Author: Emily Phillips
The Intramural Sports program, an Occidental tradition for over 80 years, has begun the fall 2008 season with a brand new sport: 3-on-3 basketball. Intramural sports, unlike other sports on campus, are almost completely organized and run by students, and they can be as competitive or recreational as each team wants.
According to Recreational Sports Coordinator Sae Woon Jo and the Athletic Department, the Intramural Sports program is designed to provide all students on campus with the opportunity to participate in Oxy athletics. According to Jo, his job is to ensure that students in the Intramural community “have a voice amongst all the administrators and the rest of campus.”
Intramural teams are created by students, and are often small groups of people in the same residence hall, club, or Greek organization.
“It’s where people who hang out together or live together can have an outlet to compete against somebody in a sport that they enjoy playing in a friendly, comfortable environment,” Jo said.
As opposed to Varsity or Club Sports which represent Occidental in collegiate leagues, Intramurals play other teams within the Oxy community.
“I like Intramurals because it is pressure-free fun,” Ben Burnett (sophomore) said. “We don’t have scheduled practices everyday such as NCAA basketball, soccer, or football, and there is a lot less pressure to win [. . .] it allows for a great time playing a sport that I love.” Burnett’s team, Team Jar Jar Binks, is looking forward to the upcoming 3-on-3 basketball season.
3-on-3 basketball is Oxy’s only fall
Intramural this year. Last year, nearly 200 students participated in the spring intramural 5-on-5 basketball program, which had two leagues, each with six teams. After talking to peers at other colleges and looking at Oxy’s campus, Jo found that 3-on-3 basketball is also very popular.
“We have this awesome new facility that I want students to use, that Jaime Hoffman wants students to use,” Jo said, referring to the newly renovated gym. With the new league, “we can get the students in there using the new gym, and it can be used by the entire campus, not just the varsity sports or the athletic department. It’s open to everybody through Intramurals,” he said.
The sports offered in the Intramural program are determined by the demands of Oxy students. This gives students the experience of being leaders in their community through structuring an organization. Surveys are sent out to students and informational meetings are held to see how much interest students have in a particular sport.
“The students decide,” Jo said. “This has always been my policy with Intramurals. If there is demand for a sport, we want to provide that sport.”
Oxy Intramural Commissioner Sam Rossi (junior) plays a central role in the Intramural Sports program. According to Rossi, she organizes team registration, makes game schedules, hires referees, and is the contact person for all the captains.
“I’m also usually at all the Intramural events,” Rossi said. “I make posters, Oxy Digest posts, and whatever else I think needs to be done.”
Rossi and Jo said that their goal for this year is to get even more students involved. According to Rossi, by adding soccer as an Intramural sport last year, an additional 30 students joined the Intramural program.
“Intramurals have grown a lot these last two years. Sae Woon Jo has been great at getting new sports started and bringing Oxy Intramurals to a new level,” Rossi said. “I think that they will only continue to go uphill in these next few years.”
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