Spring Term at Washington and Lee University is a time of relaxation, intense classes… and lots of free time.

Director of Campus Recreation Ray Ellington says he thinks W&L students should get involved with one of the intramural sports his department will offer during Spring Term.

“It gives students an opportunity to get out and participate in sports and activities they enjoy doing, but it’s not at such a competitive level and it’s not such a time commitment,” Ellington said.

During Spring Term, Ellington plans on offering ultimate frisbee and soccer as IMs.

It’s easy to get involved in any intramural sport. There is online registration at www.imleagues.com. Anybody can register as long as they have enough people to field a team.

“Another way to be involved is to be an official, student supervisor or staff member,” Ellington said. “And you can make some money on the side.”

Rachel Stone, ‘17, Darby Lundquist, ‘17, and Sydney Lundquist, ‘17, are the three student supervisors. As supervisors, they help ensure equipment is available for the teams and are present at every game in case there is an injury.

“We are all CPR certified, so if anything ever happened we would theoretically have the capabilities to handle it,” Stone said.

Darby Lundquist wanted to combine her athletic prowess with her desire to get involved with sports on campus that aren’t varsity sports.

“I’ve always been an athlete, so it’s great to meet more people, serve as that base to allow them to play, make sure that everyone is playing fairly and allow them to have fun,” she said.

Another way that the supervisors contribute to intramural sports is through refereeing the games and matches.

“My freshman year, soccer was the first intramural sport [of fall term] and I am a United States Certified Soccer referee, so I actually knew what I was doing,” Stone said.

Similarly, Sydney Lundquist is on the women’s basketball team, so she felt like she had enough experience to referee intramurals.

“I absolutely love pick-up games of any sport because they offer a freer, less constrained type of play and lots of healthy competition,” she said. “Plus I can always use the extra cash.”

The practices that a team holds are completely up to the availability of the team. For the games and matches, however, Ellington sets up a tournament schedule between all the teams who are participating.

Typically, games or matches happen on Tuesdays, Thursdays or Sundays. Sometimes, a team will have two games a week, but Ellington knows that students are busy and can sometimes only participate once a week.

“Intramural sports help keep people active who might not want to put the time into a varsity sport,” Stone said. “Also, a lot of Division III students decide that they just want to play the sport for fun so they’ll just do the intramurals. Or, if it’s a sport that you’re not that good at, intramurals are a great place for that.”

In past semesters, Ellington has offered volleyball, handball, basketball, flag football and soccer, Stone said.

Sydney Lundquist has played on a volleyball intramural team before.

“I loved the relaxed atmosphere and being able to play a sport other than my collegiate sport with friends,” she said.

Similarly, Darby Lundquist said that bringing together different groups on campus to compete against each other is a unique part of intramural sports.

“There are tons of sororities, fraternities and independents who make teams,” she said. “There are some co-ed teams and some teams that are single gender. It’s great.”

The supervisors all agreed that they think intramurals give non-athletes a fun way to be a part of a team.

“Being on a team teaches someone a lot about working with peers, coming together to reach a common goal, respecting leaders, or stepping up to be one yourself, and competing to win,” Sydney Lundquist said. “It also keeps students in shape and gives them something to look forward to and focus on outside of the classroom.”

For the supervisors and Ellington, the aspect of intramural sports that is the most important is that students are able to meet more people and use the intramural sports to relax and get exercise, especially during Spring Term.

“You just have so much more free time during Spring Term,” Stone said. “Intramurals present an opportunity for you to go hang out with your friends while playing either soccer or ultimate frisbee.”