By Piper Rutherford | Staff Writer
This semester, around 3,000 Baylor students will play intramural sports, including basketball, sand volleyball, tennis, ping pong and the newest addition, golf.
Reid Jackson, senior coordinator of competitive sports with Campus Recreation, said students interested in participating in intramurals can download the Fusion Play app and purchase a $20 semester pass.
“We offer both competitive and recreational leagues for each sport and have enough spots to fill up about 200 to 250 teams for each sport,” Jackson said. “As for how long each sport’s season lasts, there is a three-week regular season, followed by a three-week playoff period.”
For students concerned about whether an intramural sports team can fit into their schedule this semester, Jackson said they can select which times and days of the week they play.
“Students only play one game a week, so if they are free on Monday nights, then they could sign up for the 8 p.m. time slot,” Jackson said. “There are also no organized practices.”
Regarding the energy surrounding spring intramurals in particular, Jackson said basketball season coincides with the beginning of NBA conference play and March Madness, while softball season takes place near the start of the MLB season. He said this adds to students’ excitement about potentially winning their own championship title.
“I think so many students are heavily invested because of the points race, where Greek Life teams, residence hall teams and open teams all compete against one another for the championship at the end of the semester,” Jackson said. “This makes each sport count.”
Jackson said another appealing aspect of intramurals is the community they offer, which is why intramurals have such a high retention rate year after year.
“Students who play intramurals keep coming back because of the relationships they form with their teams and teammates,” Jackson said. “This builds not only tighter bonds but also tighter relationships and gives students something to look forward to at school — as well as a chance to meet new people their age from all kinds of different backgrounds.”
Little Rock, Ark., senior and intramural referee Chris Smith is one student who has witnessed this feeling firsthand. He said he loves the environment, which started as a work-study job his freshman year and has quickly become a family.
“The other referees who I work with and now supervise have given me this community where I can not only have fun officiating intramural games with, but also learn workplace skills in a real-life setting with,” Smith said.
As for his favorite memories, Smith said he remembers officiating a basketball game between Alpha Tau Omega and Kappa Sigma his sophomore year.
“Kappa Sigma had lost that game, but the captain of the team told me that was the best officiating game they had ever had,” Smith said. “That is a rare occurrence —especially coming from a losing team — and attests to the good atmosphere intramurals has created.”
