I walked onto the field, smile on my face, yet not knowing what I was supposed to be doing. I saw someone wearing the classic referee stripes and asked them where I should go. They directed me to the correct field and sent me on my way. This experience felt so familiar and yet so foreign as I hadn’t played soccer in an organized setting in years. I had decided to sign up to play intramural soccer because I wanted to exercise more. But the Recreation Center wasn’t always my first choice, so signing up for intramural soccer was an amazing opportunity for me. The experience was phenomenal because the process to join an intramural sports league was easy, the amount of sports offered is so vast, and finally, you get to meet people who are nice and want to have a fun experience alongside you.
Signing up to join an intramural sport is easy; all you need is the Intramural Sports app, FusionPlay. You sign up, and then you get to see all of the options available at the moment. If you just want to be active, but don’t know what to do, there are so many choices from 4v4 Flag Football to Doubles Table Tennis. Once you find an activity that suits you can join a series of time slots, allowing for a flexible schedule where you can find a time that works for you. Once you find the right time, there will be a set of teams within that league that you can ask to join. Sometimes you can even start your own team that others could join. Whatever you end up doing, you have officially joined an intramural sports team. This process can be as quick as a few minutes. When I first started, I had joined a team called the Frank Firebirds, named after the best dining hall on campus, and it took me a few minutes to request to join, then another day or two on their end to accept my request to join. I also joined with a friend, and the experience was similar for them as well. Once they did that, I was all set and was able to play 4-5 games before the season ended. Although it was a short season, the experience was amazing. One of the reasons it was so amazing was the sense of community that was built from playing soccer together.
The sense community I got from playing soccer with the Frank Firebirds was unlike any other. They were filled with energy and were there to have a fun time. It was great for me because I hadn’t played in a very long time. They were all very supportive and even had their own Instagram page where they highlighted players who did a great job. They successfully built an environment filled with joy and teamwork. The experience was overwhelmingly positive, and I would strongly recommend that anyone interested in Intramural Sports download FusionPlay and have fun playing sports and building community.
