?A field of their own
Intramural and club sports promote life-long relationships through athletics
Nick Lyscas was thrilled when he first heard CMU had a men’s club soccer team. He played varsity men’s soccer at Concordia University in Ann Arbor, but said he prefers CMU’s club team to any other team he has played on. “I’ve played soccer my whole life and I wasn’t going to stop just because CMU didn’t have a varsity team,” the Dearborn sophomore said. “The more I play the game the more I love it.” Each academic year, thousands of Central Michigan University students capitalize on an opportunity to build relationships through intermural and club sports, in increasing numbers through CMU’s URec departmet. Scott George, assistant director of IM and Club sports at CMU said the various leagues and teams are one of the best ways to build lifelong relationships on campus. “We are all about improving the quality of life for our students,” George said. “We get a lot of people who are former high school athletes. They want to stay competitive. They might not have the skills to play at the Division I level but they still want to stay active. Once they get involved, they enjoy it so much.” Last year, URec reported 5,140 students participated in at least one IM or club sports event. That figure is on par with the department’s recent trend of hosting between 5,000 and 6,000 students per academic year. Specifically, 807 students signed waver forms required to participate in a club sport last year. Funding for clubs comes directly from the Student Government Association. SGA has allocated anywhere from $15,000 to $30,000 to club sports during the last five years. CMU’s IM leagues maintain an operating budget of $8,500 each year. These funds pay for rental fees, T-shirts and various equipment costs. URec uses roughly $70,000 per year to pay staff and student officials. Each year the department carries between 60-70 students on its staff. George said his department plans to have 1,450 total IM teams and 40 active club teams this year. “Those people have either met someone at their residence hall who asks them to join up, so the friendship is already there,” George said. “You get such a variety of skill level in our programs.” Most students who play a club sport at CMU take it very seriously, said Graduate Assistant for club sports Jeremy Edom. “Club sports are definitely more organized than IM leagues,” Edom said. “You get a chance to play against other universities, which makes for a competitive atmosphere.” Sean Graninger is a graduate assistant with the various IM leagues CMU hosts each semester. He said it is not uncommon to see CMU varsity athletes occasionally playing in IM games during the offseason. “Some coaches have restrictions on how much or when you can play in a certain IM league,” Graninger said. “For example, football players can’t play flag football in an IM league.”Sometimes, club sports teams use intermural games or leagues as icebreakers or team-building exercises. “The two programs are very similar,” Edom said. “I remember I had a roommate who played IM basketball and one day the club rugby team played against them. It was comical. (The team) was trying to do rugby formations as they were playing basketball. “Little stuff like that makes it enjoyable for everybody.” And Lycas said he embodies just one example of the thousands of lives IM and club sports at CMU will bring together this fall. “My first year on the team I didn’t really talk to anybody,” he said. “When you play club, no one is on scholarship. You’ve got a group of guys that really want to be there. We’ve become really close.”
