DOCUMENT RESUME ED 289 878 Intramurals and Club Sports. A ... · American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, Reston, VA. ISBN-0-88314-330-5 86 ... Coed

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Intramurals and Club Sports. A Handbook.American Alliance for Health, Physical Education,Recreation and Dance, Reston, VA.ISBN-0-88314-330-586116p.; Photographs will not reproduce well.AAHPERD Publications, P.O. Box 704, Waldorf, MD 20601($4.95).Guides Classroom Use - Guides (For Teachers) (052)

MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS.Ancillary School Services; Elementary SecondaryEducation; *Intramural Athletics; Lifetime Sports;Physical Activities; *Physical Education; *ProgramDevelopment; *School Recreational Programs; *TeamSports

ABSTRACTThe nature of intramural programming has changed over

the years; competitive leagues do not dominate the schedule of eventsas they once did. Strategically placed throughout the year are atleast four other programming options, which include self-pacedprograms, challenge activities, social events, and club sports. Thishandbook provides the intramural director with information that willassist in developing the first time program or improving the longstanding one. It contains activities and administrative proceduresthat can be adapted to insure a successful program. The four sectionsof the handbook deal with program philosophies, organization andadministration, sports tournaments and special events, and sportsclubs. (JD)

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Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be madefrom 'le original document.

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Intramurals andClub SportsA Handbook

A Project of theNational Intramural Sports Councilof theNational Association for Girls and Women in SportNational Association for Sport and Physical EducationAssociations of theAmerican Alliance for Health, Physical Education,Recreation, and Dance

American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance1900 Association Drive Reston, Virginia 22091

7ERMISSION TO REPROCUCE THISMATERIAL IN MICROFICHE ONLYHAS BEEN GRANTED BY

..wht.T..t3.___

TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)"

U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOffice of Educational Research and Improvement

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)

E This document has been reproduced asreceived from the person or organizationoriginating itMinor changes have bean made to improvereproduction quality

Points of view Or opinions staled in this document do not necessarily represeni officialOERI position or pc,ficy

Copyright © 1986

American Alliance for Health,Physical Education, Recreation,

and Dance1900 Association DriveReston, Virginia 22091

ISBN 0-88314-330-5

ii4

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To all of the authors whose wcrk appears within these pages, hrtheir dedicated efforts and professional insight into the fieldof intramurals.

To the current members of the National Intramural SportsCouncil Executive Committee, in sharing their time and ideason this project:Faye Burchard, Missouri Western State College, St. Joseph,

Missouri.Gary Spindt, Hart High School, Newhall, California.Diane Bonanno, Rutgers University, New Brunswick,

New Jersey.Carolyn Callaway. Longwood College, Farmville, Virginia.

iii

PREFACE

Dian?. BonannoAcademic Program Coordinator

Department of Recreation and Leisure StudiesRutgers University

New Brunswick, New Jersey

Historically, the intramural program has emphasized the competitive arena of sport andprovided a practice field for the skills learned in physical education class. While this is stillone very important objective in many school settings, it is no longer the primary consid-eration which guides the intramural director through the planning process today.

The nature of intramural programming has changed dramatically over the years. Whatwas once a narrowly defined collection of tournaments in a few traditional sports is now amo:ti-faceted program that cuts across the entire spectrum of physical activity. Competi-tive leagues, while important in the overall scheme, do not dominate the schedule ofevents as they once did. Strategically placed throughout the year are at least four otherprogramming options that allow the intramural supervisor to reach a broader range ofstudents than was possible under the round robin/single elimination format. Theseoptions, which include self-paced programs, challenge activities, social events, and clubsports represent a standard of intramural programming which cannot be ignored if theintramural director is committed to providing the student with the highest quality ofservice possible.

