Come out and play

If you’ve ever wanted to take advantage of Portland State’s athletic resources, but you aren’t in a position to join a team or take a class, intramural sports might be an attractive alternative.

“The intramurals are for people who are just regular students who just want to play sports a couple of times a week,” said Portland State intramural coordinator Malia Guard.

“When I came to school I was trying to find a soccer team to get on, and unless you wanted to make the commitment to play on the women’s team, which is really a huge commitment of time, there’s really no way to play,” Guard said.

Guard also noticed that Portland State’s intramural program was practically nonexistent.

“I thought I would try and change that. I love sports, I play all sports. There used to be a really strong following here at Portland State, so the potential is there, I think,” Guard said.

The current lack of intramural sports at Portland State means that those who are interested in playing will have a wide range of times and resources to play or organize intramural games.

There are many reasons a student might get into playing intramural sports, one being the often impractical amount of time required to play for a school team. A wide range of athletes, from those who could never make any team to those that could have possibly played college sports can get something out of the intramural experience.

It is important that the students know about the intramural events, as they are basically “show up and play” affairs.

Given enough interest, Guard hopes to build a program that will become a mainstay at Portland State.

“I’m hoping to get the student organizations to join as a whole, to get some key groups interested, which will build a solid foundation for the whole program,” Guard said.

“Right now, we’ve got tennis, basketball, soccer and volleyball. I would love to add softball, but that would require people traveling in a van, because we don’t have a field,” Guard said.

There are many sports that are suited to be played intramurally, and Portland State’s resources make any of them feasible.

“I’m trying to organize a four-on-four basketball tournament, probably in the fall. We could have volleyball, ultimate Frisbee, flag football, water polo. You look at some schools, on their Web sites, and their intramurals page is huge,” Guard said.

To find out more about intramural sports at Portland State, contact Malia Guard at [email protected] or (503) 725-5127.

“I’d like people to spread the word and not be afraid to just come out. All these people are spending money at 24 hour fitness when they have all these resources available to them for free they can take advantage of. Intramurals are mostly going to be in the evenings so they’ll be convenient for people. It’s also a great way to meet new people,” Guard concluded.