University of Tulsa - Kendallabrum (Tulsa, OK)

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Participation Is Key To Success Of TU's Intra-murals by Dave Shults Something for everyone seemed to be the theme for intramurals at the University of Tulsa. For male and female participants, the intramural program had something to offer, from wrestling to fooseball to swimming. The first event on the intramural slate was flag football. Most any fall afternoon, spectators could be found lined up along Harwell Field watching two teams clash. Although flag football had the connotation of a friendly, harmless game that wasn't to be taken seriously, often it was quite a different story. Most organizations tried to field the best possible team. Every dorm and fraternity or sorority house scoured its people in search of the players that would bring home the coveted Ironman trophy or women's All-Sports trophy. The men's division was set up in two leagues, giving everyone a chance. The intramural program at TU centered on the theory of total participation. Once leagues and rosters were set, the rest was business. It was not uncommon to see men and women practicing two or three weeks in advance for an important contest that might come up on the schedule. It was easy to get involved with intramurals at TU. Games were played at varying times, thus allowing people from different teams to visit and see just how good the competition was. Even intramurals had its own sort of scouting system. Most people felt that it was this sort of competition that made intramurals at Tulsa so great and rewarding to those who wished to participate. The competition is the best with the teams that are going for the Ironman trophy, said Jamie Buckley, a fraternity intramural director who helped make up a panel composed of organization representatives and Donald Zimmerman, program director. You want to do well in intramurals and get the trophy because you have pride in your organization, said Buckley. Competition within the intramurals program had many different aspects. Not only were the major team sports of football and basketball offered, but there was also a badminton tournament and table tennis, for those interested. At a lot of institutions, it would be a common sight to see a pretty coed walking her boyfriend to the field where he would engage in intramural competition. At the University of Tulsa, that wasusually the exception rather than the rule. The women's program, under the direction of Marcia Burrus and assistant Melinda Shaver, was growing bigger and stronger all the time. This year, great improvements have been made, said Shaver. There is great participation, especially in the team sports like flag football, golf, tennis, and bowlingf, As in the case of their male counterparts, the women also stressed total involvement. Their ultimate goal was the women's All-Sports trophy. Due to recent improvements, the program was set so that a dorm or organization was given an all-sports roster at the beginning of the school year. Anyone who wished to participate signed the list, and total participationrwas achieved. Like any program, intramurals had problems. The main problem shared by both men's and women's sports was that of officiating. The officials for intramurals were students enrolled in officiating classes. The way the class was arranged, the students could be told to referee a game even though they had only been exposed to the rules for a couple of class periods. According to Buckley, an alternate possibility would have been to get officials from the city of Tulsa. However, Buckley admitted that it was unfair to blame the officials for this year's problems. The officials are not at fault, said Buckley. They are only learning and professional officials are expensive and hard to find. Another improvement for the future could be naming a full-time director of intramurals at TU. As of this year, Zimmerman and Burrus oversaw the programs and with the help of assistants, tried to keep things fair. Because of the passage of proposition l-A for athletics, more funding was allocated to intramurals in an effort to benefit more students. If a full-time director becomes a reality, men's and women's intramurals would fall under one title. Improvement and expansion seemed to be the key words for the future of the intramural program. This meant one thing to the university students: a better chance to get involved. Intramurals 25

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