Rec center uses ’90s TV show as model for competition

Matt Orszag

The Kent State Recreation and Wellness Center will host Legends of the Hidden Rec Center Friday at 9 p.m.

The event is based off of the popular ’90s TV show, “Legends of the Hidden Temple,” where teams performed mental and physical challenges to win prizes. It is free for all Kent State students with a valid Kent State ID and offers a chance to relive some of the ’90s through challenges and trivia. The first 300 students have a choice to receive a free Blue Barracuda, Silver Snake, Purple Parrot, Orange Iguana, Red Jaguar or Green Monkey t-shirt.

Abby Millsaps, the marketing coordinator for the department of Recreational Services, said the competition offers students the chance to compete or just enjoy the evening.

The Rec Center will have a 1990s lounge where students, who are not participating in the competition, can play Nintendo 64 or board games and win prizes, such as gift cards and ‘90s toys.

The competition itself will consist of four physical challenges, a “Steps of Knowledge” challenge and a final temple race for the six finalists, Millsaps said.

One of the physical events is the totally tubular challenge, which requires a bathing suit, or a change of clothes that will be provided for students. The second challenge is an archery competition. The third challenge is called “Bucket head,” which is a competition of shooting ping-pong balls into buckets on the head of another person. The fourth challenge is called “Hoop, there it is,” where students will be throwing balls through hoops for prizes.

Millsaps said she could not elaborate more on the challenges because she does not want students to practice.

After the physical challenges, the teams with the highest scores will move onto the “Steps of Knowledge” and be able to show off their 1990s trivia knowledge.

The six finalists from the “Steps of Knowledge” will win an iPod nano and will compete in a temple race for the grand prize, an iPad mini.

“The ability to put on an event this big and this complex is a reason we were interested in putting this on,” Millsaps said. “Everyone is nostalgic for some of these late ‘90s shows, so I think that will be a big draw for people. Even if someone only wants to do the physical challenges or just come hang out, there is something for everybody.”

Amy Kaufman, graphic designer of the student marketing team, said it has been great planning the event.

“I’m a ‘90s child,” Kaufman said. “To get to work with this stuff has really been fun and see everything come to life. It’s going to be really fun seeing everyone come in and get just as excited as we were when working on it.”

Contact Matt Orszag at [email protected].