The records of the Department of Athletics and Recreation fonds are representative of the athletics side of the Department of Athletics and Recreation. While athletics and recreation fall under the same department, in practice, they operate independently of one another. Their textual records are also physically held at separate locations. Surviving records in the Department of Athletics and Recreation fonds are broadly representative of the achievements of UBC athletes and teams. Far less extensive, are the types of administrative documents produced or accumulated in the course of the day-to-day business of the department. Examples of records present in the fonds include programs, historical research, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, team rosters, scoresheets, profile write-ups, yearbooks, media guides, correspondence, agendas, training schedules, coaching handbooks, travel itineraries, and ephemera.
The Department of Athletics and Recreation fonds is arranged in the following series; Athletics photographs, Athletics History, Baseball, Basketball, Athletic Events (including Big Block, Hall of Fame, and Millennium Breakfast), Cross Country Track and Field, Field Hockey, Football, Golf, Ice Hockey, Media & Promotions, Assorted Sports, Other Sports (which includes Skiing, Sailing, Tennis, Gymnastics, Rowing and Wrestling), Rugby, Soccer, Swimming and Volleyball.

The records reflected in the Football Series include Game Programs 1948-1961, historical research notes on football at UBC, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and a football roster from 1972. As with other series, football programs and statistics can be found in the Media and Promotions Series.

This series consists of research compiled by Fred Hume on the history of athletics at UBC. Included is a chronological outline of the history of many of the university’s sports teams and the development of sporting facilities at the university. Materials also contain research on coaches and profile write-ups on sports people for the UBC Sports Hall of Fame. Football programs can be found in this series 1952-2019.

The Basketball Series consists of media guides, statistics, research materials, and yearbooks. Also included is a scrapbook for the 1991-92 season and newspaper clippings. The Media and Promotions Series contains basketball programs and other publications on UBC basketball statistics

The Golf Series is one fo the more significant in the Department of Athletics and Recreation fonds. Included in this series are correspondence, newspaper clippings, and financial statements. In addition, player training schedules, team rosters, scorecards, and tournament programs make up many of the records. Also included are agendas, travel itineraries, and player personality profiles.

The photographs in this fonds contain headshots of individual UBC athletes, coaches, managers, and administrators. Also included are team photographs, action shots, mascots and cheer squads. In addition, there are images of the Bobby Gaul Memorial Trophy presentations, Big Block and UBC Hall of Fame events. Unidentified images have been retained; specifically, unknown women athletes and teams were retained as women’s sports are underrepresented. Predominant sports represented in the photos include Thunderbirds football, ice hockey, volleyball, basketball, field hockey, soccer, swimming and rowing. There are photos of UBC athletes and teams in fencing, rugby, wrestling, gymnastics, tennis, square dancing, curling, skiing, sailing and cross country track and field.

The records in the Field Hockey Series are comprised primarily of research materials on the history of field hockey at UBC. Other documents in this series include roster lists, newspaper clippings, bulletins, and committee responsibilities. In addition, UBC Field Hockey programs and statistics can be found in the Media and Promotions Series.

The Ice Hockey Series consists of team rosters, programs, scoresheets, and newspaper clippings. Also found in the series are scrapbooks made up of news clippings from the 1940s and 1950s and a history of UBC ice hockey by Bus Moore. Similar to the other series listed in the fonds, further ice hockey programs and statistics can be found in the Media and Promotions Series.

These files contain records of multiple UBC sports teams. Please see the file list for sports covered in this series. Items include newspaper clippings, The Point [campus sports newspaper], media guides, and other miscellaneous items.

Sports found in this series include skiing, gymnastics, wrestling, rowing, sailing, and tennis. Records in this series are made up of correspondence, newspaper clippings, research materials, programs, and results.

Newspaper clippings, team list for 1987-88, score sheets, and team plays make up the central extent of the records in the Volleyball Series. Further programs and statistics on volleyball at UBC can be found in the Media and Promotions Series.

This small series includes season statistics from 2001, memorandums, and a post-season roster from 2005. In addition, please see the Media and Promotions Series for baseball programs and other publications on UBC baseball statistics.

This series consists of agendas, memorandums, and correspondence mainly on the Millennium Breakfast in the 2000s. Also present are records relating to the Big Block Awards Banquet and UBC Hall of Fame, including programs, newspaper clippings, and other miscellaneous items.

Newspaper clippings make up most of the Cross Country Track and Field Series records. Other documents include a team roster from 2004. Also, please see the Media and Promotions series for programs on track and field at UBC.

The Media and Promotions Series makes up the most extensive portion of the Department of Athletics and Recreation fonds, and sporting publications make up the majority of those records. Included are programs, media guides, championship statistics, fact books, and yearbooks related to the more dominant sports at UBC. News releases can be found in this series, but the most common records are newspaper clippings and sporting publications. Editions of the Alumni magazine Blue & Gold can be found along with miscellaneous items on the UBC Hall of Fame, BC Hall of Fame, and the Big Brock Club.

Records found in this series include newspaper clippings, hand-drawn rugby plans, rugby crests [textiles], press guides, ruby programs, team rosters from 1970-74, and other rugby publications.

The records in the Soccer Series consist of game sheets for men’s and women’s soccer games, predominantly for 2013-2014. Also found are newspaper clippings, media guides, and soccer programs. Further newspaper clippings and soccer programs can be found in the Media and Promotions Series.

The Swimming Series consists of newspaper clippings, research materials, ephemera, swimming results, and meeting minutes from the 2002 swim championships. More information on swimming at UBC can be found in swimming programs, results, and newspaper clippings in the Media and Promotions Series.