Support intramural sports on campus

Let’s face it, intramural sports are a great way to stay fit, de-stress and have fun on campus. Although UHCL doesn’t have inter-collegiate sports teams, the intramural sports hosted each semester still deserve recognition and participation. It’s a great way to meet new people, make friends and be active.

Intramural sports aren’t new to UHCL. Lack of publicity and media about these events may be why some students aren’t even aware UHCL has intramural sports. This could also be a factor as to why the participation rate is so low among students. These wonderful events are repeatedly seeing dwindling participation rates from students. The more publicity and involvement these events have, the better chance these events have of growing and becoming more popular in the future.

I was a student worker for the Fitness Zone from Dec. 2013 to Jan. 2015 and helped host intramural events on campus.

The turnouts for some of the events were pitiful. Most of the time, there weren’t enough students to play the event being hosted. It was really upsetting that the participation rate was so low.

I recall an ultimate Frisbee event we had scheduled on an early Friday afternoon in the spring of 2014. The staff and I arrived at the Delta Fields, set up the equipment and prepared for the hoard of excited students to come stampeding through the fields. To our surprise, that stampede never came. In fact, only about three people showed up. There wasn’t even enough staff and participants combined to make two teams.

We wondered why the turnout was so low. Was there not enough awareness raised about this event? Were people busy working or in class? Or did people just not want to play? Although my experience in working these events is over two years old, I have stayed in contact with members who work for the Recreation Center, and it seems participation rates are about the same.

On the other hand, some events do yield strong turnouts. For example, table tennis and flag football tend to have relatively great turnouts, but the number of students who actually participate still aren’t as high as they should be, especially from a university with an enrollment of over 8,600 students.

Although UHCL has a strong commuter-based student population, we also have a growing population of freshmen and sophomores. The need for more interactive events on campus will develop too. Students need to get involved and help grow these events for future Hawks at UHCL.

When I was employed at the Fitness Zone, I often wondered if more students might get invovled in intramural sports if they could compete more than once a semester. I, for one, would have been intrigued by the idea of creating a flag football team or kickball team with my fellow classmates. Registering our team to compete against other UHCL students in a league would have been a blast; I still think students would be enthused by this idea.

Better prizes and recognition on campus after a victory would be incentive for more students to get involved too. A water ball and t-shirt are fun and all, but how about a gift card or small trophy? How about a certificate with the winning team or individuals’ names on it. Individual or team pictures could be posted around campus to encourage students to get out and participate in team sports. This would certainly help raise awareness for our intramural sporting events as some students aren’t even aware UHCL has them.

At the end of the day, as students, we aren’t participating enough and getting involved enough for these events to thrive. If students want to see leagues created and competitions held, the turnout rate for these intramural events has to increase significantly. There is no incentive for the school to invest time and money on equipment and prizes if students aren’t going to participate and get involved.

I understand we are all busy and have lives to live, but the next time your schedule allows, take a break and participate in a sporting event. Take your classmates, bring the camera and have some fun. It is a great way to make new friends and stay active.

Click here to learn more about Campus Recreation and sports events on campus.