by Matt Fusillo

For students who want to participate in sports competitively but with less commitment than a sports team, the University of Maryland offers intramural sports. 

Depending on the type of sport, students can participate by themselves and play against other solo players, form a group and play against other teams, or partner up with another student and play against other pairs.

“Our most popular sports are probably basketball, flag football, and soccer,” said Viet Lai, a junior at UMD who works at RecWell. “A lot of people come out for those.”

Intramural sports are organized by University Recreation & Wellness, commonly known as RecWell. The students compete in matchups on a weekly basis and their performances during the regular season form matchups for all teams in the playoffs.

Teams can be formed through a website called IMLeagues, where students can sign up to join a team or create a team of their own. Once a team is created, the owner of the team can invite players to join or allow random students to join.

RecWell has a list of basic rules for the students, said intramural department administrative assistant Phoebe Kurniawan.

“The first directive that we always talk about is to be safe,” Kurniawan, a junior kinesiology major, said. “It goes hand in hand with sportsmanship because if you’re not being nice to other people then it’s not a good environment to play in.”

RecWell doesn’t just encourage teams to be nice, it requires it and tracks it, Kurniawan said.

“We give a sportsmanship rating every time a team plays and if they don’t get above a certain number, they are not allowed to play in the playoffs,” Lai said. “And if they get below a certain number they get written up and they have to talk to us.”

Intramural sports attract many students that love playing in officiated and organized leagues instead of forming games on their own.

“I participate to be able to move around and play some recreational sports, sometimes [leisure sports] just doesn’t fit the bill,” said Luke Needham, a sophomore atmospheric science major that likes to indulge in intramural sports on campus. “I hope to not only have some fun with my friends, but also some good competition.”

Needham said that participating in intramurals allows him to take a break from schoolwork and get exercise during the day.

“I played volleyball in high school and I missed that,” he said. “So getting a team of my friends together helped keep my head on straight and posed as a good way to get away from work rather than my phone.”

Featured image: One of RecWell’s artificial turf fields for intramural sports is seen on Tuesday, April 10. Photo by Matt Fusillo.