With regulations banning varsity athletes from participating in NCAA competitions during the off season, many Washington Universtiy’s 16 varsity teams move to the intramural arena to quench their thirst for competition. With many athletes excelling at multiple sports in high school, the chance to pick up a basketball or hit a softball again offers an opportunity to relive the past. This year, six varsity teams participated in flag football, basketball or softball. Because the basketball season is in the winter, the women’s team competed in both flag football and softball. Losing in the flag football finals, the Red Dawgs (the Washington University women’s basketball team) were forced to forfeit their final softball game last week.

“In football, we made it to the championship game and then had to forfeit,” said junior Jenny Southworth. “But if the Green Cats [team we forfeited to] ever want to set up a little scrimmage, the Red Dawgs wouldn’t mind beating, I mean, playing them.”

With only two months on campus before practice begins, flag football provides the team with a chance to create a bond and build team chemistry.

“Anything you do outside of your sport that helps build team relationships is always good,” said Southworth. “The better you know your teammates, the easier and more enjoyable it is to play with them on the court. IM sports do help the team chemistry, but we have pretty good relationships with the girls to begin with.”

After the season, softball provided a way for the team to stay close and continue its bonding.

While the basketball team participated in two different sports, the women’s soccer team monopolized the competition in basketball, fielding three teams.

“Being good at soccer does not mean that you will be good at basketball, so you have new leaders on the team,” said junior Talia Bucci. “And it really gets the freshmen involved with the team.”

She noted that competing in the winter before spring workouts begin offers a year-round bond and interaction with her teammates.

The softball and volleyball teams also fielded basketball squads. Using its height as a distinct advantage throughout the season, last year’s IM basketball league champions, the women’s volleyball team, lost this year in the semifinals. Despite the loss, junior volleyball player Amy Bommarito noted that IM sports are a good way for the team to see each other in the off season.

“Most of our team played basketball in high school so it’s definitely a chance to play again somewhat competitively,” she said.

The women’s teams are not the only ones getting in on the competition. The football team competed in basketball and the baseball team participated in the flag football competition this year. With a majority of those teams playing the IM sport in high school along with their required training regimens, they fared well. The Channel 4 News Team (varsity baseball’s team nickname) lost in the second round of the flag football playoffs while the Lightning Sharks (football) lost in the finals in basketball in overtime by one point, 59-58.

While the teams gain chemistry and a chance to relive high school glory, some non-varsity athletes may complain about what they perceive as an inherent advantage that varsity athletes have due to frequent conditioning and training.

“Since of our team is tall and everyone can jump pretty high, we definitely have an advantage on rebounding,” said Bommarito. “Our shooting skills don’t have to be quite as good.”

However, Bucci argues that playing a varsity sport does not guarantee talent at IMs.

“Being a varsity athlete gives you a slight advantage in that everyone on your team is already in shape,” she said. “However, we play soccer, so that gives no guarantee that people on our team have decent hand-eye coordination. There are times when we just shook our heads and laughed at how uncoordinated we looked out there.”

Still, intramurals are meant to encourage competition while focusing more on having a good time than on the seriousness of competition. This lighthearted aspect of IM sports allows the varsity teams a chance to enjoy competition and athletics with no demands or pressure.

“IM sports are a good time for everyone,” said Southworth. “We have a few laughs, meet new people and then usually go to Bear’s Den afterwards.”

IMs have become a key bonding outlet for these teams.

“I think IMs give your team a chance to play sports and focus on the fun part of competing, rather than always focusing on winning,” said Bucci. “When you are always killing yourself at [varsity] practice running sprints and doing drills, you sometimes forget that the reason you play in the first place is that competing is fun. It’s a great way to laugh at yourself and other people on your team and, hopefully, add to the number of T-shirts that you have for spring workouts.”

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