For many Aggies, intramurals are a staple of staying in shape and meeting new people in college. Every year the Texas A&M Student Recreation center hosts intramural programs for nearly 12,000 students.
"Intramural sports are great because you don't have to be the best athlete on the field," said senior accounting major Daniel Granger. "As long as everyone else on your team is good you can still win."
Several sports are offered throughout the year. In the fall semester alone, the Rec Center will offer a kickball tournament, indoor soccer, football pick 'em, flag football, golf, three-on-three basketball, CoRec softball, tennis, volleyball, table tennis, regional flag football qualifiers, a punt, pass and kick competition, dodgeball, racquetball, Coach Turgeon's three-on-three tip-off classic, Kyle Field ramp romp XVIII and an XBOX 360 NCAA football tournament.
"My favorite part about intramurals is the camaraderie," said recreation, parks and tourism sciences graduate student Russell Brown. "I had lots of fun yelling at my friends while we were losing."
Some use intramurals as a way to see friends and meet new people.
"I highly recommend it," said senior finance major Christopher Johnson. "Whether you do it with your FLOs [freshman leadership organizations] or friends, getting a group of buddies together to play a sport is a good way to spend your free time and get to know new people."
A group of people looking to participate in intramurals appoints a team captain who gathers the money and gets the information together. That person acts as the go-between for the team and the Rec Center.
"The money you spend is definitely worth it," said Johnson. "It's never an outrageous cost. I've been doing it for three years and it is worth it."
Intramural programs vary in cost from free to $70 per team.
The Rec Center also offers a Free Agent program, in which persons who wish can submit their name and information to the Rec Center, and team captains looking for an extra player can select from the list.
"Playing the sport is fun," Granger said. "But there's a lot more to intramurals than that. Whether it's making sweet uni's, going for a post-game hang out, or even just hanging out after the game watching the other teams play, there's that whole camaraderie aspect that you have to play to understand."
In addition to participation in sports, students can become paid officials. The Texas A&M Sports Official Association works to provide the Recreational Sports Department with educated and fair officials.
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