After two weeks of open gym nights and signups, Seattle Pacific University’s intramurals program has begun its schedule of registered team games.
At the start of the 2023-2024 school year, Assistant Director of the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership Kevin Deschler became the new head of the intramurals program with the hope of rebounding the program after the last few years.
“I’m really excited to get intramurals lifting off. We’re going to have a lot of fun this year. I think people have missed it, and I’m excited to have a grand return,” Deschler said.
Although the official games are underway, signups and registration are still open for students who want to make a new team. Deschler recommends students use the IMLeagues website to register, a method recently resurrected from past years.
“We are using IMLeagues to organize our sports this year. My two intramural coordinators, Abigail and Victoria Moreton, are crushing it using that to organize the teams,” Deschler said. “They are taking full ownership over IMLeagues. I haven’t played around in there a ton. I activated it and gave them admin access and told them to go wild.”
Intramurals coordinator and senior apparel merchandising major Abigail Moreton recently sent the schedule for the fall quarter’s games via email for those who signed up, as well as posted the schedule on Instagram for SPU students at large.
“I upload the schedule on the intramurals Instagram, and [the teams] just have to show up 15 minutes before the game starts,” Abigail Moreton said.
Referring to IMLeagues, Abigail Moreton recognizes the difficulty in navigating the website and encourages students who are struggling with it to reach out via email or Instagram.
“[I would prefer] Instagram and email. I’ve already had a lot of people DM me on Instagram and email me and sort out [their] teams that way … and I do respond right away, so that’s the best way to communicate with us,” Abigail Moreton said.
If students are unable to register, they are still welcome to play and will be accommodated. However, Abigail Moreton does ask for consistency from students who are interested.
“If you have people who aren’t committed and don’t show up, then it makes it difficult to have the schedule work, and then we have to change things around,” Abigail Moreton said. “If you aren’t on a team and you want to come play, we either make another team called ‘The Substitutes’ that plays after all the other teams have played, or you can just join a different team that’s already playing.”
Intramural games will occur through Nov. 3 with the exception of Oct. 27. Volleyball is on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7 to 9 p.m. in the main gym of Royal Brougham Pavillion; additionally, basketball hoops will be made available around the volleyball courts for open shooting. Soccer will be on Fridays at Wallace Field from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
In the coming quarters, intramural coordinator Victoria Moreton, a senior integrated studies major, encourages students to register for the official schedule to avoid later issues.
“Showing up on the first two days of open gym [is best],” Victoria Moreton said. “We have a tablet out where you put your name, your email, what sports you want to play and if you have a team, you write down who you want on your team.”
Moreton also reiterated her sister’s concerns about consistency among students, noting the necessity for the program’s continuation.
“The only way intramurals is going to work and the only way intramurals is going to stay a program at this school is if people who are playing commit,” Victoria Moreton said. “We plan the days and the time and we make the teams, but if you don’t show up, it’s not going to work because no one’s going to play.”
As a sendoff before the end of the quarter, Descher invites students to intramurals’ upcoming final fall event.
“As far as introducing new sports … coming at the end of this quarter, we’ve got a capture the flag event planned on November 4th,” Deschler said.
With the fall schedule up and running, Deschler is finalizing intramural plans for the winter quarter.
“We’ve got in the works a broom ball tournament at the Kraken Community Iceplex up in Northgate,” Deschler said. “We’ve got a dodgeball tournament, kickball, all kinds of fun stuff. We’re going to have a [Super Smash Bros] tournament next quarter, so it’s all on paper and ready to go.”
Although plans are already in motion, Victoria Moreton calls for students to submit their own ideas for sports or activities to be added to the intramurals winter schedule.
“If anyone has any suggestions of what they want to do, we’d love to hear it and see if we can make it work,” Victoria Moreton said.
Students can contact the intramurals team at [email protected], [email protected], intramuralsspu.
