It?s 10 p.m. on Tuesday night in the Weinstein Center for Recreation and Wellness, and the undefeated Sigma Phi Epsilon brothers, clad in bright red jerseys, are seconds away from beating a team of Heilman Dining Center staff members in intramural basketball.
Nearby, a group of Delta Gamma sorority members cluster against the gym wall waiting for their intramural game to start. On the next court over, the women?s field hockey team casually shoots at one goal, preparing for its match-up against the rival ? women?s soccer.
This is intramurals: A hodgepodge of faculty, staff, undergrad and law-student teams each competing to be the next champion.
Intramural basketball is one of seven team sports hosted by the University of Richmond?s intramural program, said Shelby Timberlake, program manager. There are 45 total basketball teams in the men and women?s brackets, he said, which makes basketball one of the most popular intramural sports.
?It?s unbelievable to me the level of excitement intramurals still bring,? he said. ?There have been some classic match-ups.?
Timberlake estimated there had been at least 200 spectators at a game between Kappa Alpha Theta and Kappa Kappa Gamma a few weeks ago.
Julia Bizer, a T.C. Williams School of Law student who assists Timberlake with the intramural program, said that part of the reason there had been so many people in attendance at the games was because rush week had just happened.
?Controlling the crowd and controlling the players can be a problem,? she said. ?But I haven?t had to stop anyone yet.?
Bizer recently created a YouTube channel, ?RichmondIMs,? for the intramural program. So far, she has uploaded two videos to the channel with highlights from the first two weeks of basketball play.
Bizer, who also teaches yoga at the Weinstein Center, said she had gotten the idea to create videos after she had made them to promote her yoga class.
She said the purpose of the videos was to serve as a communication tool for the intramural program, since there wasn?t a Facebook group or Twitter account.
?It?s one of those things,? Bizer said, ?if you miss it in SpiderBytes, or if you?re not in the gym looking at the schedule, it?s hard for people outside the gym to know what?s going on.?
Bizer said she thought the videos would also provide positive marketing for intramurals and encourage people to participate.
?[I want] people to see that it?s not a super-elite thing,? she said. ?Anyone can come out and play.?
Intramurals might be designed for amateurs, but Brandon Metheny, a first year student at the law school and intramural referee, said that a lot of people took intramurals seriously, especially basketball.
?A lot of people played in high school, and they still remember those glory days,? he said. ?So they?re still playing like they?re playing for the state championship.?
Metheny said he had thought the men?s teams were more competitive.
Bizer agreed saying, ?I think girls have more fun with it when they?re playing.?
Jen Rudolph, a senior who plays for DG?s team, said: ?I think the girls slap a little more. They?re a little more catty, but the guys are hardcore.?
Meghan Stocks, a junior on the varsity field hockey?s intramural team, said that intramurals could get a little sloppy.
?Our team has no sense of basketball,? she said. ?Some people don?t even know what a double dribble is.?
As a Division I athlete, Stocks said she enjoyed playing sports just for fun.
Rudolph said her favorite part about intramurals had been being able to spend time with her sorority sisters.
Whether the games are more fun or competitive, Metheny said that he had seen a lot of memorable contests throughout basketball season.
?I?ve had people curse at me, which is always memorable in a bad way,? Metheny said. ?I?ve also seen a couple buzzer beaters; I?ve seen some games go right down to the wire.?
But Metheny said what he enjoyed most about intramurals was that he had been able to meet so many people.
?If it weren?t for this, I probably wouldn?t meet many people outside law school,? he said. ?For me it?s kind of a therapy because I have to concentrate so much on the rules that for a few hours I get to shut law school out of my brain completely.?
Bizer said she thought intramurals had helped bridge the gap between law students and undergrads. Besides being a referee and videographer, Bizer also plays for the law school team.
?It?s about coming out and having fun with friends and learning and playing new sports,? she said. ?There are so many boundaries that get broken on an athletic field or court. No where else do you have people from Greek life, and people from varsity athletic programs or people who are just dorm mates coming out.?
Contact staff writer Avery Shackelford at avery.shackelford@richmond.edu
Source: http://thecollegianur.com/2012/02/06/intramurals-provides-chance-for-groups-to-come-together/25317/
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