Whether you have been involved in administering intramural and club sports for manyyears or have been recently asked to develop a program, you will find that a ready sourceof ideas from experienced professionals is one of the keys to successful programming.The Intramural Handbook, a special project of the National Intramural Sports Council, i!just thata ready source of information that will assist you in developing the first timeprogram or improving the long standing one so that it meets today's standards. Acomposite of ideas from professionals across the country, the Intramural Handbook con-tains activities and administrative procedures that can be adapted to your particularsituation ,o insure a successful program.

iv 6

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Program Philosophies1 Intramurals: An Avenue for Developing Leisure Values4 Achieving Educational Goals Through Intramurals6 Extension of the Element ?ry Physical Education Class Through An Intramural

Program8 Possibilities and PotentialsHigh School Intramurals

10 Intramurals, Above and Beyond . .

12 Extending the Intramural Concept14 The Intramural Syndrome15 Points for Intramurals16 Eery Pl?yer Wins in Recreational Sports19 Midday Intramurals21 Intramurals at Six22 Intramurals in the Junior High School24 Intramurals Commack Style26 Intramurals at Urban junior High27 The Newton PlanAn Intramural Program for the Middle School28 Elementary Program Allows All Children to Express and Enjoy Themselves

Through Sports and Play29 junior High Intramurals: A Positive Approach30 Coed Sports in High School

Organization and Administration33 Administrative Support: The Key to Intramural Program DeAelopment34 High School IntramuralsAn Endangered Species36 How to Succeed in Intramurals Without Real!), Trying37 Preventing Injuries in College Intramural Sports39 Injuries and Intramurals40 A NISC Feature: Financing Intramurals44 Standards and Guidelines for Intramurals46 Checklist for Procuring an Intramural-Recreation Program Sponsor48 VISIBILITY The Key to Building a Successful Intramural Program50 Increasing Participation52 National Intramural Sports Council53 Computer Coordination for Campus Intramurals55 An Equitable Intramural Point SN stem58 Controlling Unsportsmanlike Conduct in Intramural Sports59 Sports Without OfficialsWhy Not?61 Are Officials Really Necessar?

But Hov Will We Play Without Of ficials?62 Scheduling Student Of fic Nils63 Ile 25(4 Inn amural Director Who Works for I 00(4 Student Pain( ipation

v

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Sports Tournaments/Special Events65 Selecting Sport Tournaments68 Get Tnose Skeletons Out of the Closet . and Use I he'll in Intraniurals69 Eliminate Volleyball Forfeits70 Helter-Skelter To.:rnament72 An Effective Round Robin Schedule74 A Modified Single Elimination Tournament

Modifying Intramural Rules77 Improving Response and Participation in Intramural Program,79 Mired Murals80 Intramural Gymnastics Competition82 Three Pitch Softball83 Innertube Water Football84 vetting a "Bang" Out of Intramurals85 Coe-lucational Recreational Activities90 Participation for the Handicapped91 Team Sports for Exceptional Students92 Intramurals for Handicapped Students at Kent State Universit94 Special EventsThe Ultimate Rx95 Intramural Superstars97 Elementary Superstars98 All Sports Night99 Almost Anything Goes at ECU

Sports Clubs100 Sports Clubs: Their Place Within the Total Intratnutal-Recreational Spotty Program101 Extramural Sports Clubs and Varity Athletics103 The Sports Club President and Advisor104 The Sports Club CouncilA Vital Admimstr-tiNe Tool106 Sports Club FundingThe Dollars and Sense Approach107 Regulations for Travel and Competition

vi

Intramurals: An Avenue for DevelopingLeisure Values

Intr: murals have traditionally beendefined as those activities conducted

within a particular institution and inwhich Ill participants are members ofthat instinition Leisure essentially refersto "free ti.ne," time when one does nothave to perform tasks normally as-sociated with making a living or, in the..ase of a student, getting an educationAlthough intramurals and leisure are notfree of debate and are certainly subject todifferences of opinion, the above defini-tions would be considered basic

Value, on the other hand. is certainly amore difficult term with which to dealPractically all educators at one time oranother have grappled with the term

