HERALD EDITORIAL: Intramural Sports offers fun, competitive opportunities

For students, athletics usually comes down to two choices after high school.
For a select few, they play college sports. This means an increase in practice time, more rigid scheduling and a complete focus on that one sport.

For a majority of students, sports after high school usually consists of getting a few people together for an impromptu game of ultimate Frisbee or basketball, once every few weeks. It can be frustrating, going from the routine of playing on the varsity football or volleyball team to suddenly not having that to look forward to.

However, for those students not involved in varsity sports at the college level, the office of intramural athletics is allowing them to remain in the game.

The IM sports department offers a wide variety of sports for Western Michigan University, such as the standards like basketball and flag football, but it also offers not so well known sports like inner tube water polo and dodgeball.

Additionally, IM sports are not restricted to just students, but anyone who has an affiliation with WMU, such as staff and alumni. A recent addition was the ability to pay with credit cards, which is a major benefit to those students who do not like carrying cash.

Andy Arnold, assistant director in charge of the Intramural Sports and Recreation Program, said IM sports serves between 3,000 and 3,500 individual participants every year. The program also employs over 100 students, ranging from the graduate assistants to game officials.

Ed Beven, a graduate assistant for the IM program, said one of the toughest things about coordinating the events is getting everyone on the same schedule. If a league doesn’t have enough teams to compete, Beven said the department has to call all the teams and see if they can change nights.

It can be tough, but most of the time, IM sports does a good job making sure that every team that wants to play has that opportunity.

One of the other big problems that IM sports faces is the level of competition. There are some people who may just want to run around for a while, but there are others who cannot help but think their game is the NBA Finals.

“[A few years ago] we tried to have a competitive and recreational league, but everyone signed up for the competitive,” Arnold said.

Beven said they try and combat hyper-competitiveness by meeting with the teams prior to the start of the season.

“We meet with all the teams before the league starts,” Beven said. “Our officials are not professionals, but sometimes it goes in one ear and out the other.”

IM sports has also instituted a sportsmanship rating system. The referees rate the teams based on a one to four scale. If a team gets a rating of two or lower by the officials, the IM sports department sets up a meeting with that team to discuss their conduct.

Arnold said that it has been helpful so far this year and there have been very few incidents where they had to sit down with a team.

While the IM sports department has the responsibility to sit down with teams if behavior becomes a problem, students should also take a second to think before they scream their heads off at a referee.
IM sports was designed to give the students a chance to compete in organized sports.  Yelling at officials only ruins it. Also, few students realize how tough it can be to referee a game.

“Officiating is hard work, without the officials, we wouldn’t have our leagues,” Beven said.

Intramural Sports has done a great job providing an atmosphere where the WMU community can come, get some exercise and participate in some competition.
Students should look to take advantage of the services they offer, but make sure to come with an attitude that allows it to be enjoyable for everyone.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=3840

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Feb 10 2009. Filed under Editorial, Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com