As the academic year comes to an end, Carleton Athletics is bidding adieu to another successful intramural season.
Across both semesters, students competed in seven sports: basketball, dodgeball, flag football, ice hockey, soccer, ultimate frisbee and volleyball.
Ryan Dube, Carleton’s manager of adult leagues and student recreational sports, said intramurals are thriving on campus.
“They’re sought after — all of our leagues basically sell out every semester,” he said, adding that 1,500 to 2,000 student participants sign up in both the fall and winter sessions.
While many students join intramurals for the physical activity, Dube said the mental and social benefits are just as important.
“There’s an opportunity to grow as a leader because you’re put into those team dynamics and those team situations [that] without participating in sport, you might never experience,” he said.
Dube said the variety of intramural leagues Carleton offers gives students an opportunity to try new sports or continue playing familiar ones without the commitment that varsity and club teams demand.
“It’s friendly competition where you can show up, have fun for your hour or two a week and enjoy that competitive nature in a fun, safe, friendly environment,” he said. “You don’t necessarily have to sacrifice other things to be a part of it.”
“It’s an escape,” Dube added.
James Hubbard, a third-year mechanical engineering student at Carleton, agreed.
Hubbard, who is part of Carleton’s ultimate frisbee club-level program, said he enjoys the opportunity to play his favourite sports in a casual environment.
“Of course, intramurals is a commitment, but it’s not a mental commitment so much as a time commitment,” he said. “You just have to show up.”
Hubbard said while it took until his second year to discover intramurals, he’s since participated in multiple basketball and ultimate frisbee sessions.
Last semester, Hubbard signed up for ultimate frisbee intramurals as an individual player but built such a strong bond with his teammates that they decided to sign up together for the winter semester.
“Team environment sports are always awesome — it was so much better when we all knew each other,” he said. “Every time somebody scores, I jump off my feet and run out there and give all of them high fives.”
Adam Vigneron is a postdoctoral fellow at Carleton’s Spacecraft Robotics Laboratory and was one of those teammates who convinced Hubbard to do another semester.
“Team spirit is just a constant thing. Everybody on the team is responsible for the spirit of the team,” Vigneron said.
“It was so much fun to see how passionate the players I played with were and yet how well they could keep their cool when things got a bit spicy,” he added.
Vigneron also praised the leagues for their student-friendly costs; team fees range from around $350 to $415, with individual fees starting at $52.
“It’s never going to be cheaper than this when you’re a student,” Vigneron said. “You have all these facilities to which you have either free access or nearly free access.”
Dube said hearing glowing feedback from participants makes his work meaningful.
“That kind of thing is nice to hear from the students. It shows that you’re actually doing something worthwhile and you’re not just throwing games into a schedule,” he said.
Dube said coveted championship shirts are drawing more students to intramurals. Any time a team wins their division, Carleton Athletics posts a picture of them with their new gear.
“It’s one of our most interacted-with posts on our social media,” he said.
“It’s grown into something bigger than we ever expected it to be.”
While some students might not receive a championship shirt, they nonetheless walk away from intramurals satisfies, Vigneron said.
“Intramurals [are] great because you get to meet people from across the Carleton community. It gets you out of your bubble in a really profound way,” Vigneron added.
“If you’re interested in maintaining a level of fitness throughout your life, this is an amazing chance to build good habits, to meet new people and to learn more about the current community as a whole.”
Featured image by Mya Pasparakis/the Charlatan
This article, and all of the Charlatan’s work, is brought to you by an independent student newspaper dedicated to informing, uplifting and entertaining the Carleton University community. We are a levy-funded organization which plays a role in the broader, vibrant student culture on campus. By reading this article, you are supporting our efforts.
