Royal Purple

Issue date: 5/13/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Joy Kowald Co-Rec B soccer league champion, Short Bus All-Stars, celebrate their championship win last Monday at the intramural fields. They each earned the highly sought at intramural championship t-shirts. The spring season faced many rain outs.

As the semester draws to a close, so too does the intramural sports season, as many of the spring semester's campus champions were crowned last week.

Every year, hundreds of students compete in the intramural sports program; some just for fun, some to get some much-needed exercise and some for the all-consuming desire for that coveted long-sleeved t-shirt.

"I have to say, just playing is fun, but this t-shirt is awesome," said sophomore Lyndsey Eckstein, member of a co-rec sand volleyball champion team.

The season did not go off without a hitch, however, when the outdoor sports began in late March and early April. Heavy rains caused widespread cancellations of games, especially in softball and soccer.

Hardest hit were leagues scheduled for Sunday; the rains came down each Sunday in April, forcing Assistant Director of Intramural and Club Sports James Friel to cancel all scheduled games for those leagues.

Because of the cancellations, many team captains scheduled to play Sundays arrived at the playoff meeting upset and demanded refunds after never having set foot on the field.

Friel offered those teams a choice; they could take a partial refund and play in a separate playoff for Sunday league, or they could opt out of the playoffs and receive a full refund.

"This is something we've never had to do before," Friel said of the refunds at the softball captain's meeting. "[Director of Recreation Sports Gary Harms] told me he's never had anything like this happen in the 19 years he's been here."

Despite the weather causing some problems, intramural sports is still a great way for students to get active, meet people, have fun and, just maybe, score that t-shirt.

The program offers 17 different sports ranging from conventional ones, like basketball and volleyball to more obscure games like pickleball, badminton and darts.

"It's a great chance to have competition that you wouldn't otherwise get without being on a varsity or club team," said senior Derek Walters, who competes in five different intramural sports. "Whether you win or lose, it's always a lot of fun."

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