WILL KARR
Editor in Chief
There are many varsity level athletic teams at SUNY Fredonia. However, Geoff Braun, Fredonia’s intramural director and volleyball head coach, is working to show that students don’t need to be a varsity athlete to play sports.
Braun has been intramural director for approximately 18 years and aims to provide students with recreational sports opportunities.
“You don’t have to be on an NCAA team to play, be active and compete,” Braun said. “[With intramurals], there are different levels that suit everybody’s interests. Within each sport if we have enough interest, we can have a recreational division, an intermediate division and then a competitive division.”
Through intramurals, students can compete against fellow students in semester long and half semester tournaments.
“I think that Covid affected students’ motivations to get out and do things for a while. But, most of our students are doing at least one other thing [outside of class] now,” Braun said. “But I would love to see students be involved in lots of other things — one of which is physical activity.”
Braun explained how intramural sports are different from varsity and club level sports. While varsity sports are funded by the athletics department, club sports and intramurals are funded by Student Association (SA). Club sports are student-run and groups often compete against teams from other colleges and universities. Meanwhile, with intramurals, students can form their own teams and compete against their peers right here on campus.
This spring semester, the Intramural Office is offering five different sports, which include basketball, volleyball, 3-on-3 soccer, pickleball and floor hockey. Braun said that volleyball and basketball are currently the two most popular sports.
Even though the registration deadline has already passed for this spring, Braun mentioned that many other intramural sports will be offered this upcoming fall semester such as flag football, dodgeball and indoor volleyball.
Students can put together teams by creating an account with their Fredonia email at IMLeagues.com. Students can also register as a “free agent” to be placed on a team with other students. In addition to creating an account, they can stay updated with intramurals by following @fredintramurals on Instagram.
Braun explained how the Intramural Office handles all the scheduling, officiating and refereeing of the games. All the games and programming occur between 4 p.m. and 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, so participants can still have their weekends free. When players win three championship games and t-shirts in a single academic year, they can win an “intramural legend” hoodie.
“We kind of say that everybody wants to become a legend,” Braun said.
Anyone with a valid FRED Card ID can participate in intramurals, including faculty and staff members. Braun explained how there are an even number of students participating across grade levels this spring. However, there are no faculty members and less than a third of participants are also varsity level athletes this spring. Braun would like to see more people from all areas of campus participating.
“There have been studies that have shown participation in intramural sports is beneficial to a students GPA, overall mental health, fitness and socialization,” Braun said. “You could have a campus that has a very diverse population, but if everybody is sitting in their dorms and is only going to and from class, you aren’t really taking advantage of the diversity. [Intramurals] are an opportunity to socialize with the diversity we have here on campus.”
You can learn more about intramural sports by visiting this link.