Apr 16, 2021 | SPORTS | By Dylan Carey
For the first time this year intramural sports are up and running. Up until Block 7, Colorado College was unable to run intramural sports because of the safety and health risks associated with COVID-19. However, thanks to students and faculty getting vaccines, CC moving to alert Level 1, weekly testing, and the warming weather, intramurals have resumed.
The IM sports that are running during Blocks 7 and 8 are softball, soccer, and ping pong.
Additionally, there was a campus golf intramural over sixth block break. Campus golf has many of the same rules as regular golf, except students can only use one club and the course is across campus, with the holes being various objects like benches and utility boxes.
Finally, a grass volleyball tournament is coming up over seventh block break. The deadline to register for that tournament is April 20, so sign up while you still have a chance.
Intramurals, and sports in general, are an important part of campus culture at CC. In fact, the Princeton Review’s “Everybody Plays Intramural Sports” has ranked CC in the top six colleges every year since 2016.
Colorado College’s IM sports director, Chris Starr, estimates that roughly 70% of CC students participate in intramural sports in a typical year.
“My favorite part of the intramurals is the team itself. It is always a good time with a great group of people, and therefore it is fun to play on the team,” Thomas Treadwell ’24 said. “Intramurals contribute to CC’s community because they create connections between teammates and potentially between opposing players.”
“The pandemic has created an unusual first year of college for many, but getting the opportunity to plan intramural sports has helped create some sense of normality. My favorite part of playing an intramural sport is the escape from the stress of our daily lives in a way that brings people together,” Mia Legget ’24 said. “I have loved getting to know my teammates and opponents in a setting that is not over Zoom or social media. Intramural sports are a great way to strengthen the CC community.”
Colorado College typically offers even more IM sports.
“Some of the more popular sports include soccer, the two ice sports (ice hockey and ice broomball), and basketball,” Starr said on typical campus favorites.
No matter the sport, however, Starr believes there are benefits to participating in intramurals.
“There is the social aspect of friends playing on a team together for a season or for four years. For many, intramurals represent a continuation of playing a sport that a student played competitively in high school,” Starr said. “There is also the pure fun of playing a game that you’ve never played before, such as innertube water polo.”
Starr believes that there’s something about CC students in particular that draws them to this type of community building.
“The College sees the value in campus recreation in that there is a dedicated position that oversees all of campus recreation. That has helped tremendously from a resource and personnel perspective,” Starr said. “Intramurals are one element of campus rec that has been wholeheartedly embraced by the student body as a source of fun, competition, and an overall outlet and balance to the rigors of the academics.”
If you are looking for a way to make new friends, stay active, and get involved in the CC community, you should sign up for intramural sports. Starr is hoping that CC will be able to run a full schedule of intramural sports next year, so there should be plenty of opportunities. To find out how to sign up, search “intramurals” on the CC website.