A skiing and snowboarding course at Perfect North Slopes in Lawrenceburg, Ind. and a tennis course at the Joyce Yeager Tennis Complex on campus are available for Northern Kentucky University students.

For skiing, students can enroll in a one credit hour physical education elective. The class requires several extra fees in addition to tuition. Students must purchase Perfect North Slopes admission, eight weeks of lessons, snowboard/ski rental and a lift pass totaling around $276. However, there are no required textbooks as well as no classroom time.

The students are still required to turn in a two to three page paper reflecting on what they learned each week and a final exam is given.

Each week students participate in an hour-long lesson of either skiing or snowboarding with two remaining hours of free time. They also offer tubing. Students can choose beginning, intermediate or advanced lessons.

Jeremy Chipman instructs the class and said there have not been any major injuries. Students have to sign insurance forms and waiver forms in the beginning for NKU.
The park is currently closed and opens mid-December and closes in early March. For more information about Perfect North Slopes visit www.perfectnorth.com.

If the cold slopes are not your forte, you may wish to try something warmer. Beginning tennis offers students the opportunity to learn the sport of tennis on NKU’s courts.
“The first two days, we sit down, get to know each other,” tennis instructor Paul Splitt said. “I do a little Power Point so they get a visual of it before they get out on the court.”

From then on, students meet exclusively on the tennis courts.

Students are required to provide their own tennis racket and a can of tennis balls. Textbooks are not required.

“You can play this sport for the rest of your life,” Splitt said. “If you invest $50 in your racket, you’re going to have it for the next 20 years.”
Splitt enjoys seeing his students develop quickly throughout the course. “Most of the kids in the class have never even held a tennis racket before,” Splitt said. “By week four, they’re playing matches and know how to score.”

Students are required to take a written and physical exam at the end of the course. The ‘physical skills’ exam takes place on the court and covers forehands, backhands, volleys at the net, overheads and serving.

“I don’t care if they’re good at the shot, I care that they know how to do it,” Splitt said.
Even players with experience can still learn from the course. NKU alumni Jesse Foreman played high school tennis and was captain of the team his senior year.
“When I would come up to serve, my elbow wouldn’t be as high as possible,” Foreman said. “My serve increased tremendously in the [16] weeks, along with my backhand. It kind of helped me get through my weakest points.”

Students may enroll in PHE 120 for a one credit hour class. The class meets twice a week during the first eight weeks of the Fall semester and the second eight weeks of the Spring semester. The beginning tennis course holds up to 24 students each year.