cleaning, while others are spent on the stand, keeping watch over the pool. For Lara, those quieter moments are part of what makes the job so enjoyable.
Liliana Lara ’27 keeps watch over swimmers while serving as a lifeguard at the Student Rec Center.
While on stand, I am actively searching the water, and I like to keep a watch, so I just entertain myself, seeing what the patrons are doing,” Lara said. “While in the office, I like to communicate with the other lifeguards. We are always joking around, talking and having fun.”
During the fall and spring semesters, Rec Sports employs more than 130 lifeguards, but that number declines to just over 60 during the summer. Regardless of the season, all lifeguards participate in monthly in-service training.
“We have our in-service trainings once a month, and a good chunk of it involves the lifeguards practicing their skills, and it can be a very demanding thing,” Allmendinger said. “Lifeguarding isn’t just you take a certification course and that’s it. It’s something where you constantly have to keep up with your skills. Liliana always comes to in-service every month, and she always is there. And she works hard and she practices her skills.”
Carlos Garcia, director of Aquatics, brings in professionals from various fields during in-service training to help his student workers build soft skills. For Lara, one presentation stood out: a session on interviewing skills.
“The time we did have the presentation about interviewing skills, I did improve a little bit,” Lara said. “It just made me a little more confident. I would say I still have a long way to learn from it.”
As Lara enters her senior year, one quality continues to stand out to her supervisors: her positive attitude.
“You always want to work with someone who helps create a positive working environment,” Allmendinger said. “She’s always smiling and happy to help. Her positivity can be infectious.”
