Barry is a junior radio-television and secondary education double major and can be reached at [email protected].
Thanksgiving break comes as a welcome relief before the chaos of finals. Thanksgiving is also a time for our intramurals athletes to rest before playoffs. Many participants comment on their physical exhaustion during this portion of the season. Athletes find that they can’t quite play the way they used to in high school.
They are also finding that it takes longer for them to heal after they have injured themselves. Thankfully, the break will come as a relief to many of these sore athletes. This brings us to the point of this article. I’ve compiled a list of the most common injuries or illnesses that take place at intramurals.
Nausea: Nausea typically appears on Sundays during outdoor sports. I will always remember my freshman year officiating the All-University football championship. Unfortunately for the players of that game, the championship was played the day after Halloween. Half of the players arrived on the field in their costumes from the night before complaining of headaches and bright sunlight. One player came up to me and politely asked, “Can we have a designated throw-up area on the field?” Eventually each team pulled a garbage can over to its bench in case of emergency.
I implore you athletes: if you are going to throw up, please try to make it to the bathroom. If you throw up on intramural playing areas, it is my job as a supervisor to clean it up. Gross.
Broken fingers: Broken fingers are so common in intramurals that I supervised three fraternity football games where someone broke his finger this year. Two of these players continued to play while injured. I would like to remind participants that a supervisor’s job is to take care of the officials and the players during games. If you are hurt, wave us down, though preferably not with your bad hand.
Torn ACL: OK, this might not be the most common intramural injury, but when it happens, it’s a big deal. A torn ACL is something I would not wish on my worst enemy. Please alert a supervisor immediately. We have a responsibility to you as a player to help you when you’re injured. If that means we call an ambulance for you or give you a shoulder to cry on while you wait, we will do it.
All athletes know that injuries are a part of sports. Many times the injuries we get at intramurals are minor. Each scrape, bruise and bloody nose serves as badges of honor. They show everyone that you laid yourself out for your team. If you get hurt, be proud! (Except if you do something like tear your ACL — that would suck.)
It’s proof of your dedication to intramurals. Also, you will notice that a black-and-blue bruise is the perfect accessory for an intramural champion shirt.
