The benefits of playing in an intramural competition

As I’m sure many of you know, at the start of the academic year, Warwick’s various sports clubs will be holding trial sessions in an attempt to gain new members for their clubs.

Of course, these trials are extremely competitive, and it is often very tough to make the cut (as a failed footballer myself, trust me on this!). Whilst the BUCS games against other universities, (along with the weekly circling for POP! obviously), may be the most competitive way to keep up a sport you’ve been playing all your life, don’t fret if you find that you were unsuccessful in your efforts.

The glamour of the sports clubs are not the only option. Warwick is full of opportunities and I think it is well worth remembering that you can still enjoy a sport competitively at Warwick by playing in the intra-mural leagues.

For those who are unaware, these leagues are held within the university as opposed to being contested amongst the various universities across the country. Signing up to the leagues is simple, as you can register online over at the Warwick Active website.

You can join a league as a fully formed team, ensuring that you can enjoy your sport with all of your friends or, if you fancy a different kind of challenge, you can sign up as an individual and be assigned a team. Sport is all about meeting new people and making new friends, so everybody should at least consider the latter possibility.

These leagues allow for widespread participation for your sport of choice

With intramural events often taking place throughout the week and the weekend, the matches will be between different societies and are taken seriously by all those involved. These leagues allow for widespread participation for your sport of choice and it is definitely worth trying to get involved in the various other sports teams on campus.

With the intramural leagues, you could perhaps end up playing with friends you may have made on your course or through other societies. These teams allow for a dimension that may be lacking in the main sports clubs, and I’m sure that there are people who would get more enjoyment in this environment.

If you’re one of these people, then perhaps the intramural leagues are the ones for you. As well as that, you will still have the chance to meet new people, something that I strongly believe is one of the best parts of being at a place like Warwick.

The intramural leagues maintain the social aspect of playing sports

The leagues maintain the social aspect of playing sports, which I’m sure many of you reading this will be interested in. You will hopefully be playing with the same core group of people each week, meaning that feeling of being part of an actual team should still develop as if you were part of a club.

Furthermore, the competitive element that so many of us relish is present and this gives the leagues some added spice. It may not be as serious as the BUCS league teams, but the intramural leagues are certainly no casual kick about in the park with jumpers for goalposts.

In fact, facing off against a friend in another society or your classmates means that games in the intramural league may even get more competitve than playing against strangers in BUCS! These clashes really give those matches an extra something, there’s the sense of rivalry and pride at stake in these games and these are definitely matches you do not want to lose!

You’ll be spoilt for choice when it comes down to actually picking a sport too, as there are intra-mural leagues for foobtall, futsal, basketball and netball. There are also different football leagues for different days, so if you can’t make matches on a Sunday you can always join the Saturday league, ensuring that you don’t miss out on any of the fun. Team fees are affordable too, as don’t forget the registration fee will be split by however many team members you have.

It’s widely acknowledged that the BUCS leagues are huge on campus, and it is easy to be disappointed at missing out on a team, and missing out on the opportunity to make your mark in this particular competition. But as one door closes another door opens, and Warwick is a place with a myriad of doors filled with opportunity. So, if you are looking for another way to get involved with sport at Warwick, I highly recommend checking out what intramural teams you could join.