Tag Archives: intramurals

Give Intramurals a Go

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By Samantha Yee

“I won’t run if you don’t run,” says the girl guarding me. I look at her, look down the field, look back at her and take off sprinting toward the end zone. “Aww man!” I hear her sigh as she gives her last burst of energy to chase me. I look down the field as my teammate hucks the disk around his defender straight down the sideline. I jump, feel the frisbee graze my fingertips and snatch it out of the air. My chest is heaving and I’m bent over in exhaustion as the girl guarding me comes to give me a high-five.

Never in my life would I have envisioned myself playing ultimate frisbee. Never in my life had the prospect of chasing a disk in itch-inducing grass seemed appealing. Never in my life did I think I would play a sport that involved this much running. I. HATE. RUNNING. Yet, there’s something exhilarating in pushing beyond your limits. Not just the limits of your lung capacity, but the limits of your comfort zone. Granted, I know that seems trite, but, in all seriousness, get yourself out there!

When I came to PUC as a freshman, I had no friends. Not a single one. I came from a massive public high school and I was surprised and somewhat disheartened to find when I got here, everyone already knew one another from Bible Camp, leadership conferences, College Days, or other Adventist academy-related events. I was determined to get to know people at school, upperclassmen included. Thankfully, my admissions counselor suggested I take ultimate frisbee as a fun aerobic class, which led to me meeting some amazing upperclassmen friends who asked me to join their intramural frisbee team and encouraged me to take part in other intramural sports.

Intramurals is a huge part of campus life at PUC. Whether you’re a master of a sport or you’ve never played, a D1 player or an A for effort player, intramural sports are a great way to make friends, gets active, challenge yourself, and have fun. Currently, PUC offers a variety of intramural sports beyond ultimate frisbee, including volleyball, pickleball, badminton, kickball, futsal, and a handful of others. Whether you decide to play all of the sports or just one, I encourage you to try something new and give intramurals a go. There’s so much to get involved in at  PUC and intramurals are just one part of student life, but give it a go. You just might win a championship t-shirt.

Playing Intramurals at PUC

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By Andrew Mahinay

Being active is an integral part of PUC. Most notably is the intramurals program, coordinated by Dr. Robert Paulson, which has over 800 games per school year.

The sports range from co-ed to date night in sports such as volleyball, basketball, frisbee, and many others. I myself have had the opportunity to participate in intramurals for three sports, making new friends and long lasting memories. Intramurals is a place you can push yourself to the physical limits, or if you are like most people, intramurals can be a place to get exercise while having fun.

PUC’s exercise science majors referee each intramural game, which means you are bound to see a familiar face. Hernan Granados, the head dean of Newton Hall, continuously helps ref games, ensuring fairness is exhibited on the playing grounds.

The entire gym is reserved for intramural games like basketball or volleyball, which means gameplay will not be interrupted or cut short. Each intramural game lasts an average of one hour and is a great way to take a break from studying.

In order to make a team, one must sign up on RecRadio’s page on Facebook. Sign up by finding other students and friends to compose a team. Once you recruit the required amount of players, create a team name on RecRadio, and you are now ready to participate in intramurals. A schedule of the teams you will be playing will be posted on RecRadio Facebook page so keep an eye out for that.

To differentiate teams, PUC’s intramural program provides free jerseys. If you want to get involved in an intramural team, there is a required fee of $5, which goes to pay the referees. If you know you will be even more active in intramurals, RecRadio offers a special deal where you can pay $30 to buy your own special jerseys, which showcases you are eligible to play in all sports without having to pay the $5 initiation fee. In other words, you will not have to pay to play in an intramural game again.

Intramurals tends to start in the evening, around 6-8 p.m., depending on the sport. Each night, Dr. Paulson makes it his goal to snap silly and amazing photos of live intramural game play. These photos can be found on the RecRadio’s Facebook page and to some people, like myself, these photos are the true highlights of participating.

The teams with the highest win-to-lose ratio move on to what is known as playoffs. During playoffs, teams compete with each other to get to the number one spot. Because of this aspect, Intramurals can get competitive. The team that wins first place lands a group picture on the RecRadio Facebook page, along with a game-winning shirt, which represents they defied all odds in beating all teams. With the competitive aspect aside, intramurals is all about having fun.

Intramurals is designed for all students whether you’re agile and quick or determined and committed, or just out there to have fun. There are no requirements. I highly recommend you join intramurals when you’re at PUC to create long lasting memories alongside your friends.

This years’ women’s soccer champions.

Fire It Up!

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By R.A. Paulson, Professor
Department of Exercise Science, Health & Nutrition

You’re new to PUC and would like to make a few friends, get some exercise thus limiting the effect of the “freshman 15,” reduce the stress of college life and smile a lot more, and maybe win a Championship T-Shirt—well, Fire it Up and participate in Intramural Recreation at Pacific Union College. Let’s look at what we offer:

Friends—Since almost 50% of our students participate in Intramural Recreation at PUC and many more will attend games and support their friends, Intramural Recreation is a great place to meet people.

Exercise—College is where you come to develop the skills you need to be successful in life, such as how to maintain balance. The number of nights you participate is up to you, we offer activities Monday – Thursday but most teams only play once-a-week. If you are a gym rat and sports is critical to your very existence, join several leagues.

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Fun—We do our best to make sure you enjoy you college days at PUC by offering a wide variety of sports in a well-run Christian atmosphere. Please let me know if you have any comments or suggestions that would enhance your intramural experience!

Championship T-Shirts—Everyone who participates in PUC Intramural Recreation is a winner but those that score more points in the championship game receive a Intramural Recreation T-shirt. (A much coveted part of your PUC wardrobe!)

What sports—when?

Fall – Flagball, Co-ed 6-person Volleyball, Co-ed Team Handball
Winter – Basketball (New this year—Men’s C League), Indoor Soccer, Floor Hockey
Spring – Co-ed Softball, Baseball, Co-ed Flagball, Co-ed Ultimate Frisbee, Date Night (Co-ed Doubles in Volleyball, Pickle Ball, and Badminton)

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Ok, you’re convinced and want to get involved. Fantastic—here is where to go for everything that is Intramural Recreation at Pacific Union College.  RecRadio.org is where you register your team, get information on upcoming events, see pictures of you and your friends having a GREAT time, and listen to a wonderful podcast.

If you can’t find an answer to your questions on RecRadio.org or have a suggestion on how to make the #1 Intramural program in the United States even better, stop by my office or send me an email at bpaulson@puc.edu.