While education should be the first priority for schools, other outlets for student activity and creativity are crucial for an enjoyable college experience. Sonoma State University gives students choices to be a part of competitive sports teams, at the collegiate level, club level or intramural level.

Intramural sports at Sonoma State, give students the opportunity to create their own sport teams and compete against other students in a variety of leagues. The competition allows students to further connect with the campus community.

“Intramurals are mainly for fun, a little competitive, but are a great way to play with your friends who are also your teammates,” said Intramural Supervisor Antonio Aguilar.

While Aguilar has been an intramural supervisor for two years, he has also participated in different intramural sports such as indoor soccer and plays on the club soccer team. He feels that it gives him the opportunity to still have fun playing the sport he loves, but finds it much more relaxing than the club teams.

“I would advise more people to sign up for intramurals because it’s fun and an easy way to get involved,” Aguilar said.

Tyler Evans and Brad Neas, intramural coordinators, help answer any questions that may arise, as well as making sure each event runs accordingly.

Both Evans and Neas believe it’s important to have intramural sports at any university.

“We believe this is important because it’s a great way to be competitive in sports that people may have played in high school, but didn’t want to carry on playing at the collegiate level. It is also a great way to meet new people and have a little fun,” Evans said.

Not only do intramurals provide an enjoyable yet competitive atmosphere, the Rec Center at Sonoma State strives to make the process as easy as possible. According to Evans and Neas, at the beginning of each semester entry forms are put out downstairs on the first floor in the intramural kiosk.

All players have to do is get a group of friends together, pick up an entry form for their desired sport, then submit the form and pay a team fee to the front desk.

“On IMLeagues we post the most up-to-date game schedules for each league, as well as send out reminders and informational emails to all of the participants when necessary,” Evans said.

While the Rec Center tries to make the process as seamless as possible, intramural basketball player Ian Stake, feels that IMLeagues can be difficult to use and remember to check periodically.

“Every two weeks you have to sign up on IMleagues and last year my team only had four people register, but six people showed up. Two weren’t allowed to play, causing us to play a basketball game [with four players versus five]. [The game] was exhausting for our players,” Stake said. Other than that Stake felt that intramurals are a great addition to the campus and is glad to be able to take part in so many different sports.

Sports offered each semester include, basketball, indoor soccer and volleyball.

“Besides our normal sports we also put on ping pong and billiards tournaments, as well as a 5k run that we have every semester. We are working on getting a FIFA and NBA2K tournament organized for sometime this spring,” said Neas.

Evans and Neas encourage any Sonoma State student to come out to the intramural games and get involved. Interested students can email them at [email protected] with any questions regarding the second season of the spring semester.