Increased support for tennis intramurals has led to the creation of tennis tournaments in recent semesters. Officials who run intramurals hope to promote these events as places for physical activity, friendship, and an overall atmosphere of inclusion to students of all athletic levels.
Growing interest in uncommon sports
The tennis tournament on Oct. 1 sported a large turnout, the largest of any tennis event on campus to date, according to intramural officials.
Student Manager of intramurals Mason Baird, a senior business finance major from Washington, spoke on the enthusiasm that’s grown for the sport and said, “In the past, the intramurals program has tried to put on tennis, but the turnout was very small. The last couple semesters we’ve realized there’s a handful of students who play tennis and similar sports like badminton.”
A competitor in the tournament, Anya Manee Woodbury, a junior exercise and sports science major from Nevada, explained how she got started in the sport.
“I played tennis in high school, and I played with my family when I was growing up.” She then said she would like to see more tournaments in the future. “I like competing.”
“They may not be the biggest or most popular sports on campus,” said Baird, “but there are students who want to play. So we decided to put together a one-day tournament where they can come and show the school what they got and win some prizes, makes some friends, and get some ice cream.”
Woodbury added, “It was a good turnout, so I’m sure that the future tournaments will have good turnouts too.”
The social atmosphere
Students Hunter Jensen, a junior exercise science major from California, and Elijah Rembacz, a senior biomedical major from Wyoming, are supervisors over the referees at intramurals. Both monitored the tournament and related how they promote the games they organize each week.
“What we do is we offer a variety of sports... we try to offer every sport we can. Today, we have a one-day tennis tournament and we had a great turnout,” said Jensen.
On what he attributed the large turnout, Jensen said, “this year we really put an emphasis on marketing and getting the word out.”
Rembacz, speaking on the casual nature of intramurals said, “There are different levels of competitiveness, you don’t have to be really good to come play. I encourage everyone to come... It’s a great way to meet people.”
Woodbury said she plays soccer intramurals as well. “I just think it’s fun. I like playing sports in general.”
Jensen added, “It’s a lot of fun. Everybody should come out, people shouldn’t be afraid if they don’t have a team. We [encourage] everyone who doesn't have a team to sign-up. we’ll put them on one and make sure they’re still able to play no matter what. Come play intramurals.”
Outreach to students
Students Cheyanne Bushman, a sophomore history education major from Utah, and McKinnon Brown, a junior graphic design major from Colorado, work as social media coordinators for intramurals. They explained how their job is to reach out to students and to encourage their participation in the social aspects of intramural events.
“We feel like not many people are aware [of intramurals] so our job is to help people be aware and be excited about it,” said Bushman on her and Brown’s roles.
On ways they help people become aware, Jensen and Brown mentioned the social media accounts for intramurals.
“We have a Facebook page for seasider sports,” said Jensen.
Bushman then continued to explain ways they reach out to students as she said, “We [also] do a lot of promotion tables where we like to set up at different places to let people know [about intramurals.]”
Brown interjected, “We give away pens, we give away hydro flasks.”
“And we usually have so many incentives,” said Bushman. “We’re going to have free ice cream tonight, we had pancakes the other night. We’re doing so many giveaways and they’re so simple, we honestly want people to be involved.”
Brown then stated, “Everyone should be a part of the sports even if you aren’t playing. We tell them like, “you can come watch,” and we just want it to be a big social event because not a lot of stuff happens here at night. Sports are something people can come and support at nighttime.”
On what drives her to play and compete in intramurals, Woodbury said, “It’s just fun to get out there and to move your body.”
Woodman further explained, “I do this mainly because I need exercise… I just want to move and get my exercise for the day.”
Intramurals aren’t only for the incredibly athletic, according to Bushman. “We also have free play where you can just hang out. We’re really just trying to get students to be more involved with each other... We’re trying to get the school more united by going to intramurals and hanging out while watching other people play.”
Ending, Bushman pointed out, “It’s a good place to take a break.”
Writer: Shannon Crowley