In my intramural soccer game last week, a player on the opposing team got into an argument with one of the refs over a foul and spat on my teammate. Everyone saw it.
This is not exactly surprising behavior when it comes to sports, but it was one of the tensest moments I have experienced in intramural sports at PSU. In club and professional soccer, the player would have been given a red card and immediately been taken out of the game. But since the incident occurred during halftime, our intramural referees had no power to remove students or give any fouls. So the argument escalated between the two teams and refs until it was time to resume play. The second half was an ugly dance between the two players with a few empty threats from the center ref.
I always thought intramural sports were a good way to exercise and meet some new friends. But I’ve found that intramurals are really competitive. To be honest, I am not sure if all intramurals are friendly to students who are new to the sport. This term I tried intramural volleyball and was taken aback by how competitive some of the other teams were! I still love to play and don’t plan on quitting any time soon, but new students may want to go watch a game before they sign-up to see if the level of play is right for them.