IMs: a little Tyng and a lot of fun for everyone

Rivalries. Traditions. Dynasties.

With over 2,500 participants in over 30 different sports, intramurals at Yale lie at the heart of residential college spirit. Looking for a nice leisurely match of billiards? Calling for the rock with three seconds left and the hoops championship on the line? From former high school soccer players to Nintendo addicts who can only dream of making an over-the-shoulder grab on the warning track, IMs are for everyone.

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Softball, like many of the fall and spring IM sports, is held at the IM fields near the Bowl.

Intramural matches pit one college against another. "A good indicator of a college's spirit is the vibrancy of its intramural program," Andrew Gurman, BK '98, a former college intramural secretary, said. "In IMs, a vast number of students of each college strive toward a common goal, serving to make the colleges more cohesive."

Colleges accumulate points for victories in any IM competition, and the one with the most points at the end of the season is awarded the coveted Tyng Cup. Points are determined by the number of players that participate in each sport. For example, a basketball match is worth five points since basketball is a five-man sport. This year's Cup went to Saybrook by, a large margin over second-place Berkeley.

Intramural participation opens up opportunities to meet other people in your college, especially upperclassmen whom you normally wouldn't have a chance to get to know. What better way to make friends than tossing them a touchdown pass or setting them up for a spike?

The fall and spring battlegrounds, for the most part, are located off-campus, on fields just outside the Yale Bowl. A school shuttle bus makes frequent trips to the IM fields from Payne Whitney Gymnasium. While it is quite a distance and sometimes a hassle to make the trek, the fields are a nice break from the noise of the city or the silence of the library. Most winter intramural sports take place inside at Payne Whitney.

The IM season begins in the fall, usually after a week or two of classes. The featured sports include men's and coed touch football, men's and women's soccer, coed golf, lawn volleyball, tennis, cross country running, and table tennis.

On tap for the winter is men's and women's volleyball, squash, coed inner-tube waterpolo, coed swimming, and basketball. Basketball usually raises the most interest. The men's division is split into three levels of competition, and the hoops games can get very intense. Also offered in the winter are bowling and coed ice hockey, which is played at Ingalls Rink, known to most Yalies as "The Whale." IM fever catches on with administrators too; Silliman Dean Hugh Flick has been known to join students on the ice for IM hockey games.

When the snow melts away and the grass is green again, it's time to head back out to the fields for the spring season. Spring sports include men's baseball, men's and coed softball, women's field hockey, ultimate frisbee, golf, billiards, soccer, racquetball, and crew.

Stats and highlights from the fields and the courts are featured weekly in the Herald's intramural section. "A successful IM program requires a large number of individuals from a college who are dedicated enough to get involved in sports on a consistent basis," Gurman added. Their dedication does not always go unrewarded; it is not uncommon for a college to recognize an "IM Athlete of the Week" in its weekly residential college newsletters.

More than anything, IMs provide a great opportunity to build college spirit and inter-college rivalry. So when you're packing, don't forget to bring the mitt that you haven't touched since Little League. Your college needs you!

Back to Taking The Field...