VRSA 2026 - Mason Recreation

Prices

Dates	Student Price	General Price
Early Bird: 7/1 - 8/31	$90	$110
Regular: 9/1 - 9/30	$100	$120
Day Of: 10/1 - 10/2	$110	$130

Instructions

Check-In and Vendor Hall (9 a.m. to 12 p.m.)

Facility Tours - Sponsored by Sourcewell (10:15 a.m. to 12:05 p.m.)

Lunch - Sponsored by Life Fitness/Hammer Strength (12 to 12:55 p.m.)

Keynote Address by Tara Fitzpatrick-Navarro (1:10 to 2 p.m.)

Educational Session #1 (2:10 to 3 p.m.)

AB Gym A (Room 1303): Rachel Chen and Tayler Hutson: Changing the Game: The Power of Adaptive Sports: In this interactive session, participants will learn the benefits of participating in adaptive sports programs through firsthand accounts and sport skills demonstrations. The first portion of the presentation will include Mason Recreation's experience with providing adaptive sports. The second half will include sport skills demonstrations such as beep baseball and wheelchair tennis. Demonstrations will be led by professional(s) from our partners at JTCC and MindsEye. During the participation portion, session attendees will have the opportunity to try modified versions of these adaptive sports, showcasing some of the adaptive programming offered at George Mason.
AB Ideation Lounge (Room 1304): Ryan Jones: What's the Business Case? All recreation professionals come to work with big ideas and new initiatives they’d like to try, but sometimes the resources you need to execute these ideas are hard to secure. Often, the challenge is not the quality of the idea, but how to best position and communicate its merits to decision-makers. This session will break down what goes into a good business case and funding proposal with a practical framework that can be used to confidently make the ask at any level.
AB Victory Headquarters (Room 1202): Sheldon Tate: Reimagined Professional Development: What does long-term success look like for you in our industry? Is your career growth effort only determined by your superiors? How do you know that you are ready for the next step in your pursuit of career advancement? The intent of this session is to infuse attendees with the proper perspective to craft a career with intention. With storytelling, reflection moments, and sound doctrine of best practice, attendees will leave with strong comprehension of the 2 defining competencies of career growth: learning and growth. This interactive session is appropriate for any person looking to take ownership over their development process, regardless of experience or title.
AB Brave & Bold Room (Room 1203): Rachel Iverson: Beyond the Icebreaker: Using Play to Power Learning: Long training days often require staff to absorb large amounts of information while sitting, listening, and trying to stay engaged. Short, intentional experiential activities can be incorporated throughout training to create movement, encourage connection, shift focus or energy, and reinforce learning. In this session, I will identify 5 intended outcomes of an energizer-based activity: connection, frustration tolerance, attention regulation, growth mindset, reinforced learning, and cognitive flexibility. Participants will identify when in the scheme of a training day each outcome may be needed and common reasons why. They will also be introduced to 4-6 activities with volunteers to demonstrate the activity in action. Finally, I will highlight 1 key facilitation point in each activity that helps reinforce the outcome such as monitoring for laughter with others vs at others. Participants will then spend time at the end planning how they might utilize one of these activities in an upcoming training and discuss in small groups.

Educational Session #2 (3:10 to 4 p.m.)

