One of the programs at Southern Adventist University that is popular among students is the intramural sports program. Intramurals are usually played from 6 to 10 p.m. from Monday to Thursday. There is a rotation of sports that are played, and this allows students to pick which sports they would like to participate in. The program allows students to make their own teams as well as enter as a free agent who can be picked up by any team.
This school year, Southern currently has the third largest freshman class it’s ever had, according to a previous Accent article. The increase in freshman enrollment has since led to an increase in the number of participants in the different intramural sports, according to Intramural Director Troy Walker.
“I knew that Southern had intramurals, but I didn’t know how many sports or how organized it was.”
In an interview with the Accent, Walker spoke about freshman participation in intramurals.
“One of the hardest groups usually to recruit to play the sports is the freshman class. This is largely due to the fact that they don’t know very much about it, and sometimes they rather worry about their studies first when they get here,” he said. “This year has been different, though, with the early intramural sports seeing a lot of participation.”
Caleb Asmare, a freshman chemistry major, was asked in an interview if he knew about the intramural sports program before coming to Southern.
“I knew that Southern had intramurals, but I didn’t know how many sports or how organized it was,” Asmare said.
Asmare was also asked about how intramurals have affected him in his life as a student.
“It’s been fun playing sports that I’m familiar with and interesting to learn how to play sports I’ve never played like floor hockey,” he said. “I choose to play because it lets me get my mind off school.”
In the past few years, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the intramural program has seen an increase in participants, according to Walker. He specifically mentioned basketball and how the number of teams and participants continues to rise.
According to the Accent article, there was a decrease in students enrolled at Southern from 2019 to 2021. That drop did not affect the continuing increase in intramural participation.
Walker said he is happy the number of participants continues to increase because he wants as many students to enjoy intramurals as possible.
“The intramural program was created for the students to enjoy,” he said.
Basketball is the upcoming sport for students to play next semester. Sign-ups for creating teams will end on Dec 7.
