Intramurals start up at WSU

In the inaugural cornhole tournament Friday, there were three champions crowned: Beta Theta Pi, Gamma Phi Beta and Top City won the open bracket.

“I didn’t expect to win,” said sophomore Larry Harmon, a Beta champion. “I knew that my partner, [senior] Andrew Hohman, and I were good, but I play to have fun and I was happy to win.”

Harmon is the intramural chair for Beta and said he will likely be a part of every team this year.

“I played all of last year with Beta, but this year was the first time for cornhole,” he said.

The cornhole tournament — along with bubble soccer last spring — is a new addition to the intramural program.

“Bubble soccer would be an interesting experience,” Hohman said. “I’ve never tried anything like that before, but it looks exciting.”

Ethan Green, interim coordinator of Competitive Sports, said the program draws in about 1,500 students each year.

“Our goal is by adding new events, like cornhole and bubble soccer, we will see more participants come out and give intramural sports a try,” Green said. “We want to reach more of the young students that live in Shocker Hall and get them involved.”

Despite all the new events, Green said it’s usually flag football in the fall and basketball in the spring that captures the most student attention.

And, while flag football and basketball are the most popular among students, Green said he enjoys watching other intramural activities.

“I’m a big fan of canoe battleship and bubble soccer because they are both new sports to our program,” Green said. “These are fun sports where you see a lot of new faces and not just the same people you see for all the typical sports that we put on. Plus, they are really fast paced and exciting to watch. You really never know who is going to win.”

With the addition of these new activities to the program, Green said there are still a couple sports that could use more attention, like tennis, racquetball and badminton.

“One thing people don’t know about those sports, though, is that you get a week to play and you get to set up time with your partner,” he said. “We know everyone is busy and on different schedules

so we want you to play at a time that works for you and your opponent.”

Meanwhile, Green said the

golf tournament is a sport where the intramural program would like to see an increase in participation.

“This year it will be held off campus at MacDonald Golf Course,” he said. “We are very excited to partner with them and hope to see an increase in students that participate in this fun, Friday afternoon tournament.”

Along with the golf tournament being held off campus, WSU has also partnered with

the Newman Center to host the sand volleyball contest this year.

“We feel that the students will enjoy this court more,” Green said.

While there are two new programs added to the agenda this year, there are still all of the typical sports and programs to get involved in with intramurals.