AB Gym A (Room 1303): Sasha Griffith: Sequencing for Teams: In this session participants will hear of ways to build trust to form teams. Whether it be a staff retreat, a regularly scheduled meeting, or a full on teambuilding session. How do you help other form quick bonds so they can work together more effectively.
AB Brave & Bold Room (Room 1203): Daniel Chandler: IM Tough: Rethinking Sportsmanship: In this session, we will look at traditional ways that we have approached sportsmanship, handled ejection meetings and promoted sportsmanship in general. We will challenge those ways with new ideas and I will share what we have done at JMU to improve our overall sportsmanship ratings with our new format, as well as our new process to handle ejection meetings with more rehabilitative approach instead of punishment.
AB Victory Headquarters (Room 1202): Dr. Ben Keeton and Jenny Tolson: Delivering D1-level Care to Club and Rec Sports Athletes: This session will explore the development of the partnership between The Jackson Clinics and George Mason University and how this collaborative model was created to provide Division I-level comprehensive care to club and recreation athletes. Traditionally, club and recreation athletes have limited access to the multidisciplinary healthcare and performance resources commonly available to NCAA student-athletes. This partnership was designed to help bridge that gap by providing accessible, coordinated, and holistic services to support athlete health, wellness, and performance. The presentation will highlight how the partnership integrates athletic training, strength and conditioning, sports psychology, sports nutrition, and physical therapy services to address the diverse needs of athletes and patrons. By bringing these disciplines together, the program creates a comprehensive support system that promotes injury prevention, rehabilitation, performance development, mental well-being, and overall health. Attendees will learn about the development of the partnership, the collaborative approach used to deliver services, and the benefits of providing interdisciplinary care within a university recreation setting. The session will also highlight how this model can serve as a framework for other institutions seeking to expand access to comprehensive sports medicine and performance services for club and recreation athletes.
AB Ideation Lounge (Room 1304): Katherine Denti and Roland Lemke: Fresh Air, Big Impact: Outdoor Spaces That Redefine Collegiate Recreation: Collegiate recreation can have big impacts on student experience and wellness inside, outside and across campuses. This is especially true for institutions that call Virginia home given its outdoor-friendly climate. However, when colleges across the country invest in the renewal of their campus recreation facilities and spaces, they often don’t fully consider the outdoor options they could seize. This session will break down the latest ideas, trends and projects redefining how outdoor play can be part of an institution’s collegiate recreation approach. Real world case studies will reveal student preferences, successful solutions, and trends worth attention and action. Designers who work with colleges and universities across North America will share actionable insights that attendees can take back to their campuses.

Adaptive Sport Clinics (6 to 8 p.m.) - Check In begins at 5 p.m.

Optional Workout and Facility Access - Sponsored by EGym (6 to 9 a.m.)

Continental Breakfast - Sponsored by School Facility Services (9 to 10 a.m.)

Keynote Address by Reshina Warren (10:10 to 11 a.m.)

Reshina Warren is currently the Director of Digital Content for the NBA Champions - the New York Knicks. In her previous role as the Vice President of Marketing and Social for the WTA - Women’s Tennis Association, she spearheaded a global rebrand, repositioning the WTA at the intersection of sport, culture and innovation. She also redefined the social media strategy that increased engagement by 90% year-over-year.Prior to the WTA she was the Director of Social Media Content Strategy & Analytics at the United States Tennis Association, she managed a team of rockstars who created content for the USTA and US Open social media channels. During her tenure she strategized to create content that eclipsed over 2 Billion engagements across social media and her team was awarded the Hashtag Sports Social Team of the Year in 2023.

Prior to the USTA, she was the Social Media Manager for Walt Disney World Parks & Resorts, activating paid and organic social media. Throughout her time with Disney, Reshina was part of many viral moments and behind the scenes of the social media culture. When you think about Patrick Mahomes “going to Disney World”, know that Reshina was behind that post.

Before joining Disney, Reshina spent seven years honing her craft at NeuLion, a sports technology firm. As a major contributor, she worked closely with powerhouse athletic departments and conferences including the Pac 12, Duke University, North Carolina University, and Oklahoma University to increase revenue and improve their marketing and digital footprint. Before her stint with Neulion, Reshina had a vast variety of experience, ranging from living and working in the Concrete Jungle, to starting a WNBA team in Tulsa, OK.

Reshina attended the University of Texas at Dallas where she graduated with a degree in Accounting and also furthered her education at the University of Central Florida where she earned a double masters in the Devos Sport Business Management Program. At UTD and UCF she worked in Intramurals as a Referee and Supervisor.

Throughout her life, she has always leaned on her faith in God to guide her. She’s a sneakerhead, a foodie and loves being the best Auntie to her God kids.

Roundtables & Director's Meeting (11:10 a.m. to 12 p.m.)

Lunch & State Meeting - Sponsored by Canon Design (12 to 1 p.m.)

Hotel Accomodations

Parking

Wi-Fi Connection

VRSA State Workshop | October 1-2, 2026

Registration

Conference Schedule & Information

Thursday, October 1

Friday, October 2

Additional Information

Sponsorships