Matthew Tavarez ’22
Mercersburg is home to many clubs that range from art-related and academic to physical activity clubs. Most interestingly, some of these clubs offer unusual and even unknown activities: Rucking, Rock Climbing, and Spikeball are clubs available to students at Mercersburg right now.
Rucking is a new way to take a hike, best described by Ruk Club founder Charli McInturff ’23, “Rucking: verb – walking with a weighted rucksack (aka backpack). It implies action, energy, and purpose.” Rucking serves many different purposes like an outlet for stress, a way to interact with friends, or a chance to burn some calories. “Rucking is all about positivity. Not only providing fitness but also a healthy mind. Motivation and peer support is the most important aspect of rucking. Just imagine you and your friends at one of our off-campus events cheering each other or listening in to our Motivational talks with guest speakers,” McInturff explained.
Getting involved or asking questions are great ways to learn more about rucking. McInturff advised, “To start rucking for the first time, reach out to one of the leaders or Sarah Firestone, ask questions, and do research. Most importantly, try it out! It might seem straining and very different, but give it a shot, and you might like it.”
Another club featuring rigorous, physical activity is rock climbing. Rock climbing, the club, is a lighter version of the PGA offered so students can see how they like it. Grace Carter ’23, one of the student club leaders said, “We hope to get great turnouts and get people to climb who have never climbed before. Our club is about trying new things and putting yourself in uncomfortable situations to become better climbers. Most importantly, our club hopes people have fun and leave happy that they decided to come!”
Rock climbing is a challenging and thrilling way to spend a Sunday afternoon with friends. To know more about the club, contact Carter or Pablo Garza ’22, the club’s leaders.
Spikeball is another sport that students may have never heard about. The child of volleyball and four square, spikeball is one of the best two-on-two sports games today. Club leader Kenneth Yonke ’22 said, “We hope that people come to our club ready to engage in sportsmanlike activities and be kind to each other and be excited and willing to learn and get better at the sport while having fun.”
Yonke is excited to get going with new members, as he would like to see younger faces to “keep the legacy and culture of this sport alive.” “Interested students can contact Pablo or me, and we would love to go out and teach them how the game is played and get them to a level where they will be ready to play with anyone,” he said.
There are plenty of clubs to join that’ll satisfy any need for fun physical activities and this is just a small list of three. Regardless of how students choose to spend their time, they should know that these clubs await their participation with open arms.