Less-common college intramural sports
Students don’t have to be recruited to play sports in college. There are less-competitive options, including club teams and intramurals. Club sports typically involve tryouts, practices and some travel. Intramural sports, on the other hand, are more casual and don’t require prior experience. Students compete without coaches against their peers, and in some cases, staff and faculty members. Instead of trophies, winning intramural teams or individuals often receive free T-shirts and bragging rights. Here are seven unique intramural sports — such as battleship, inner tube water polo, log rolling and spikeball — offered at colleges and universities in the U.S. Options vary per campus and season.
Battleship
Battleship is often played during a game night with family or friends. But a real-life version of this strategy game, in which players work to sink their opponents’ ships, has also become a college recreational activity. As part of the intramural sport — which is available at Florida State University and the University of Oklahoma, among other colleges — teams float in canoes in a pool. Together as a team, they toss water into competitors’ canoes using buckets or their hands. Teams are eliminated if their canoe capsizes or both sides of their boat are underwater. The last canoe standing is considered the winner.
Billiards
Intramurals aren’t all physical. Some, like billiards, are also a mental game. Often called pool, billiards is a game that involves hitting color-coded and numbered balls into pockets on a table using a long stick and white cue ball. Intramural billiards games at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for instance, are played with the requirement that a player win at least two games. A player can lose in several ways, such as committing a foul when pocketing the eight ball or knocking the eight ball off the table.
Broomball
Broomball shares similarities to hockey, but without the skates and padding. Using a broomball stick, which is reminiscent of a broom, players guide a plastic ball down the ice. Helmets are required and instead of skates, rubber-soled shoes are recommended. Intentionally bumping other players and kicking the ball are not allowed. The length of a game varies between two halves or three periods, depending on the campus. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. Every year, Northeastern University in Massachusetts hosts a broomball tournament with numerous teams.
Inner Tube Water Polo
For those interested in water polo without the physicality, an adaption of the aquatic Olympic sport — known as inner tube water polo — has popped up on college campuses across the U.S., such as Hope College in Michigan and Colorado College. The objective of both games is similar: score more goals than the opposing team. However, rather than tread water, inner tube water polo requires participants to float on inflatable inner tubes while throwing the ball around the pool. Rules may slightly differ per league, but games typically last between 12 and 20 minutes per half.
Log Rolling
Another aquatic intramural sport is log rolling, where competitors balance on opposite sides of a synthetic log and attempt to knock one another into the pool by running and kicking. However, opponents are not allowed to touch each other or cross the center line on the log. Some schools, like North Dakota State University, have log rolling tournaments while others host clinics for the sport. Virginia Commonwealth University, for instance, offer clinics throughout the fall to teach students how to stand and run on the log. Not only is it a workout, but it can also help improve balance.
Spikeball
Spikeball, sometimes called roundnet, is not just a beach activity — it’s also a recreational pastime and intramural sport on many college campuses, such as Virginia Tech and the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. Two teams, each consisting of two players, compete to hit a ball off a round net on the ground similar to a small trampoline. After a serve, a team has up to three touches to return the ball to the net. That rally continues until a ball doesn’t successfully hit the net, which results in a point for the other team.
Wallyball
Like other intramural sports, wallyball is an adaptation of another competitive game. In this case, it’s volleyball. Wallyball is typically played in a racquetball court and players must get the ball over the net within three hits. But unlike volleyball, wallyball allows players to hit the ball off the walls, with some restrictions. At the University of Arkansas, two teams of three players each compete in a best-of-three series. To win, a team must score 15 points in the first two games and 11 points in the third game, if a third game is needed. Games must be won by at least two points.
Other aspects of campus life.
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Lesser-known college intramural options
— Battleship
— Billiards
— Broomball
— Inner tube water polo
— Log rolling
— Spikeball
— Wallyball
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7 Less-Common College Intramural Sports originally appeared on usnews.com
