Intramural Recreation on College Campuses

I found an article online at collegeview.com that relates to intramural sports. The title is "Intramurals on a College Campus" and is written by the author Bob Kring, the director of campus recreation at Olivet Nazarene University.

Kring’s article explains why college intramurals are beneficial to the students and to the institution itself. A study done by the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association shows that students who balance their recreation and their classes have a more enjoyable college experience than students who aren’t involved. The same study showed the these students paid more attention in classes as well. Intramurals help many students get their minds off of their class work and creates a great environment for making friends. Students looking to get involved on campus often want to find leadership opportunities; intramurals give them just that. Kring says “There are opportunities for students at some schools to work in the intramural program, giving those students leadership experience and an opportunity to develop their people skills”. Schools are also benefiting from intramurals. The study I mentioned earlier by the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association showed the students were often attracted to campuses and universities that have good recreational activities and fitness. Kring is a believer in intramurals on campus and how it helps those students that are involved create friendships and develop leadership skills throughout their journey through college.

This article showed me different ideas about intramural sports that I hadn't thought of before. I thought that intramurals were just something that people did to relieve stress or to play for the love of the game, but its much more than that. Intramurals offer leadership opportunities that people can become involved in. What I don’t understand is what are these specific opportunities? Is a team captain for a certain sport considered leadership or do you have to become involved with the intramural organization? I had always planned on joining an intramural team, but now that I am aware of the leadership opportunities they offer, it seems much more satisfying to join.

Link to Article