41/4 '16f-

Edgar W. Shields

"value as well as all the issues inherentin the notion of value education Regard-less of the different meanings attached tothe word and the many kinds of v:lues.basically something is valued because ithas either intrinsic or extrinsic worthValues are also relative with respect tostrength If an individual strongly valuessomething. it is high on a priority list ofthings or activities to acqw:e or to beengaged. Values are difficult to measurein that they are intangible entities govern-ing human behavior and they may beconsciously conceived or uncons,iouslyheld For the most part. values must beinferred ft-, ,n a person , behavior.

Intramurals, although the basic con-

4'

cept may be applicable to and foundwithin many different types of insti-tutions and settings. have traditionallybeen a part of the total offerings of educa-tional institutions. Statements of purpose,or a listing of objectives for most educa-tional institutions make some referenceto value development and/or valueclarification, and all educators are con-cerned with value development specificto their discipline or profession

Most intramural directors are morethan administrators of a recreational pro-gram. They are educators and are con-cerned with attaining educational goalswhich include value development. It fol-lows tha: intramt ral directors should be

I

9 Intramural Handbook

concerned with the contributions in-tramurals could make with respect tovalue development

In that recreation is a primary reasonone participates in intramural activitiesand that such participation occurs duringthe individual 's leisure time, a logicalhypothesis may be that through participa-tion in intramural activities one coulddevelop values pertaining to the con-structive use of leisure time. An in-tramural director who accepts thishypothesis certainly would be concernedwith the conditions that must exist whichwould enhance the development of lei-sure values

A definite prerequisite to any programwhich hopes to facilitate value develop-ment is a commitment to value develop-ment as an objective of the programMany author Carlson. De ppe, andMacLean'. Hyatt'. Kleindienst and Wes-ton'. Kraus4, Meyer and Brightbill'. andMueller6, have examen 'Li and discussedthe purpose, objectiv , and values ofintramurals and/or recreation in general.Value development, most frequentlyexplicitly but also implicitly stated, wasincluded by all as a purpose or objectiveof intramurals and/or recreation.

The commitment is there: value devel-opment is an objective of intramurals.Since the commitment has been estab-lished, perhaps intramural directors,hould address the question of whatcriteria must be met in order for valuedevelopment to take place through in-tramural participation

Raths, Hamlin, and Simon' have iden-tified seven criteria which must be satis-fied in order for something to be called avalue These are. ( I ) choosing freely, (2)choosing from among alternatives. (3)choosing after thoughtful considerationof the consequences of each alternative,(4) prizing and cherishing. (5) affirming.(6) acting upon choices, and (7) repeat-ing They also summarize the sevencriteria by saying that values are basedupon three processes choosing, whichincludes the first three of the sevencriteria: prizing, which includes the

Edgar W Shields is assistant professorof physical education and director of in-tramural sports, Department of PhysicalEducation, University of NorthCarolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27514.


fourth and fifth criteria, and action,which includes the last two et the sevencriteria. Raths, et al suggest that theseprocesses collectively define valuing

Choosing Freely

Surely if something is to be a stableforce under all circumstances in deter-mining behavior for an individual, itmust be the result of free choice Coer-cion can produce certain types of be-havior, however, remove the coercionand more than likely the behavior willchange Values must be the result ofchoosing freely.

How does this apply to intramurals')Certainly intramural activities are ac-tivities in which people engage voluntar-ily, and no intramural director wouldsupport the use of coercion in order toincrease participation in intramural ac-tivities However, at times, coercionmay cr-ep in unnoticed, For example.coercion may exist at the hall or unit levelundetected by the administrator of theprogram Unit or hail intramural man-agers may engage in a little "arm-twisting in order to persuade an indi-vidual to participate in a given intramuralactivity The pursuit of points toward anoverall academic year intramural cham-pion could serve as a stimulus which pro-duces coercion at the hall or unit levelFor most, however, the criterion ofchoosing freely is satisfied The studentchooses freely and voluntarily partici-pates in intramural activity.

