Photographs by David Andrews
Featured image: Senior Willy Harris cuts the ball back in Title 69’s game on Thursday, September 24 on Armstrong Quad. Title 69, the defending outdoor soccer champions were victorious in the game by a score of 10-3.
Spooning Jesus, the Grassy Beavers, and the Dance Floor Finger Blasters (DFFB) are not the titles of entertainment attainable only for those over 18 but rather just three of the 28 soccer teams competing for a (by some admissions, rather ugly) Intramural championship shirt.
While there are no power rankings for the league, it appears that Title 69 would likely be crowned number one.
“Title 69 is definitely the team to beat,” said league student supervisor Justin Nguyen when asked who was the league’s best squad. “They are defending champions from last year in both outdoor soccer and the (2014) indoor futsal tournament”.
Furthermore, they are home to two of the most feared players, seniors Willy Harris and Jordan Keny-Guye. However, Title 69 is not without it problems. Current senior 69er Sam Elkind will miss the entire regular season due to an ill-timed 3-week geology field trip. In addition, former 69ers senior Parker Moss and junior Annika Kastetter have left for other teams.
Senior Alicia Terry was dismissive of any problems the 69ers appear to have undergone this off-season. “I think people changing teams is inevitable in IMs; we’ve added an ex-varsity goalie and kept the majority of our team. We’re in good shape for the season, ready to go undefeated again.” Kastetter left for the Halestorms, composed almost entirely of the champions of the 2015 indoor futsal league- Odds Are… .
One of many teams looking to topple the Title 69s off their pedestal are the Halestorms. The Halestorms are composed almost entirely of the champions of the 2015 indoor futsal team Odds Are… They have made a lot of readjustments this offseason, including picking up Kastetter and Residential Life Coordinator Matt Edwards. Team captain Gavin Cobb said that he was “feeling good” about his team’s chances this fall, and added that while attendance was an issue last season, they have assembled a more devoted crew. That may have been a sagacious move, as only a single forfeit can cost a team its season. Last year poor attendance sealed the fate of two disqualified teams.
Other teams to watch for include Shabba Ranks’ Team and Lake Titicaca Thunder. Comprised of a couple winter-start seniors, Shabba Ranks’ Team is looking for one last chance to graduate with an IM shirt on their collective back. Lake Titicaca Thunder is a team that Terry said she was anticipating playing as they have “…always had a nice little rivalry.”
Of course, with a sprawling, extremely competitive league of 28 with players constantly changing from one team to the next, gauging which teams can usurp the 69s is a nearly impossible task. What many teams failed to respect was the crop of new talent potentially lurking in the first-year class.
“Watch out for those freshman,” a member of the Papi Chulos cautioned, adding that their ignorant confidence could be their greatest asset.
Sexist Danz, led by junior Andrew Kirvin Quamme, decided to tap into the freshman class by creating a team of almost all first-years, though he prefers to call them all-stars.
The excess of competition is unequaled in other fall IM leagues. Nguyen attributes this to the easy accessibility of the sport.
On the other end is football, which many try and fail to pick up due to a large set of rules that can be confusing to those who didn’t grow up with the sport. Soccer also sees a more balanced male to female ratio than both the football and volleyball leagues. Because of these factors, Nguyen believes that “soccer is one of the sports that promotes the spirit of recreational activity the best.”