Community over competition

Nearly 6,000 students played intramurals at Queen’s last year

Many students looking to play intramurals last year ended up on waitlists
Image supplied by: Journal file photo
Many students looking to play intramurals last year ended up on waitlists

For intramural athletes, forging strong bonds with teammates is often more important than winning.

Nick Roy, ConEd ’14, has played several intramural sports over the last two years, playing on mostly faculty-specific teams.

“Being in ConEd, we take a lot of pride in having such strong faculty teams overall,” he said.

For him, the highlight of intramurals is the connections he’s made with teammates.

Currently, intramural sports are offered at Queen’s in basketball, curling, dodgeball, ice hockey, indoor soccer, innertube waterpolo, outdoor soccer, touch football, ultimate frisbee and volleyball.

Almost 6,000 Queen’s students participated in at least one intramural sport during the last academic year. Although Roy had a positive experience with intramurals overall, he said he found the structure of the innertube waterpolo matches last year, to be frustrating due to the different levels of skills participants had.

“I still have not won a single game for two years, which is sad,” he said.

His team voiced their concerns with Queen’s Athletics. Starting this year, the innertube waterpolo teams will be tiered, along with volleyball, ice hockey, men’s basketball and men’s soccer.

Student activity fees provide the majority of the funding for intramurals and therefore students generally don’t pay extra to participate. The sports that do require extra fees are hockey and curling, due to the use of outside facilities.

While Athletics and Recreation oversees the program, student involvement is an important aspect of its operations, with both paid operational and referee opportunities available.

Those interested in playing on an intramural team should register early because leagues fill up quickly.

“Many students last year ended up on waitlists,” Duane Parliament, the intramural coordinator said.

Intramural sports at Queen’s are designed to balance competition with community, Parliament said. “It’s about spirit. It’s not all about winning.”

Tags

Athletics, Intramurals, Sports

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