For those who are fortunate enough to not know the sweatiest and most competitive versions of us, we’ll start off with a personal conflict disclosure by being transparent about our position as devoted members of one-time outdoor soccer champions, the Pookies, among others (shirts incoming).
As two girls who care way more about intramurals than we should be willing to admit, incorporating this column into our weekly routines will hardly constitute a drastic change in our lives. From loitering at the AFP front desk to arriving early to the aux gym to catch the action from the game before ours — we’re already doing a lot of this reporting. We might as well write it down, because maybe someone else out there appreciates, like we do, the ways that the wins, losses, upsets, laughs, loves, friendships and rivalries forged, enliven our fleeting days here at Colorado College.
Why do we rearrange our schedules, trek to Ed Robson at ungodly hours and subject our bodies to sweaty helmets and bruises we can’t explain? There’s only one true answer to this enduring question, the reason we’ll keep listlessly coming back in pursuit of a silly little black and yellow t-shirt: for the love of the game. It is this love that unites those of us who, in spite of differences in grades and other extracurriculars, have become somewhat familiar faces on the intramural Circuit. So with that, we would like to welcome you to the first edition of our column: The Circuit.
Futsal
Despite it being the second week of Block Seven, we felt it necessary to begin this column with the unforeseen victory of freshman team Boonies against upperclassman veterans and returning champions, Senior 18, in the Block Six futsal playoffs. Anyone who participated in or even got a glimpse of this competition knows it wasn’t as “unforeseen” as the grade difference might suggest. A game of speed, agility, technique and fearlessness, futsal is a pillar of the IM Circuit (and our personal favorite) as it holds some of, if not the most, cutthroat competitors. These freshmen are no exception. As pool play ended and seeding began, the Boonies quickly dazzled their way through the winners’ bracket to claim a well-deserved spot in the futsal finals. In most intramurals, there is a winners bracket and a losers bracket, where the “winner” of the losers bracket must win twice against the “winners” of the winners bracket to achieve victory. Needless to say, Senior 18 came hungry for a two-game series to complete their impressive futsal history with a fifth futsal t-shirt.
Winning the first final in style, with a goal-heavy overtime, Senior 18 forced game two.
“The first game we played, we were pretty nervous because it was our first final,” said Boonies captain Hyunsoo Kim ‘29. Soon enough, it was the first Tuesday of Block Seven, and players returned from Spring Break tan, well-rested and determined to finish what both teams had started.
“[The game was] definitely intense and controversial. The teams cared so much about winning, and it reflected in their reaction to calls,” said Darren Gould ‘29, one of the two referees of the final. As passionate observers crammed into the aux gym, both teams fought hard until the end in this thrilling final, with the freshman phenoms emerging victorious.
“The team that we beat, they have won every year, I’m pretty sure, so we just really wanted to prove ourselves as underclassmen and just as players,” said Madison Albright ‘29, whose team walked away gleefully with a narrow two-goal advantage. Albright, Kim and fellow Boonies member Will Samady ‘29 all emphasized the team’s commitment to chemistry and a “pass the damn ball” philosophy. They were also adamant about giving a star shoutout to Laird Ackerman, the goalie who carried them to victory in the fateful final. Ackerman, a freshman chemistry major from Asheville, N.C., started as a field player but was quickly moved to the net, where he excelled.
In addition to the futsal win, Ackerman now has a new accolade to add to his list of accomplishments: The Circuit’s first-ever Intramural Athlete of the Week! We hope that if you see him, you give him your honest congratulations and that his accomplishments will inspire you to strive for this honorable award yourself.
Softball
On Tuesday, March 24, two teams took to Tava Quad to play the inaugural game of the 2026 softball season. Three Strokes & I’m Out, who some might associate as the “Mathy skaters,” an underdog group of seniors with fierce passion, faced the Step Siblings, the combined CC men’s and women’s varsity basketball teams. For those of you new here, Step Siblings has been a staple of spring intramurals, and their athletic abilities have taken them far in these competitions — namely, the semifinals of the 2025 softball tournament and as the returning champions of inner tube water polo. As the game began, it was clear: one team came with a “Cinderella story” mentality, while the other had a presumptuous attitude. An underhand pitch was thrown, a bat swung, first base ran and before you knew, the game was over. What had happened in less than the typically regulated seven innings? The Mathy skaters had mercy-ruled the basketball team.
