Staying Competitive: Darin Rigney’s Experience in Intramural and Club Sports
Life on the Hill: Bison Blog
What activity bolsters community, encourages healthy living, and epitomizes the perfect dose of competition and fun? If you guessed team sports, then you’re only partially right, because the intramural program at OBU is so much more than sports. Intramurals and club sports offer opportunities for students to come together to make friends, have fun, and stay competitive!
College is the place where most people meet some of their lifelong friends right? Well, what better way to make friends than with team sports; isn’t that in the ancient mother’s handbook for parenting? The same principle applies to intramurals, as some of my best friends have been made by mere acquaintances asking if I was athletic, in order to be thrown on a team that was put together minutes before the deadline to register. Or, being forced to join a sport I’ve never played before simply because they need people, and I had a pair of working legs. These accidental occasions often lead to the very best memories, as people finish the season with deeper friendships and a desire to play again next year.
Fun. Other than the relationships made through intramurals, and the ability to come together as friends to play sports, there is something more to intramurals that makes it so well-liked by hundreds of people at OBU. I think a big part of what makes intramurals so much more than relationships and sports, is the joy that it brings to the people participating. Personally, when I have an intramural game, it is all I can think about for the whole day, because I love the feeling of getting an interception in flag football, or making a great save in soccer/futsal. It is moments like these that add so much fun to the game. The joy of playing sports, combined with being able to do it alongside friends, is one of the biggest blessing of being a part of any intramural team.
Staying competitive is one of the driving forces behind the intramural program, although instead of playing for a championship ring, people play for the coveted intramural champion t-shirt! However, the competition never gets in the way of people having fun, because at the end of the game, people are always able to shake hands with the other team and the ref, and go back to doing their homework.
The intramural program at OBU is a great way to stay active, have fun, and build relationships. It utilizes sports to bring people together and have a good time, and is one of my favorite activities to participate in at OBU.
My name is Darin, I’m a junior double major in finance and international business. You can catch me around campus wearing flip flops, playing intramurals or club soccer, and doing homework way too late at night in the GC. Most importantly however, you can find me in Thurmond Hall at the office of admissions where I would love to show you around campus and hang out with you!
Life on the Hill: Bison Blog
