Lake Larsen | Sports Editor

With the beginning of the new school year, many students may be looking to join and compete in athletics. There are two major ways for students to get involved athletically with the school: either joining an Intramural or a Club Sport. While both offer several benefits to joining, it’s important to note the differences. To make the choice between the two easier, I’ve broken them down to see which sports may fit the needs of each student.

Intramural Sports

Intramural sports are played by Western students against Western students. Intramurals give students the opportunity to form their own teams comprised of other students to battle it out against friends and foes from all over campus. Fall, winter, and spring terms are packed with full seasons of sports as well as single weekend tournaments. The winners of each championship are awarded a champions shirt.

Intramural sports give students the opportunity to compete athletically, while simultaneously allowing them to meet other students from all around campus that they otherwise might not have known. Intramural sports are very low demand on the schedule as there are no practices and no coaches. There are two types of play, full seasons with a postseason and single weekend tournaments. The leagues offer three combinations of teams: coed, which is comprised of half men and half women, open, which is a varying amount of men and women, and teams comprised of only men or only women.

To sign up and start or join a team visit IMLeagues.com/wou

Club Sports

Club Sports are essentially varsity level sports without the school funding. This means that club sports host weekly practices, have full seasons of games and play against other schools. Many of the club sports also have coaches or a coaching staff. There are two levels of club sports: Tier 1 and Tier 2. Tier 2 sports don’t normally compete and are more centered toward meeting new people that share the same athletic passions. Tier 1 sports are much more serious. They compete in national leagues and battle with schools all around the country.

Club Sports are a great way to continue playing sports at a high and competitive level. There are some restrictions on club sports such as maintaining a certain GPA or credit amount. These restrictions vary from sport to sport. However, there is no experience needed to join. All club sports are open to all students regardless of their experience level.

To join a club sport team visit IMLeagues.com/wou

Contact the author at lllarsen13@wou.edu