Jumping four feet into the air to serve a volleyball and bouncing off the wall to make a save may sound a little unreal, but it can happen this weekend at the SIUC Recreation Center.

The Rec Center, in an effort to offer late-night alternatives to drinking, is putting on a series of events and contests in collaboration with Airball, Inc., a North Carolina-based company that is bringing these events to SIUC.

This is one of the programs the University is putting on for the students to offer an alternative to the bars, Susan Halden, programming assistant for Intramural Programs, said. Airball, Inc. has done this type of program at Aurora University, and it went over really well. They are going to be giving away T-shirts, and it looks to be a lot of fun.

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Halden said one of the events will be an air volleyball game, where the sport is played inside a type of huge air dome.

The air volleyball tournament is the only event people have to register for, she said. We are only signing up 16 teams for elimination play, so the deadline to register for that is Jan. 31. Any other walk-in players will play only if there is time.

Halden said some of the other events include Boxie Bouncer,’ which is boxing with giant padded gloves, Air Twister,’ which is like the traditional Twister game except it will be played with 10 people on an air mattress, and the Cosmic Orbiter.’

The Orbiter is one of those giant gyroscope machines where a person is strapped in and they are able to move it different directions with their body, Halden said. There is going to be a contest on how many 360-degree turns a person can do, and the record is 22 revolutions in 30 seconds.

Halden said there will also be a footbag demonstration from the SIUC footbag club, a computerized golf simulator and a king/queen of the mountain game, which is a jousting competition on a platform.

Mindi Rosenbaum, field worker for intramural programs, said it is something different for the students to do on the weekend.

This is an active alternative to the Saturday night activities the students may be used to, Rosenbaum said. It offers a little variety to the students for the weekend, and it is also a different way to come and have fun at the Rec Center instead of just working out. If it goes over well, we hope this will become an annual event.

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The program takes place from 8 p.m. to midnight Saturday at the Rec Center. The deadline to sign up for air volleyball is Wednesday at the Rec Center.

The entire event is free, and the funny saying people say about these events is that there is absolutely no skill or athletic ability needed, Halden said. This is just going to be a lot of fun, and we hope the students come and take advantage of the opportunity.

To register for air volleyball or for more information, call 453-1263.