“It’s all about commitment to the grind… don’t ever underestimate how far three strokes can go,” stated Evie Doran ‘27. After the opening-day triumph, Three Strokes is heading into the season with a sense of joy and optimism, while still addressing the potential side effects of having too much fun.
“I would say being hungover is our biggest obstacle we will have to face this season,” said Three Strokes player, and self- proclaimed star of the “first base slide,” Victoria Trimble ‘26. Step Siblings declined to comment.
Inner Tube Water Polo
You may have noticed that the blondes on campus are rocking a greener hue as the smell of chlorine wafts suspiciously through the gym. Don’t worry, your senses aren’t deceiving you: Block Seven is inner tube water polo (ITWP) season.
“The pool was really the one athletic venue that we weren’t using, and we weren’t gonna do a swimming race, cause that’s awful,” Chris Starr, Director of Campus Recreation, explained. She continued, “We couldn’t do [just] water polo, somebody’s gonna drown.”
Indeed, many who mount their tube for their first ITWP game are astonished by the difficulty of the sport, and that’s without having to tread water. But though the rubber tubes eliminate the need for swimming, the abiding question remains whether the varsity swim team possesses an unfair advantage.
“We have a general IM rule that you can’t participate in a sport in which you participate on a varsity level,” said Starr. This season, Starr decided to extend this rule to inner tube water polo for the second consecutive season, such that it is not permitted to have a team full of swimmers, but Starr expressed that in this particular case, the decision remains subject to change in future seasons. Based on the first week of play, the swimmers’ performance has spoken for itself.
“Some notable players so far have been Clay Dittman, Adeline Turner and Liam McCarthy,” said Lucio Bollettieri ‘26, one of the referee supervisors for ITWP. Turner and McCarthy are both members of the swim team, as is Bollettieri himself.
Despite the longstanding controversy, the sport remains a staple in the IM Circuit, providing a place for friend groups and sports teams alike to come together under goofy caps and clever aliases. “The team names are always fun, but this year in particular we’ve had some gems,” said Bollettieri, citing examples like “Cache La Cooter” and “Wet n’ Wild.”
Dodgeball
Each intramural sport has designated “supervisors” who are responsible for scheduling the other refs and attending every game. For Block 7 dodgeball, that role is in the hands of seniors Theo Cherry and Grant Thompson. This job for Thompson, however, has seemed to consist mostly of desperately contacting negligent team captains and cleaning up from games that never got played.
“General engagement, whether that’s number of teams registering or number of teams actually showing up to play, has definitely been pretty low for dodgeball at least within the last two years since I’ve been supervising,” Thompson said. He reported that after the first week, only one of four games was actually played, with the rest ending in forfeits.
Broomball
Adding to the stacked and unconventional lineup of Block Seven intramurals is the proclaimed fan-favorite sport of broomball. Normally played earlier in the semester, Starr made the executive decision to push gameplay to this block in pursuit of more favorable ice times at Ed Robson Arena. This season’s tournament features 15 teams, making for a lively competition among athletes trying to strike a balance between perpetual hustle and healthy, unbruised knees.
“It’s a pretty even playing field. No one really comes into broomball with prior experience…I think it makes it more fun and competitive for everyone,” said TC Doran ‘26, one of the broomball supervisors.
It’s a new, fun look for Ed Robson Arena, where anyone is welcome to discover their gift for hitting slapshots into tiny goals in frictionless shoes on ice, and this environment tends to draw a “large variety of people participating, which is good,” said Luke Flangel ‘27, another broomball supervisor. The competition has so far featured the usual excitement inherent to the sport, as well as its fair share of witty team names, such as “Child Broomers” and “Minnesota Mild.”
Looking Ahead
The coming weeks have no shortage of action on the IM Circuit, with the Second Saturdays Cornhole tournament accepting sign-ups through Friday, April 3, and the rest of the sports continuing competition through this block. The dead grass on Tava quad will allow for plenty more ground-rule doubles, the ice will make contact with many more knees, Schlessman natatorium will be filled with extra cheerful screams – rumor has it, the gym has been staying open late for cornhole practice.
Welcome to The Circuit, where two girls’ constant attempts at convincing their friends that the people they reference from intramural games are not figments of their imagination finally touch paper.