Choosing From Among AlternativesThe second criterion implies that a

choice is possible. Especially from expe-riences as a student, everyone is familiarwith requirements and obviously alterna-tives may not exist with respect to certainschool, college, or university require-ments. There seems to be no real problemhere .vith respect to intramurals, in thatintramural activities are leisure ac-tivities and the student basiLally has twotypes of choices First of all. there arenunierous other things. external to theintramural program. that any studentmight do in his/her leisure On anysch )ol or college campus and in anyse,00l or college town, alternatives are

ailable and intramurals are, contrary towhat many of us would like to think, notnecessary for our existence. The point is,there is a choice

Secondly, within any intramural pro-gram hiving a wide variety of activitiesand attempting to meet the needs of a

diverse student population. many alter-natives are available, not only with re-spect to activities, but types and level ofcompetition within the intramural pro-gram if from among many alternatives astudent chooses to participate in in-tramurals, he/she then has many otheralternatives from which to choose. as-suming it is a diverse program of broadscope

Choosing After ThoughtfulConsideration

The third criterion, choosing afterthoughtful consideration of the conse-quences of each alternative, seemssomewhat difficult to comprehend. Val-ues emerge only from an understandingand thoughtful weighing of the possibleconsequences of alternatives. Impulsiveand/or thoughtless choices are not con-ducive to value formation. How mightintramurals meet this requirement`' It ispossible to assist the student in thought-fully considering intramurals as an alter-native') Can we assist the student inchoosing from among our many ac-tivities')

By and through proper am'. ample pub-lication of what the intramural programat the institution has to offer, specificallyand generally. the student is suppliedwith the information needed to thought-fully consider or to choose activitieswhich will meet his/her needs. If the stu-dent is unaware of the opportunities forneed fulfillment in intramurals, chancesare good that he/she will not seriouslyconsider it Only if he/she is cognizant ofthe opportunities in intramurals canhe/she thoughtfully weigh intramural ac-tivities against other activities A wellorganized and conducted publicity pro-gram is essential to meet this criterion

Prizing and CherishingThe fourth criterion is prizing and

cherishing Obviously something highlyvalued is prized and cherished It makesus happy and we hold it dear We are gladwe chose that alternative. Values flowfreely from choices we are glad that wemade Intramurals can be a positive ex-perience which is capable of standing by.self, and a high quality experience is

something remembered by all A prop-erly administered, well organized and

conducted intramural program, sensitiveto the needs of the people it serves, isrequired to produce quality experiences

AffirmingWhen asked about intramural experi-

ences. will an intramural participant en-thusiastically support the program andspeak positively of participation') Ifhe/she does, the choice is affirmed. Theparticipant is proud of that choice, sees itas being worthwhile, and is willing topublicly affirm that choice If the indi-vidual does this, the criterion for numberfive has been met. As with criterionnumber 4. a high, quality experiencewhich has met a human need or needswill be remembered, prized, andcherished by all and there will be nohesitation in affirming the choice of in-tramural activities.

Acting Upon Choices

When we possess a true value, it 'if-fects our lives A value gives direction toactual living An individual who talksabout something but never does anythingabout it is dealing with something otherthan a value. Do students at your institu-tion budget their time and energy for in-tramural participation') If so, they p()%-sess a positive value with respect to yourprogram and their participation in it Arethere values reflected in their behavior'?If the first five criteria are met. criterionnumber six is almost certain to be metwhen the student, faced with comparablechoices of which one is intramurals,chooses what he/she honefull) alueshighlythe recreation benefits of in-tram mak

Repeating

The final criterion, repeating. is per-haps the ultimate in prima taca cv idenceof a value When something has becomea true value, it I., likely to reappear orrecur repeatedly in the form of certainbehaviors in the life of an indiv !dualValues are persistent Do students, oncehaving toed intramural acvity, returnfor more? Do they become regular partic-ipants in one or more parts of your pro-gram? lithe answer is yes, value forma-tion has taken place Virtually no onewould contest the notion that intramuralexperiences are highly valued and a truepart of an individual's value system. ifafter having chosen freely from amongalternatives and ha,ing thoughtful con-siotration of the consequences of each

alternative, choose intramurals as theirleisure activity The participants willprize and cherish that choice enough topublicly affirm their choice, and whenfaced with similar choices repeatedlychoose intramural participation.

