The start of a new semester brings new opportunities to compete with and against fellow students.
Dixie State University intramural sports have started for the spring semester, bringing students the chance to participate in different sports not offered in the fall.
David Howell, assistant director of intramurals, said participation in spring semester sports is almost the same as the fall semester, with the spring semester having slightly fewer participants.
“I think we have slightly less participation in the spring,” Howell said. “I think that is solely [because] we have a little more of facility constraint with the sports in the spring. The student population across campus is a little lower in the spring as well so that contributes to it a little bit.”
The spring sports schedule includes men’s, women’s and coed leagues for 5v5 basketball, indoor volleyball, indoor soccer, dodgeball and 4v4 sand volleyball. The schedule also includes singles and doubles billiards, pickleball, men’s and coed softball, ultimate frisbee and 3v3 soccer.
There are individual competitions for basketball too, with a three-point contest, foul shot contest, skills test and a dunk contest. Howell said the most popular of the spring sports are 5v5 basketball and softball.
There are currently 36 5v5 basketball teams registered across the men’s, women’s and coed leagues. Howell said both men’s and coed softball usually max out the number of teams limited to the leagues.
Connor Murdock, a senior communication major from St. George, has played intramurals in both spring and fall semesters, competed in flag football and sand volleyball previously, and is currently participating in 5v5 basketball. Although Murdock participates in spring intramurals, he said he prefers the fall intramural season because it includes flag football.
“I think intramurals are a key part to making school more fun,” Murdock said. “They’re a way to take off the edge.”
Students can form a team or participate in a sport by going to recreation.dixie.edu/intramurals, and they will then have to register for an account on the IM Leagues website.
While most of the spring sports require a team, students don’t have to form their own team in order to play. Students may join the league they are interested in as a free agent and could be asked to join a team who is in need of players.
All registration fees, except for softball and 5v5 basketball, which are $40 and $35 a team respectively, are under $15. The singles and doubles billiards, individual basketball competitions and pickleball are all free.
Megan Tsosie, a sophomore biology major from Red Mesa, Arizona, was nervous about participating in intramurals for the first time when she joined the women’s and coed 5v5 basketball leagues.
“Its hard for me to talk and meet new people,” Tsosie said. “Once I met my teammates and got to play with them it made it a lot easier.”
Howell said if there is a sport a student is interested in playing, but DSU intramurals does not offer a league for it, come talk to the intramural office. There the intramural staff can see what interest there is in forming that league.
If any students encounters difficulties registering they can either go in person to the intramural office in the Student Activity Center, call the office phone, or email them at .
“If a student is unsure about playing I would tell them just try it,” Howell said. “I think if they try it once they will try it again. We offer something for everyone, if there’s not come talk to us about it.”
