College Intramurals: Equally Important with Intercollegiate?

“A case could be made that intramural games are even more important than intercollegiate, or extramural, games.”

Tom Kennedy

Between 1967 and 1980, Lewis College (University) intramural games took on a life that overwhelmed nearly all other college endeavors – including academics. For a five-year period, I served as co-director in the Christian Brothers University (Illinois) while also assisting in other athletic department programs. At the core of the games was the dedication, loyalty, and pride to individual students, groups and organizations. The prize at the end of the year was the recognition and satisfaction that I/we had a sense of accomplishment.

Do intramural athletes achieve similar learning outcomes as intercollegiate athletes? Are colleges smart to place equal emphasis on both intramural and extramural games?

Intramural games can cover a wild spectrum of individual and team activities. The major sports – football, basketball, softball, volleyball, and wrestling – are always popular for the participants and the spectators. Minor sports – weight lifting, badminton, racquetball, table tennis, and bowling – appeal to small groups or individuals.Then there are games like chess and card games that tend to be more cerebral. Video games would now be considered as potential activities.

The key to an outstanding Intramural Programming lies in the way that information is shared. Timely, informative, and entertaining newsletters recognize students/groups and fuel their healthy, competitive juices. (See below an example of “entertaining” news announcing that basketball is next on the schedule.)

Value to the Student

Any student, regardless of athletic ability, may participate as long as competitive levels are maintained. Contrary to intercollegiate sports, intramural athletes are with their rivals on a regular basis. That might be in class, in the residence halls, or in the cafeteria. This presence may heighten the competition while getting to know students from different groups.

It’s a great laboratory for leadership development and teamwork, discovering personal strengths and liabilities. By officiating games, coaching teammates, and staffing responsibilities students learn about accountability among student peers, not an easy task. These are education outcomes that seldom occur inside a classroom.

Value to the College

College administrators should value the intramural program for a variety of reasons. Intramural games are far less costly than intercollegiate sports. No travel, scholarships, and home game costs. Retention is much better when students participate in extracurricular activities. Institutional costs for recruiting new students is more costly than retaining old students.

The College’s Departments of Admissions and Alumni Affairs both benefit from a robust intramural program. Having a reputation for a strong program in addition to academics will be attractive to student prospects who hope to continue playing sports but lack the elite athletic skills, and alums who have had a rewarding experience with intramurals also tend to be stronger financial supporters.

The following poem about “touch” football is an example of hyperbolic commentary at the end of the season. It was written as an inflated observation of the student/athletes’ extreme behavior. (Seldom ever extreme, but highly entertaining reading for the audience.)

The Football Season

The football season’s just about done,
Only the shrimps didn’t play;
It’s obvious who had the very most fun,
Their gimp, limp, and crutches give them away.

Ankles were strained and shirts were bloodstained,
Shoulders separated and heads aerated,
Gonads were belted, foreheads were welted;
But... it was all in the game.

Bombed were all eardrums with four-letter words,
Filling the air like migrating birds;
Teams started acting like animal herds;
But... it was all in the game.

Yes, noses were bloodied and flesh was bruised,
But it was all in the game.
Transplants and casts for those bodies misused,
For the aim of the game is to maim.

The bloody red sun now transpires by seven,
The friendly south wind ‘til now sent by heaven
By a killing north wind will soon be replaced,
Dying brown leaves fall from limbs now defaced.

Combat and contact are just about through,
Refs will be lost with nobody to screw;
Basketball’s coming with finesse on the court,
And everyone knows...it’s a non-contact sport.