Bosco is a senior English and secondary education double major and can be reached at haley.bosco@drake.edu
This past week of intramurals has presented some adversity for many teams. The combination of a holiday weekend, Greek recruitment and early season breakdowns have been a factor in the unpredictable outcomes we have seen thus far.
Here’s your riddle of the issue: In the 2010 outdoor soccer season, I witnessed a girls’ team show up for every regular season game and eventually to the playoffs. They never scored a single goal and, in fact, never even stepped foot onto the playing field. So, how did the girls still prove victorious in the end and walk away with the championship T-shirts? Forfeits. Turns out, every other team lacked in numbers each week or never showed up, and the girls managed to win every game by default.
The matter of the forfeit in intramurals is inevitable and bears some significant history in our program.
This particular result can occur in one of a few ways and it is important to understand how to avoid a potential forfeit that will hinder the rest of your season. When your team knows beforehand that you cannot make a game, the best way to handle the situation is to contact the intramural coordinator, Matt Gasser, as soon as possible. However, when you feel a possible forfeit creeping up because of lack of players, don’t be too quick to despair. As long as the game is not a playoff game, anyone can join and play with your team at a last moment’s notice. Recruiting can be simple, and I have experienced the best success rate by persuading those working out in the bell center to come play a quick game. If and when you have exhausted all the options, make the call and attempt to prevent a future reoccurrence by either finding more friends or asking Gasser to change your time.
The most shameful form of the forfeit is the incident upon which no one shows up without notice of the absence. With this unexpected occurrence, opposing teams are often left angry and anxious by their restrained levels of competition. As a disclaimer, the intramural staff is equally as upset and foul-mouthing the missing team is ineffective. Teams absent in the first week of play are immediately disqualified from the league and, in other weeks, Gasser will contact them and the forfeit will always count as a loss. The more frequent cases are watching teams scramble to find the minimum amount of people to play with three minutes until the game starts. We do not take our motto “game time is forfeit time” very lightly, so even with the noble presence of two committed players, we will not accept the ones you “swear are on their way in like 15 minutes.”
As some forfeits are always to be expected, we know that most teams are dedicated and all sports have continued to see some great competition. This past Sunday presented an undying rivalry between SigEp and FIJI on the soccer field. With fast, strong and aggressive play from both sides, FIJI was able to edge out the SigEps by one goal in a 3-2 victory. The hot sun did not hinder the other participants either, as another heated rivalry was won by Toe Poke Express in its contest against Linghamz.
The flag football teams are energized as ever this year. The difference in effort levels between the men and women, and between the recreational and competitive leagues is negligible. Come check out the games being played every Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Volleyball is also showing to be popular this year among students that can afford staying up past 10 p.m. Players in this sport seem to be having some of the most fun, as everyone is learning that kicking is not allowed and light-hearted smack-talk is somewhat difficult in a sport that very few people are actually great at.
Until next time, please play by the rules.
