Issue date: 2/23/06 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Sara Norgon Sophomore Kelly Manske guards junior Melissa Weeks during an indoor soccer intramural game Tuesday night in McPhee.

With ball in hand, five seconds left on the clock and sweat dripping off the tip of your nose, you face the "5 Ds" question from the movie "Dodgeball": should I dodge, duck, dip, dive or dodge?

As the sweat pellets accumulate across your forehead, you push the rim of your goggles back into place as you do the unthinkable - gripping the rubber ball, you spike it across the court and listen as it strikes your opponent's left thigh. The game is over. Your adversary will be feeling the impression you left on him in the morning.

Dodgeball joined the "staple" intramural sports of basketball, volleyball, soccer and softball a few years ago, said Jon Bollinger, the student services program manager for University Recreation. However, it became a "big hit" after the movie release of "Dodgeball."

"When deciding on what sports to offer students, we follow the nationwide trends," he said. "Sports like dodgeball, kickball and ultimate frisbee are offered on popular demand."

University Recreation has been providing intramurals to students since the early 1970s, Bollinger said.

Each semester, there are two seasons, indoor and outdoor, and 12 intramural sports offered.

Catering between 200 and 250 teams each season, every sport has three divisions: men's, women's and co-recreational.

Bollinger said the intramural activities are offered to meet the physical needs from the beginners to the superior athletes, but he said the program comes down to social life with the main goal being participation.

"It's competitive but still recreational and I view the social aspect far more important than the physical aspect," Bollinger said.

Each division is split into 12 leagues of six teams that play in a round robin, he said, and after the five week season there is a single-elimination tournament.

Sophomore Tracy Komosa, who is participating in a co-recreational soccer team and women's volleyball team called "Mike Jones" this semester, said she tackled intramural activities because she didn't want to feel lazy after she came to college.

Continued...

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