Students deserve the basketball court
Students deserve the basketball court
The Issue
UC Berkeley students deserve and need recreation center space. Taking away an entire gym just for the Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams is a disproportionate move. For most of the day, it has become wasted space; it’s constantly empty and the lights are off unless the team is there, which is a small part of the day. Now, an already overcrowded RSF has become a disorganized mess. In the upstairs basketball gym, where there used to be two courts specifically reserved for volleyball and two for basketball, the courts have been cut in half. Now, for our entire student body of 46,000, there is one volleyball court and one basketball court.
The overcrowding has made the gym difficult and dangerous to use. There are basketballs and volleyballs flying everywhere and people spilling out of the gym; one loose ball or wrong step could result in a turned ankle. The downstairs courts are available, but they are far worse than the upstairs courts and are now mostly reserved for intramurals, making it difficult for students who simply want to play basketball or volleyball.
As a senior, it hurts me that it has come to this. Over my last three years at Cal, some of my best memories have come from the RSF basketball gym. I've spent countless hours here competing, laughing, and building friendships, some of which are going to be lifelong friends. Friends I made playing basketball at the RSF!
With this move, future generations of recreation basketball players won't be able to experience the same joy that I have felt here. I understand that our athletic teams need space to practice, but taking away student space is not the way to do it. We need space to exert ourselves while we are young and healthy, and we deserve the opportunity to be part of a great community, something that becomes much harder to find after college.
By signing this petition you are standing up for student recreation and making your voice heard. We are asking UC Berkeley to reconsider this decision and find a solution that provides Cal Basketball with space it needs without taking away recreation space for students.
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The Issue
UC Berkeley students deserve and need recreation center space. Taking away an entire gym just for the Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams is a disproportionate move. For most of the day, it has become wasted space; it’s constantly empty and the lights are off unless the team is there, which is a small part of the day. Now, an already overcrowded RSF has become a disorganized mess. In the upstairs basketball gym, where there used to be two courts specifically reserved for volleyball and two for basketball, the courts have been cut in half. Now, for our entire student body of 46,000, there is one volleyball court and one basketball court.
The overcrowding has made the gym difficult and dangerous to use. There are basketballs and volleyballs flying everywhere and people spilling out of the gym; one loose ball or wrong step could result in a turned ankle. The downstairs courts are available, but they are far worse than the upstairs courts and are now mostly reserved for intramurals, making it difficult for students who simply want to play basketball or volleyball.
As a senior, it hurts me that it has come to this. Over my last three years at Cal, some of my best memories have come from the RSF basketball gym. I've spent countless hours here competing, laughing, and building friendships, some of which are going to be lifelong friends. Friends I made playing basketball at the RSF!
With this move, future generations of recreation basketball players won't be able to experience the same joy that I have felt here. I understand that our athletic teams need space to practice, but taking away student space is not the way to do it. We need space to exert ourselves while we are young and healthy, and we deserve the opportunity to be part of a great community, something that becomes much harder to find after college.
By signing this petition you are standing up for student recreation and making your voice heard. We are asking UC Berkeley to reconsider this decision and find a solution that provides Cal Basketball with space it needs without taking away recreation space for students.
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Petition created on September 24, 2026