These criteria will not "automati-cally" be met in an intramural program.If one of our purposes or goals of in-tramural participation is the developmentof values relative to the constructive useof leisure time, then plans must be laidsuch that the opportunities for such valuedevelopment is maximi..ed. If leisuretime is going to be an increasingly dom-inant phase of life, as we are frequentlytold, the need for value development inthe area of recreation becomes more vitaleach day.

Education may be a .ormal or informalprocess. Formal education is basicallyplanned education. Informal educationmay take place unconsciously and oftenspontaneously. Direct learning experi-ences are possible in intramurals, in thata participant may learn a new skill insome sports activity. At the same timewhat might be labeled as indirect benefitsmay be realized, benefits in areas such associal development, relief from tensionsand anxieties, and the development of anattitude of sportsmanship. The partici-pant may incidentally discover that phys-ical fitness improved and that he/shesimply feels better as a result of participa-tr As directors of intramurals andcampus recreation programs, we mustattempt to deal with opportunities for di-rect, incidental, and indirect learningsand benefits We must plan the experi-ences, control the environment, and pro-vide the kind of leadership which willprovide opportunities for positive learn-ing and value development with respectto the constructive use of leisure time. Ifwe do this we will not only achieve thegoals and purposes of inttamurals, but ofeducation as well

There are some basic principles whichwould certainly assist us in realizing o,.rpurpose of developing sound and con-structive leisure values based upon theprevious discussion of Rath's, et. al

seven criteria First, tf,ere must be nocoercion to participate in intramural ac-tivities It must be completely voluntarySecond, a proper perspective of winningand losing must be maintained Ideally,the environment should be one in whichthe values of participation are foremost.

11

Third, a wide variety of activities must beavailable to appeal to a wide range ofinterests and needs The ultimate aimwould be to provide something for all andthis is certainly an ideal for us to movetoward. Practically speaking, we maynever quite reach that goal. However, wemust base the program on human needsas much as possible Fourth, in additionto a variety of activities, various levels ofcompetition should be provided to meetthe needs of relatively high-skilled,moderately-skilled, and low-skilied in-dividuals. A completely low key ap-proach to an achy ity in which winning orexcellence in performance is deem-phasized may destroy the recreationalproperties of certain individuals, yet, asmentioned previously, winning must bekept in proper perspective.

If these principles are followed, valuedevelopment in intramurals will becomea more "formal" process, and intramu-rals may function as a form of recreationeducation. Will intramurals inculcate inindividuals leisure values which will pos-.Lively influence their future lives andenable them to become the best personsthey are capable of becoming? This ques-tion must be answered using longitudinalmethods; however, we might -,peculatethat the welfare of the coming generationmay depend upon the youth of today de-veloping worthy leisure values. Let's notassume that value formation is an as

sured" result of participation In thequest for something for all" and in-creased participation, let's not sacrificequality for quantitylet's plan for botli'

'Carlson. Reynold E Deppe. Theodore R . andMaclean. Janet R Ret mutton in /lineman LifeBelmont. California Wads".orth Publishing Com-pany, 1972

'Hyatt. Ronald W . Intramural Sports Organi-zation and Administration, St Louis C V Mosby.1977

'Kleindienst. Viola and Weston. Arthur. In-tramural and Ret roman Programs for Si hoof sandCoileges. New York Appleton-Century-Crofts.I964

