The Fall of Intramural Sports at UNC

The scoreboard buzzer sounded. As one team abruptly makes its way off the field, the other breaks out into laughter and screaming as they celebrate the win. The intensity that drives players to love the game is at full display as the students are given a chance to play the sports they love in a fun and competitive environment. 

Somewhere along the line, things flipped. At the University of Northern Colorado, less intramural teams are signing up every year, along with very little excitement around campus regarding campus sports. Intramural sports, while still active on campus, are nowhere near their former glory. One might ask what has happened.

Keigo Kawazoe is a junior criminal justice major at UNC who not only frequents the rec center, but has recently gotten involved in intramural sports on campus as of this year. 

“It took me till last month to even know we had intramurals here,” UNC student Keigo Kawazoe said. 

Kawazoe said he’s glad the school allows students to join intramural sports. He sees this opportunity as a way to reconnect with himself. 

“I feel like when you grow up playing sports it creates kind of a culture that never really leaves you and I really would like to re-find that part of me.”

It is a common belief on campus that intramurals “died” with the COVID-19 epidemic. Prior to the lockdown, registration was a much easier process as slots would fill instantly, as teams all over campus were excited to compete. Fast forward to 2024, registration is being pushed back weekly in an attempt to get more students to participate. Involvement is so low that the wiffle ball league, which the university planned to release as a new option, was canceled before the first game because of a lack of involvement from students.

“That’s more sad than anything really,” UNC alumna Emily Baros said. 

Baros played volleyball when it was offered as an intramural sport. She said it was a fun and competitive environment but recently it’s showed the opposite. 

“I think everyone sharing that passion and actually competing against each other is the culture that's missing now I feel.” 

Tied together with decreased involvement, is the lack of activities available. The lack of sign-ups has robbed students of multiple sports options. Disc golf, tennis, spike ball, and e-gaming were all offered as intramural sports options during the fall season of the 2019 school year. This is compared to the same semester this year, where basketball, volleyball and football were the only three left standing. Does the erasing of these sports point to little student interest? Or is the rec center falling short of advertising these options to its audience?

The UNC Recreation Center has not given up and is continuing to push for intramural sports to make a comeback on campus. Despite wiffle ball being a failure, new sports options for athletes looking to participate are a crucial part of an expansion. Season B of fall semester sports features basketball, soccer and dodgeball. This is two fewer provided sports than the fall of 2019. The variety of sports possible is vast because of the capabilities of the rec center, as well as the several large fields on campus. While new sports options and facility space are important, they mean little to nothing if students do not show up on game day. 

It has been part of the initiative for the UNC Rec staff over the past few years to increase student involvement. This includes an increase in social media engagement and promotion, as well as a brand-new system for registration. The switch to Fusion, an app for competitive sports leagues, has allowed for easier registration and less confusing rosters and transfer requests for players. 

“Trust me we want them (intramurals) to be big again too,” Intramural Supervisor Sierra Lopez said. “I know we are focusing on connecting with the students to know what they really want.”

Despite the initiative, a survey of 20 random UNC students revealed that 75% of those asked believed the blame for the struggle of intramural sports should be put on the staff rather than the students. Of those surveyed, 40% also reported that their favorite sport is not even being offered by intramural sports. 

“I'm a big tennis guy, but really I'm a big fan of any racquet sport,” Kawazoe said.

Kawazoe continued saying that he did not understand why all the outdoor tennis and basketball courts at the rec center are not being used. 

“I feel like there is so much wasted potential on this campus for sports,” Kawazoe said.

There have been no attempts to introduce racquet sports into the intramural options since the failure of wiffle ball. It’s important to stop and ask the question: why do we have these nice facilities if they are not going to be used properly by both the rec staff and by students themselves?

While no racquet sports are offered this year, UNC has just opened up registration for season B of fall intramural sports. The school will be offering basketball, indoor soccer and dodgeball. Both soccer and basketball will offer men’s, women’s and co-rec options. Campus recreation will also be hosting a free-to-play ping pong tournament on Nov. 6, as well as a 3v3 basketball tournament on Oct. 16 on courts 2 and 3 in the large gym at the rec center. For additional information about rec sports at UNC, or to purchase the season pass, please visit https://www.unco.edu/campus-recreation/.