Austin Recreation Center

Get tennis courts!
This is a pretty decent place. The skate park next door keeps kids busy. You’re close to The Tavern to get beers or food. And the Shoal Creek trail pops out right here so if you ride your bike down Lamar, its very easy to get to.

I’m reviewing the ARC for one reason, and one reason alone: KICKBALL
My company has played the past two seasons with ARC’s kickball league, and we are looking forward to kick some balls for many years to come! (pun intended)
Everybody in the company enjoys playing the «sport» because it’s competitive, but really it’s not competitive at all because it’s KICKBALL! Usually, games are played over at Krieg Fields, which normally hosts softball season, so the fields are groomed extremely well.
The refs that the ARC hires are also super friendly and pretty witty as well. One of the ref was explaining the rules of the game to us during our first match and kept mentioning that alcohol was not allowed on the premises. «That being said…» he proclaimed, «since I am a blind ref, and all refs are technically blind, let the good times roll!»
All in all, it’s a very social sport, and ARC does a great job of organizing it together. On top of that, all the other teams in the league are amicable and value sportsmanship and fun over competition. ARC also puts together teams for solo kickballers, which is great if you can’t find enough people for a team.
Wonderful experience, and a great changeup from your typical work-​out routine. You’ll definitely get a «kick» out of it! (yes, I know I’m lame)

New to Austin and all on your own? Try joining a city league amateur sports club
. There are two leagues in the city: this one and the Austin Sports and Social Club. ASS offers ten different sports but seems to fill up faster than I can sign up. On the other hand, city league offers three sports, volleyball, kickball and basketball and the director is more accommodating, making joining easier. Online, the director helped me put together a volleyball team with other women who wanted to play but didn’t know enough ballers to get it together. We met each other last night at the rec center for practice and I think the team will work out well.

So my mom dragged me here once to go to classes at the Austin Ballroom Dancers. For 7 bucks you get a free half hour of instruction and then they dance well into the night. No partner necessary, all kinds of ballroom dance, held in a large gymnasium.
Why I thought this was awesome. Most of the people were 40’s plus and still in shape, shaking it and enjoying the experience of partner dancing. Some were pretty amazing. There were one or two young’uns, but I would recommend the under 35 crowd go elsewhere.
Got a mom or a grandma you want to loosen up? Take them to a class here. Low pressure, very supportive environment for a decent price. Good parking too.