By Naomi Schapiro Grab your racquet and your tennis shoes, spring intramurals are in full swing. Spring intramurals officially started on Sunday, April 15. There are 12 different sports being offered this quarter, as well as at least five day-tournaments. This is the first quarter intramurals are completely student-run, and as a result, students are getting more of a say in the sports being offered. Intramural coordinator Chris Pieroni said he wants to make sure there are a good mix of sports students actually want to play. He also recognizes the fact that not all sports have to be played on a field. Sports can also be played in a classroom or behind a computer screen. One of the tournaments they are offering this quarter is a FIFA tournament that will be on Saturday, April 28 from noon to 4 p.m. Also new this spring are racquetball, badminton, spike ball and Ultimate Frisbee leagues. From March 9-13, Pieroni, who has been a part of intramurals for three years, helped with a marketing campaign in Red Square. He had a master list of sports and took into consideration what the students wanted. Junior Taylor Hallquist, the volleyball lead coordinator, said she also recognizes how important it is for students to get a say in the sports being offered. “It gives us a chance to step up as leaders, while also giving us the opportunity to give other students what they want out of intramurals,” Hallquist said. “We are students ourselves, so we know what it’s like.” Hallquist and Pieroni both realize how important intramurals can be for building strong bonds with people you normally wouldn’t get the chance to meet. “Intramurals to me are all about the social cohesion factor,” Pieroni said. “I really want intramurals to beef up our resident life participation numbers.” Around four years ago, there were Friday night resident leagues just for the students in the dorms, Pieroni said. Every week, you could play against the other dorms. Pieroni said he is hoping to bring back those tournaments this quarter. He said he is thinking about offering a lawn dart day, with lawn games like cornhole and Ultimate Frisbee and dorms going against each other for the tournament trophy. Intramurals are great at getting people from all different demographics together, including graduate students and faculty. People who might not have anything else in common can share their love of sports and competition to create life-long friendships. “A lot of people played high school sports and don’t necessarily have the opportunity to play in college,” Basketball Lead Matt Coelho said. “Intramurals let people have that competition in sports that they love and grew up playing.” You can officially sign up with a team on IMLeagues to be on the roster, but walk-ins are also welcome. Visit https://wp.wwu.edu/campusrec/intramurals/ for a list of the leagues and tournaments being offered this quarter.
