Intramural Sports – Why YOU need them

Oct 8

By Matthew Freihofner ‘15

To Meet New People

Intramural sports are one of the best ways to meet new people and create lasting friendships. I’ve always found that sports are one of the easiest ways to meet new people. It instantly allows you to have a common interest with your teammates and forces you to get to know them.

You DON’T need a group of friends to participate. You can sign up for any of the sports as an individual and be placed in a team of similar people. At my last college I played intramural basketball with strangers. My teammates ended up becoming some of my best friends at school.

You DON’T even need to be good. There are all sorts of different sports, some more serious than others. There are also several different types of teams. Find a team that likes playing for FUN not to just WIN.

To Stay In Shape

Instead of doing a boring fitness regimen you can stay in shape while having FUN. With Netflix, Reddit, or just plain TV, procrastination can sometimes get the better of you. Joining an IM team will provide motivation because of your commitment to your team.

To Relieve Stress

Everyone who goes to USC has had his or her fair share of stress. Whether it’s the deadline of your next paper, a midterm, or a final, we all have times when we need to unwind. IM sports are the perfect opportunity to zone out and forget about whatever it is that’s stressing you out. It has also been shown that working out can actually relieve stress and increase brainpower!

Swag

All Intramural champions get special T-shirts! Champions wear these with pride and you will be lucky if you can get your hands on one!

Now, here is how to get involved!

Some sign up dates for this Fall have passed, but there are still some available! If you want to give IM’s a try before you fully commit sign up for a 1-Day Tournament. USC has over 9,600 participants!

There are several leagues: All-University, Women’s, Coed, HICcup (residential housing), and Fraternity and Sorority.

Don’t forget to sign up earlier for the spring! I heard they might finally add soccer-tennis-hockey this year! (Not actually, but here is a man playing it anyway).