Why It's Time To Participate In Intramural Sports

By Nayra Mendoza on February 23, 2016

Intramural sports help you meet people, make lasting friendships, exercise, and win champ shirts. What more could you ask for?

intramural sports

Image via (Stcloudstate.edu)

Meeting people in college is about finding similar interests and sharing your passions with other creative and open minds. The bond you form with your intramural sports team comes from communicating with others to carry the ball or complete a race. It’s the communication and teamwork of intramural sports that has helped strangers become close friends and friends become closer than before.

Sign up on IMLeagues.

IMLeagues has over 200 schools registered and schedules games.

There are popular sports such as volleyball, flag football, and basketball. Then you have other options to tap into a hidden talent with sports like table tennis, water polo, and chess. Whatever your cup of tea, IMLeagues can help you join a team of students that are just as into your sport as you are.

The best thing about IMLeagues? It’s FREE. All you do is sign up with your school information and you’re on your way to meeting awesome people you probably wouldn’t have met before and to establishing healthy rituals.

Start or join a team.

intramural sports

Image via (Aurora.edu)

Get your friends together and form a team. You can come up with a creative team name such as an inside joke or topic you’d mentioned together. It’s the easiest way to make time to see your friends and work out together.

As a freshman, your dorm hall should probably have a team that you can sign up for. It takes the whole “Oh man, I have to find willing people to form a team” component right out of your agenda! Just make sure people around your hall know about the sign-up list. You’d be surprised how many people are bummed to find out they heard about the dorm hall forming an intramural softball team after the sign-up deadline.

If you’ve already joined other campus clubs like the Spanish club or Leaders of America, take the time to discuss starting a club team at a meeting. You probably have someone in your club with a mean spike or who played sports in high school. Intramural sports are a great form of team bonding outside of your club’s focus and purpose.

Win or make cool shirts.

intramural sports

Image via (Pinterest.com)

Some schools have intramural sports championships, and playoffs usually start a week or two after signing up. If your team wins the championship, your recreational activities management team will present you with sweet “Intramural Dodgeball Champions” shirts. Show off your school spirit and participation throughout the year; you could even pass on the shirt to your kids if they attend your alma mater.

Design and order your shirts with a company like Customink.com or find a local custom shirt making store.

“The idea of helping people create something online and then receive it as a physical product they could touch and wear fit the bill” for the three founders that launched Customink.com. The company works hard to make a customer’s designed t-shirt a reality and deliver it in a timely fashion.

Their idea of customer satisfaction is very much an essential part of the company since they “decided to stream all customer feedback, completely uncensored and unedited, on [their] homepage for everyone to see.” New customers can read what others have said about their orders and decide if they want to use their service.

Show up and have fun!

The hardest part of intramural sports might just be showing up. It’s hard to balance schoolwork and fitness, but joining a team will help you build social skills and manage time wisely.

intramural sports

Image via (IMLeagues.com)

Make sure you know at what time your team is playing and where to go. Share your phone number with the rest of the team and create a group message. Everyone will be on board about a forfeited game, if you’re down a player, or how to dress if you want to stand out and create a weekly theme. IMLeagues makes it easy to check calendars and dates. If receiving multiple texts at once is annoying and pointless to you, download IMLeagues’ mobile app, Rec*It, to keep up with your team’s schedule and results.

Don’t flake on your team when playoffs have just started and they need one more person to play. Of course, you shouldn’t neglect your schoolwork either. Time management will be an important skill to develop in college because you will learn to prioritize, split work, and complete tasks. You’ll know you have a game at 8 p.m. so your work should be done or, at least, started by then.

If you need any help or have questions and concerns, visit IMLeagues.com and provide some useful feedback and voice your issues to their customer service. Something I’ve never seen done before is founders sharing their contact information freely on their website. Brothers and founders of IMLeagues, Greg and Doug Myers, have their personal phone numbers and email addresses on the contact page. It adds transparency and a sense of connection between the creator and user.

Enjoy playing your favorite sport with new friends, or try a new thing and meet people! Either way, you’ll have the best time playing intramural sports.

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