Playing sports is fun, but not everyone dreams of playing at the college level. Intramurals offers a chance for students to continue playing sports after high school who do not want to continue playing competitively and it gives student the opportunity to try new sports.
This year, the BC intramural program has made a lot of changes. These include a new director and three new sports. Joining the list of available intramural sports are golf, swimming and bowling. The addition of these three sports came when Tom Joerger, the new intramural director, sent out an e-mail asking students what sports they would be interested in playing.
Golf, swimming and bowling came to be the most requested. These three sports offer more individualized competition for students who are looking for something other than a team or contact sport.
“Adding these new sports has opened the door for possibilities that students can get involved in, that they usually wouldn’t,” Joerger said.
Golf has received interest from students, and will start in the spring when more students will have the opportunity to travel to Bellevue when they will have a substantial amount of daylight to play. Though there will be a fee to participate in these sports, Joerger is working on minimizing the cost.
Another change to the intramural program this year is that the staff members are now keeping track of statistics for each player so that they will be able to promote the success of teams and players specifically. Every game, the intramurals staff chooses a player of the game and a player of the week. The staff will hang posters around campus that feature these individuals.
Intramurals is an opportunity for students not interested in playing on college athletics to either continue playing their favorite sports or to try new sports without the pressure of winning and losing. The goal of intramurals is to increase the amount of fun that players are having on the field.
“I like playing intramurals because they have fun sports,” said intramural athlete Gus Hoch, who participates in soccer, Ultimate Frisbee, flag football and basketball. “It is a good opportunity to hang out with friends and we don’t have to be serious about the game. It is more about having fun, than about winning and losing, we are not driven just to win.”
Under Joerger are five supervisors: Jimmy Bender, Grace Chilton, Greg Johnson, Drew Rivers and Keith Starr. They are in charge of the sports on specific days, as well as those scorekeeping and refereeing. If they want they can also referee games.
“Intramurals have been running smoothly this semester; there have been no big arguments as a result of competition yet. Competition makes the games fun and enjoyable, and makes for a better atmosphere,” Johnson said.
Intramurals is a way to get involved in team and individual sports because of the improvements to the program this semester. It is also a way for people with little experience to practice their skills with no pressure. Dominic
Ishmael, who participates in soccer, Ultimate Frisbee, football and indoor and sand volleyball said, “Intramurals allows me to play the sports I love without the competitive nature.”