'Kraus. Richard G Re( reation and Leisure inModern Society New York Appleton-Century-Crofts. 1971

`Meyer. Harold D and Brightbill. Charles KCommunal Re( motion A Guide to Its Organiza-rwn Englewood Cliffs. Ni Prentice-Hall, 1964

'''Mueller. Pat. Intramural% Programming andAdministration Nev. York Ronald Press Com-pany. 1971

'Raths. Louis E . Harmin. Memll. Simon. Sid-ney B Values and Tea( lung Working nal, Val-ues in the Classroom Columbus. Ohio C F

Publishing Company. 1966

Intramural Handbook 3

Achieving Educational Goals ThroughIntramurals

Phil Carlton and Rob Stinson

intramurals were once regarded asIthe poor cousin in the physical edu-cation program. While classroom in-struction and interscholastics ab-sorbed teachers' time and energy, in-tramurals were either ignored or ex-pected to take care of themselves.Further, it was held that while class-room instruction and interscholasticswere inherently learning experienceswith educational values, intramuralswere simply games to keep studentsbusy and let them blow off stealu.

Intramurals are now recognized asintegral to a balanced physical educa-tion program. The Calgary Cur-riculum Action Project, Initiated in1976 by the Calgary Board of Educa-tion, recognized the importance of in-tramural% to the well-balanced physi-cal education program in developingtheir intramural program model.' Tofacilitate achieving the six objectivesin the model it was necessary to de-termine both the dimensions of theintramural program and the educa-tional values associated with each di-mension.

Recognizing that there are a varietyof different needs in each schoolpopulation The Calgary intramuralbooks recommend that all Intramuralprograms include four dimensions ofactiv'ty: (1) leagues and tournaments,(2) clubs, (3) special days, (4) self-directed activities.2 There is a growingawareness that to meet all the stu-dents' needs physical educators shouldwork toward including these four di-mensions in all intramural programs.Intramuralists have come to realizethat at any particular point, a studentmay not wish to he involved in a com-

Phil Carlton is a physical educationspecialist with the Calgary Board ofEducation. Rob Stinson is the campusrecreation manager at the University ofCalgary. Both live in Calgary, AlbertaCanada.


petitive team situation and should beable to participate in intramuralsthrough one of the other dimensions.

Leagues and Tournaments

Leagues and tournaments repre-sent the most traditional dimension inan intramural program However, in-tramural coordinators today are usingnew approaches in strv^",:ring theseactivities so that more students can beinvolved successfully. They havecome to realize that it is not alwaysnecessary to play a particular game onthe "official" court, which may oftenlimit number of games and partici-pants. Intramuralists are using theircreative juices and the expertise ofothers to adapt and modify games tomeet the needs of particular students'school facilities. They are also offer-ing more coeducational leagues whichfurther de-emphasize physical, highlycompetitive play, while encouragingpositive social skills development.The traditional games of soccer, vol-leyball, and basketball have been re-placed by six-a-side soccer, beachballvolleyball, pillopollo, bucketball, andbladder ballall designed with asingle intramural thought, "the mostpossible for the greatest number."

Special Days

Intramuralists have increased thenumber of special days held through-out the school year. The traditionalspring Sports Day is now just one ofmany. Special days have been relatedto class programs or units of instruc-tion, such as a "Skipping Day" at anelementary level or " Basketball-Golf at a secondary level. Using atheme approach, elementary teachershave integrated other subject areaswith physical education to comprise ashort unit of study. Halloween theme-related activities might include lan-guage arts (poems and stories), fine

12

arts (special play), art (publicity draw-ings), and physical education (novelrecreation events).' Each special dayshould incorporate many of the fol-lowing objectives.'

