With the spring season underway, students are looking to spend more time outside. The natural choice for most students would be intramurals; however, the department is yet to announce its plans for the quarter. For students who are wondering how else they can become more active, they could benefit from joining established communities on campus that regularly host scrimmages.

Senior electrical engineering major Nathan Landas, junior physiology major Victor Castillo and sophomore electrical engineering major Matthew Spickelmierare are all members of a student community that hosts football and other sports every Friday.

“My favorite spring season sport to play is probably football. My roommates put together a group to play at the Queen Anne Bowl every Friday, and it’s a lot of fun,” Landas said.

Castillo shared that anyone is welcome to join the group, which hosts more sports than football such as frisbee and soccer. Students can also reach out to him or any residential advisor in Emerson Hall for more information via the school directory.

“My favorite springtime activity is playing football with my friends [during] Football Fridays … Sometimes, we switch it up with frisbee [and] soccer. Anybody is welcome to play. We usually play on Fridays after class, like late afternoon … Just talk to either some of the RAs here in Emerson, they probably know about it, or just directly to me,” Castillo said.

If students prefer smaller groups or to simply stay on campus for activities, Landas mentioned that there are many opportunities to jump in with students at Tiffany Loop.

“Whenever it’s really sunny outside, I know that a lot of people are playing Spikeball outside or frisbee in Tiffany Loop. I’m sure anyone can just jump in and play with each other,” Landas said.

While he enjoys Football Fridays, Spickelmier hopes students will also get involved in intramurals. 

“I think we’ve gotta support intramurals a little more. They’ve had some transitions recently, so the organization is still getting set up, so I’d say be on the lookout for messaging from them,” Spickelmier said.

Apart from Football Fridays, there are also student communities for volleyball, basketball and softball. Junior psychology major Erica Sanchez explained some of the opportunities she has taken advantage of to play her favorite sports. 

“Even when open gym [isn’t] going on, a couple of us get together and still play volleyball. There’s a thing on Tuesdays and Thursdays where people get together and play basketball in the mornings, so I’m a part of that, too.” Sanchez said. “Volleyball is led by [an alumni]. He basically just texts us saying [when] we’ll play …. They usually do [basketball] at the community center, but sometimes they rent out the gym …. That’s Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11 a.m.”

Junior sociology major Shaye Martin recently started a softball community that gathers every Saturday.

“I actually just started [a group], it’s called Softball Saturdays. We might change it to a different day, but at the moment, we’re trying to get a couple people together just to play some games at Wallace Field …. So far, we’re trying to get more numbers going. In the group chat, we have about twenty people, but … we’re going good.” Martin said.

Sports are not the only activities to spend your time on in the spring, but being active and being outside is always more fun in a group whether it is intramurals or existing student communities. Students can even take initiative and start their own communities.

“I think it’s important for folks to know that if there’s something they want to see on campus, like a sport they want to play or something, they can definitely get a group of people together and just start it. A lot of the most fun things I’ve done on campus have been kind of impromptu, just led by students, not necessarily a formal event or a formal kind of sports thing on campus, but just kind of playing pick-up sports with your friends,” Spickelmier said.

“I just think it’s cool that people can get together and play sports here,” Sanchez said. “Like it doesn’t have to be an official organization or intramurals, it’s just like a community.”