Need a study break? Well, if you don't right now, you will when you start college. You don't want your brain to go into overload and the vending machine to become your best friend. Instead, one of the best ways to satisfy that study break craving is through intramural sports. There's little time commitment and loads of fun—especially if you've never played mud volleyball or broom hockey.

Being active in sports doesn't mean you have to be on a college team or a star athlete. Intramurals is a great way to play sports and make friends on campus. If you're not good at basketball, maybe you could try bowling or even a game of cards. There's something for everybody!

So before you leave your gym shoes at home and decide college is all about studying, read what four college students have to say about their intramural experiences.

When making plans to attend Grove City College (Grove City, Pa.), Laura LeVake found herself trying to decide between her high school loves—volleyball, basketball and softball.

"I realized I couldn't do everything," says Laura, a senior at Grove City. "I still love volleyball and basketball, so I decided to play intramurals in the fall and try out for the varsity softball team in the spring."

Laura says that was one of the best decisions she could've made. Playing on a varsity sports team in college requires a huge time commitment, but that's not the case with intramurals. Laura says there's more flexibility in intramural sports: "It's a stress reliever and a good way to take a study break."

Besides the typical basketball, volleyball and flag football teams, Grove City also has more unusual intramurals including jacks, euchre (a card game) and kickball. There's definitely something for everybody. "You don't have to be super athletic to play intramurals or athletic at all if you're playing euchre," Laura says. "In basketball they have different leagues based on your level of experience. That way you can find the team that fits you—whether you're really competitive or playing just for fun."

One year Laura coached a basketball team full of inexperienced players. She says they laughed a lot.

"During one game I told a member of the team to go in for another girl on the court who needed a break. She agreed and ran out onto the court before a time-out was even called," Laura says. "She's a hockey player and was used to running out in the middle of a game."

Barry Hill says intramurals at Colorado Christian University (Lakewood, Colo.) helped him make new friends as a transfer student. "It's a good fellowship time because the pressure is off and you can have as much fun as you want."

Barry, who is currently a senior, has tried most of the sports offered, including flag football, softball, volleyball, and basketball. He says students shouldn't hesitate to get involved. "Even if you're not good at the sport, you might find you like it. Sometimes the sports you never expect to play are the ones you enjoy the most because of the people involved."

He says each year CCU students contribute more intramural ideas. Some of those ideas have resulted in weekend tournaments, such as a Frisbee Golf Tournament or semester events like Adventure Mini Golf, Broom Hockey or Cosmic Bowling.

The bases were loaded in an intramural softball game at Shorter College (Rome, Ga.)—men versus women. The women were up to bat when suddenly a member of the men's varsity baseball team quickly stepped up to the plate and hit a home run.

"The guys on the other team didn't think it was fair since he wasn't a part of our team, but it definitely kept the game from becoming too competitive," says Brandy Kennedy, a member of the women's team.

Brandy, a junior, says she loves playing softball. "I played softball all through high school and jump at any opportunity I have now to play," she says.

Shorter doesn't have a softball program, so Brandy definitely takes advantage of the intramural softball season.

"The high school team I played with was really competitive, but sometimes I think we lost out on just having fun," she says.

That's one thing Brandy doesn't want to lose sight of now—having fun. Even though she can be really competitive, she realizes that many of her intramural teammates aren't as familiar with the game.

"Anybody can go out there and play," she says.

Some of Shorter's intramural selections don't require outstanding athletic skill, including mud volleyball, a billiards tournament, Pictionary, Rook, and a Win, Lose, or Draw tournament.

"In intramurals you are getting a bunch of people together to have a good time," Brandy says.

Randy Smith first got involved in intramural sports at Vanguard University (Costa Mesa, Calif.) by joining a team of guys from his dorm. "We decided to create a floor softball team," he says. "It was a lot of fun and wasn't too time consuming."

Besides playing intramurals at Vanguard, Randy, a senior, is also involved in overseeing the program.

He says joining a team is easy. At Vanguard, varsity athletes aren't allowed to play intramurals in the same sport they play on a varsity level. "We want anyone on campus who desires to play intramurals to feel comfortable signing up—whether they've played that sport or not," Randy says. "We want to incorporate as many people as we can!"

Some of the sports offered at Vanguard include basketball, indoor soccer, softball, water balloon tournaments and table tennis.

"For each intramural sport we come up with a prize for the winners of the tournament," Randy says. "Sometimes we have T-shirts or jackets. We try to have different prizes for each sport."

Randy says it's neat to see students just have fun together whether they become the basketball champs or are terrible at table tennis. "Having fun, that's what it's all about."

2002 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life magazine.
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