Column by Joanie Barry

WBF is the dreaded acronym of intramurals.

It’s the three letters that make supervisors sigh and wipe away a quiet tear.

Officials’ hands shake as they write those atrocious letters on the score sheet.

What do those letters mean?

Win by forfeit.

Forfeits are one of the biggest challenges of intramurals.

It is frustrating for the players who show up to the fields ready to play, only to be told they have no opponent.

The officials come ready to work and improve their skills but end up sitting in the grass waiting for the next game.

Supervisors do not get the chance to teach their young, new officials how to officiate. Then, before you know it, the championship game arrives, and the officials do not have the experience they need, and the players have only played a handful of games for the season.

It can be a challenge for captains trying to organize their teams. There is only so much a captain can do to control his or her players, but forfeits are a huge downer for everyone.

So, here are a few pointers to help captains avoid forfeits.

Captains should send out weekly reminder emails.

Constant contact between captains and players will cut down on confusion.

It is a shame when teams forfeit because they thought their game was at 10:00 when it actually was at 9:00.

If captains can simply shoot out an email or a text message to their players, then every player is on the same page and knows when he or she need to arrive.

Sometimes, life gets in the way of intramurals, and teams really have no choice but to reschedule.

The intramurals staff collectively begs you to call us before your game.

If you call us 24 hours before the start of your game, there is a good chance it can be rescheduled.

However, if you call less than 24 hours prior to your game time, intramurals has a right to deny your request for a reschedule.

That being said, we hate forfeiting teams.

Contact Bill Moorman either by phone or email, and he will do his best to work with your team.

Speaking of rescheduling, it is my personal opinion that the best way to reschedule a game is through communication between captains.

In the past, captains sent their available times to Bill Moorman and he scheduled games according to their availability.

That method tends to be a little messy. If the captains get together and pick a couple of options for days to play, then they can send it to Bill for approval.

Cutting out the middleman has a tendency to make things run smoother.

However, remember that Bill needs to approve the day because every game needs supervisors or officials to be present.

Forfeits are awful. Don’t forfeit.

Rule reminder for this week stems off of my hatred for forfeits. Don’t forget your ID.

The absolute worst type of forfeit is from a team who forgot their IDs.

So as always, stay safe and play ball.