Developing an awareness of out-door recreational flin" activitiestt at can be done in various types ofweatherProviding opportunities for pupilsto cooperate in groupsDeveloping positive attitudes to-ward participationEncouraging group activities whichdemonstrate the importance ofcooperation to achieve commonobjectives.Helping stuoents understand theimportance of respecting the worthand digni., of individualsLearning to respect and get alongwith team members.Developing a cooperative attitudetoward other team membersDeveloping an appreciat'on ofgood team competition andsportsmanshipDeveloping and using special pupilinterests and abilitiesDeveloping appieciations and in-terests which will lead to wise andenjoyable use of leisure time.Developing positive attitudes to-ward our teachers, the school, andother studentsProviding an opportunity for pupilsto enjoy different sporting events,and in doing so, to feel good aboutthemselves.Extending and developing physicalabilities outside of the regular phys-ical education program.Developing feeling of moral re-sponsibility to a tt..am effort.Providing an opportunity for stu-dents to make some decisions con-cerning self-disciplineDeveloping reasoning abilitiesthrough competitive events.Providing an opportunity for thestudents to see themselves andtheir teachers in a less formal set-ting, and in doing so, to appreciatethemselves, their teachers, andtheir c^hool

Developing an understanding ofthe obligations and responsibilitiesof citizenship in general, andsportsmanship in particular.Developing pride in work and feel-ing of self-worth in activities thatare more outgoing in nature thanthe academics

Clubs

Physical educators have come tosee intramural clubs as another way toextend their class program and meetthe specific needs of students Twoexamples which illustrate this pointfollow.

BadmintonMany school.. Jo nothave the facilities to allow a physicaleducation teacher to properly con-duct a full scale badminton unit. Itmay be introduced through a few les-sons to create awareness. A badmin-ton club could accommodate theneeds of interested students.DanceUnfortunately this areadoes not always receive the time al-lotment in class programs that it right-fully deserves. Educators who recog-nize the importance of dance in thebalanced program may offer an ex-tension in the form of intramuralsclubs folk dance, jazz dance, or moriern dance

Intramural Clubs also provide an av-enue for teachers with expertise thatcan provide instruction and createawareness of other physical activities,many of them lifetime skills. The in-volvement of other staff broadens thescope of the program, perhapsthrough a jogging club, tennis club,swim club, or outdoor pursuits.

Self-directed Activities

By incorporating self-directed ac-tivities into intramural programs op-portunities can be provided for stu-dents to be self-motivated towardphysical activity. At the elementarylevel it may be simply encouragingstudents to sign out equipment at re-cess or take part in a school widewalk-run program. In the uppergrades the emphasis may be to en-courage students to use free time inthe weight-room, or gym, or to Lice ajogging track or to borrow equipment,such as racquets, on weekends.

A comprehensive intramural pro-gram that includes ti. .; four dimen-sions serves to enhance and facilitatethe educational goals of the school by(1) encouraging positive attitudes to-ward physical recreational participa-

tion, (2) creating school spirit and en-thusiasm, (3) bringing students,teachers, and administrators clos-er together, (4) teaching leader-ship skills, and (5) encouragingsportsmanship and social skill de-velopment. As W. R. Barber states,

One of the most prevalent myths thathas been hindering us for years is thatlearning is the result of teaching.Murray Smith 1.: It it another way Hesaid that in our highly developed so-ciety, there are not many opportuni-ties for children to get the kinds ofexperience they need if they are tobecome competent, confidentadults s

This kind of experiential growth cantake phf-e by trar sferring a high de-gree of ownership of the intramuralprogram to the students. The bestprograms belong to the students.

Dave Garvey, intramural coor-dinator at Milton Williams JuniorHigh, Calgary, tries to provide suchopportunities for the students at hisschool:

I really enjoy the program, and niycolleagues help me out by supervisingor organizing a special activity Butfor the most part, we try to let thestudents run the program as much as

WHY IS THE IN"riAMURAL PROGRAM IMPORTANT?

