Intramural program registration opened at the ARC on Sept. 7.
Students have spent the last week forming teams, getting familiar with various sports rules, and praying to get off the waitlist. Although registration has been open for a week, there are still opportunities for students to get involved.
There’s a place for anyone, whether they have a formal team or not. Students wanting to get involved without a formal group can register as a free agent. As a free agent, you can form a team with other free agents, message an existing team you want to join, or join any team that has their preferences set to accept free agents.
The Queen’s intramurals program provides opportunities for all students to get involved in organized sport, regardless of their skill—and it’s free.
“That form of student community is one of the best things about it and just getting everyone physically active too is definitely a good thing,” Maddie Love, Athletics and Recreation (A&R) coordinator of leagues and tournaments, said in an interview with The Journal.
This year’s sports offerings include ultimate Frisbee, Pickleball, soccer, flag-football, dodgeball, and Spikeball, just to name a few.
Each sport then has various divisions with three levels: fun, recreation, and competitive.
The fun level is designed for people new to the sport who are looking to try it out without the pressures of heavy competition. The recreation league is for players who know the sport and have played it before but are less concerned with the score or outcome of games. The competitive section is for students who have experience playing in an organized setting.
There are also different leagues depending on the demographic of your team.
The first option is the open league, where anyone can play, regardless of gender. However, since open leagues don’t have rules about how many players of each gender have to be on the field, these teams are usually comprised of mostly men.
The next option is the mixed league. In the mixed league, all teams must meet a certain requirement of men and women on their roster. For example, the ultimate Frisbee rules require two women and two men on-field at all times.
The last league is a women’s only league, which isn’t available for all sport offerings. In each case, players are asked to self-identify which gender they wish to play as.
Love also explained the ARC is planning adaptive programming that will include a drop-in wheelchair basketball league, but further details are still to come.
The abundance of options ensures students join the league and division which is right for them.
Games are taken seriously; fines are imposed on teams who are forced to default if their team does not show up. Each game also has a paid referee. The referee team is made of 60 students with a whole range of experience. Applications for this position usually open in late August.
Although the program already has many offerings, Love is always on the lookout for student input.
“Please email me, email us, let us know what you guys want because we love to try new things […] I’m looking into ways to get better feedback from students than just telling them to email me.”
Love said weekend tournaments that used to exist prior to the pandemic are back. These events will be held on weekends in October and November, providing students with the opportunity to try out sports that aren’t available under the intramural offerings.
BEWIC Sports Day is another event coming back under the intramurals umbrella. Details are still to come, but it will take place during the second week of winter semester.
It’s a weekend-long event in which students form teams—usually as faculties or clubs—and compete in obscure games. In the past, students have faced off in rugby-basketball and water-volleyball.
Intramural programming at the ARC offers a sports niche for everyone, regardless of skill, sport, or time availability.
Tags
ARC programs, BEWIC, Intramurals, Sports
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