OUR OPINION

Should we have intramural sports here at Siena? In our opinion, we believe the answer is yes.

There have been opportunities; however, it seems few students have jumped at them. In the fall semester, there was supposed to be sand volleyball season that would last a month, ending in a tournament. However, only one team signed up.

We think a lot of people on campus have opinions, but they do not take any action. We’ve heard people say they want intramurals, and there have been many attempts, but not enough people ever participate.

So, it’s a tough topic: Do we think Student Engagement should try and start intramurals again after many failed attempts? Yes, because it would be a good way for students to get involved, not competitively.

Just because some students don’t play sports here doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy them. It’s just so hard to get people engaged. We cannot force anyone to take action to make these intramural sports work, so it’s difficult.

Also Siena’s Adrian campus student population is mostly athletes, and that limits people who can participate in intramural sports.

Basically, there is too much of a grey area when it comes to “when can” and “when can’t” an athlete do intramurals while being an athlete at SHU. Whether it’s a scheduling conflict, or even some coaches having team rules that do not allow players to participate in intramural activities due to an injury risk.

That grey area should be solved by having meetings with a committee of some sorts in which the athletic department creates a set guideline for student-athletes’ participation in intramurals. This policy should decide whether they are only allowed to participate in non-contact activities or more passive activities such as cards, ping pong or video games.

Once that is decided, coaches and student-athletes should be aware of the guidelines and commit to following those guidelines.

Marketing intramurals also has to improve because for the most part, many students don’t know about them. New this semester at SHU is a new club called Rec Life. This organization wants to gather people and partake in all different kinds of recreational activities. So hopefully this club leads intramurals in the right direction.

But the founders of this club can’t do it alone. If people truly want to see intramurals come back and actually be successful, then they need to stop talking about the issue and take action.

SPECTRA