The intramural program was set up in its current form to provide students with opportunities to compete, develop leadership skills, handle responsibility, interact socially, and develop the values of sportsmanship, fair play, respect for authority, and team work. The program is designed to be run by students for students and to be administered by the intramural director and assistant director. Currently the intramural program offers roughly 20 different sports programs in the open Red Hawk leagues and another 13 sports in the IFC League. Nine student coordinators run the individual sports programs, which includes scheduling and maintaining the standings. Every year, the intramural deptartment receives very few applications from the student body for our nominally paid coordinator positions.

Almost all of our coordinators are very responsible and conscientious, and do an excellent job, but we aren’t immune to students who do not take their positions seriously and don’t live up to their responsibilities. When this happens, many people are sadly disappointed. Some student coordinators are well-meaning and do the best they can, but as easy as it may seem trying to schedule 30 teams between the hours of 8:30-11:30pm who can’t play on certain days and times because of class projects, work, and fraternity meetings, the schedule comes out with mistakes. It is a thankless job and the money we pay sometimes isn’t worth the hassle. In sports with officials, we have a major problem. Our intramural officials, who provide a valuable service to the program, are paid only $7 per hour and are sometimes harassed, intimidated, and threatened. Because of poor sportsmanship on the part of some of our intramural participants, they quit or don’t apply for jobs as officials. The intramural soccer program no longer has officials for this reason.

To be fair to all students, we hold sign-ups for individual sports on one day to give all captains an equal chance to sign their teams up. Our purpose in intramural sports is not to turn anyone away, but everyone must understand we have a limited amount of facility time. We share the athletic facilities with intercollegiate sports, clubs, open recreation, and outside groups. We just don’t have an unlimited amount of time at our disposal.

Lastly, when a student assumes the responsibility of being a captain, his or her duties don’t end when they turn in their roster. They are the leaders of that team and they have obligations and responsibilities to the successful operation of the league. The editorial written by Rob Tricchinelli cited several issues, including teams not showing up, standings not being updated, and officials not showing up.

All of these are valid concerns and I understand his frustration, but these problems can be remedied with the following: (1) Captains need to make sure their teams show up to play or call their opponent to let them know when they can’t make it. (2) Team leaders need to report their results—the intramural coordinators can’t maintain results they don’t receive. (3) To deal with officials not showing up, apply to work as an intramural official. Make sure your team treats the officials who show up for your games with the respect they deserve. A simple thank you goes a long way. (4) Get involved; apply for a job with the intramural department as a scheduling coordinator, intramural supervisor, or webmaster. (5) Show some patience and understanding. The intramural staff are students just like you who have classes and projects due. They are providing a service for the good of their fellow students and they should be appreciated and treated with respect for their efforts and sacrifices. (6) Intramural sports were started to provide students with opportunities to compete and enjoy sport and recreation. Winning at all costs shouldn’t be the goal of our participants.

In closing, the intramural department is not without its problems. E-mail me at steffk@rpi.edu and I would be happy to listen to any ideas you may have that can make it better for all involved.

Karl Steffen