Intramural sports are well underway

Recreation and Leisure is entering the fourth week of the new intramural season.
Many intramural sports including flag football, Greek flag football, soccer, Greek soccer, dodge ball and beach volleyball are well under way. Each sport has seen a tremendous amount of participation.
“We have seen the most students sign up individually since I have been here,” said Joe Deck, president of Recreation and Leisure and a senior at WCU. The fact is, intramural sports are becoming a necessity for students to get involved with.
There were 71 students who signed up individually just for outdoor soccer alone. “This is an incredible number that no one on the staff has ever seen before,” said Deck.
“As a coordinator this year, there was more of an emphasis on coordinating the free agents until the team captain was established and took over responsibilities,” said David Jenkins, graduate assistant of Recreation and Leisure, on dealing with all individual sign ups.
There are also 24 teams in the Open Flag Football League which is up from 16 teams the past two years. Flag Football Coordinator Shawn Robinson had to extend flag football from its normal two days a week schedule to a three day a week schedule just to give every team the same amount of games.
Flag football and outdoor soccer have also made the big jump to playing under the lights at south campus. Flag football is on the All Purpose Turf Field for the second year in a row while outdoor soccer has been moved to the new “field turf” on Farrell Stadium.
“This is the most groundbreaking change in this year’s program,” said Jenkins. “Playing in the stadium under the lights on the brand new ‘field turf’ gives the students a real sense of importance and accomplishment.”
“It is so exciting to be on the new turf because of where we came from,” said Deck. “When I first started here, we were playing on the Matlack (Street) fields during the afternoon and it was tough to get adequate participation.”
The year started off on a great note for the recreation staff when they came back to West Chester in late August for summer training. They participated in many team building exercises in order to get to know each other better.
“Since I have been here, I have wanted to bring a sense of family to the staff in order to improve the overall quality of our communication skills,” Jenkins said. “The staff and I feel that the summer training assisted in turning us into the ‘family’ we are now.”
The Intramural sports Web site is also up and running. Web Master, Josh Cassel works every day to make sure the website is updated and user friendly.
“This year we wanted to make sure the website is updated at all times because it is important that the players in our leagues can access the schedules, standings, and statistics at their leisure,” Cassel said.
“Recreation and Leisure and the Intramural sports programs have gotten off to a phenomenal start and we as the staff only hope that we can continue our success throughout the rest of the year.” Jenkins concluded.
For more information please visit the Rec. and Leisure Web site at http://iws.wcupa.edu/campusrec/.