Washburn University prides itself on providing the best resources for students to promote a fun social atmosphere on campus.

One of the most popular and beneficial of these resources has been the intramural offered by the Student Recreation and Wellness Center.

Getting involved is one of the most important aspects of student life. Not only does it familiarize yourself with the rest of the campus, but it also brings about other opportunities as well.

Getting to know other people and making new friends is pretty much a given these days, but what sets intramurals apart is team-building. Whether you participate to satisfy your competitive streak or to just have fun, you will find people like you.

As for starting one’s search into the intramural leagues, being a part of a fraternity or sorority already puts you one step ahead. Most fraternities and sororities have their own intramural teams, just check on the Greek Life webpage. Fraternities such as Sigma Phi Epsilon pride themselves on being the best at intramurals year-round.

Ultimately you may decide on joining one of these organizations during your years at Washburn. If so, you will find it much easier to get involved with Greek Life at WU.

Aside from being a part of Greek Life, one of the best ways to get involved in intramurals is showing up to any intramural game at the SWRC according to John Cummings, associate director of student operations at the SRWC. You can also start by completing required registration with the supported IMLeagues website as well as the REC-IT mobile app on Google Play and the App Store. 

“Sometimes as we get into our academic programs we start to see the same students over and over again,” Cummings said. “[The SRWC] is one of those places and intramurals specifically where there is a variety of students playing a variety of sports.”

From table tennis to Guitar Hero and Just Dance to badminton, intramurals are a melting pot of different opportunities.

“Basketball and soccer are our most competitive sports by far,” Cummings says. “Each sport that we have is going to have a few teams that are more competitive, we have had a number of student organizations put in teams just for a team-building atmosphere.”

For the individual heading into intramurals, Cummings recommends finding a team instead of submitting your name into free agency which is registering individually on the IMLeagues website.

“Unfortunately what we have seen is that most teams are not looking at free agents,” Cummings said. “So what we are trying to do is to push free agents to show up to intramural games looking for teams missing a player or a couple players and hopefully they ask you to show up next time.”

As for a student that joins intramurals, the benefits are endless according to Malcolm Mikkelson, former Washburn Student Government President, who competes in cup stacking.

“The free t-shirts are great,” Mikkelson said. “The knowledge that you are the second best cup stacker on campus is also quite nice.”