As an integral part of a balanced physical education program

An Intramural Programutilizes

rarefully Selected Activitiesto help proiuce

I The Physically Educated Individual 1who possesses

KNOWLEDGE ATTITUDESPHYSICAL PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL ANDSKILLS FITNESS UNDER- SKILLS APPRECI-

STANDING ATIONS

which enableparticipation ina wide varietyof activities.

and sounci,yfunctioningbody systemsfor an activelife inhis/herenvironment

of physical and which promotesocial skills, acceptablephysical fitness, standards ofand the relationship behavior andof exercise to positivepersonal well-being relationships

with others

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which will encourageparticipation inand enjoyment ofphysical activity,physical fitness,quality performai ice,a positive self-concept and respectfor others


1

we possibly can. We feel the best pro-grams belon° to the students. Most ofthe tasks in running the program arcdone by the students They do thingslike drawing charts and making post-ers, organizing schedules, checkingout equipment, officiating . .6

Often a comprehensive, well-organized intramural program run bystudents affects the overall attitude inthe school. There is less vandalism,less loitering, better rapport betweenstaff and students, and positive rela-tionships between the home and theschool are enhanced.' This rapport isreflected in students' eagerness toparticipate in all aspects of theschool's educational program.

The following col,Iment from prin-cipal Knott at Milton Williams JuniorHigh, Calgary, reflects the benefits of,uch programs.

I'd like to comment on the growth ofour intramural program here at theschool. The concept was first intro-duced about four years ago to ourstudents and to our staff It was gen-erally agreed that the strong in-

tramural program would be verybeneficial to our school program,both in terms of participation, studentand staff participation; and in termsof building a strong positive schoolclimate Since then, the growth hasgone far beyond my expectation.'

The objectives of the intramuralprogram should extend beyond thesimple games concept. A comprehen-sive intramural program can satisfy abroad variety of student recreationneeds, create leaders and develop so-cial skills, and provide for positivestudent/staff/administration interac-tion outside the classroom. Such anintramural program can help providea foundation conducive to achievingboth the specific curriculum objec-tives and the broad educational goalsof the school.

References

'intramurals in the elementary (junior high)school, Physical Education Department, Cal-gary Board of Education, 1980. p 4 Distribu-tion rights Canadian Intramural Recreation

Association, Rick Turnbull, 333 RiverRoad, Vanier City, Ontario, KIL 8B9

'Ibid, page 4'Cartier, K , Fraser, C Wiebe, D , Booty, .1 ,

Special Day Themes Halloween, Health andPhysical Education CouncilDrive-In Work-shops, Calgary, Alberta, 1981

'Mirtle, D , Carlton, 0 , Wilson, D., Didsomeone challenge your objectives for that spe-cial day" Health any Physical lucation Coun-cil Runner, Vol XVII, No 2, ,,ummer 1979, p21

'McKinnon, Ann. Let the kids do it Studentleadership in intramurals Health and PhysicalEducation Council Runner Vol XVIII, No. 4,Winter 1980, p 43

°Something for everyone Side /tape presen-tation Administrators Committee, CanadianIntramural Recreation Association Producedby Calgary Board of Education, November,1982 Copyright and distribution rightsCanadian Intramural Recreation Association

'Personal Notes Interview with Stan andHelen Neufeld, Montrose Junior High Schoolregarding impact of intramural program onnoon-hour and after-school behavioral pat-terns of students

'Something for everyoneNOTE Copies of intramurals in the elementaryschool (68 pp ), and Junior High intramurals(89 pp ), are available at $6 25 each plus $1 50each for mailing Write Canadian IntramuralRecreation Association, 333 River Road, Van-ier, City. Ontario, Canada, KIL 8B9

Extension of the Elementary Physical EducationClass Through An Intramural Program

Betty Kidd and Mark Pankau

whose professionals who advocate an1 intramural program as a comple-

ment to regular physical education pro-grams are also aware of the parallel op-portunities available for the growth anddevelopment of both programs througha cooperative approach. You cri stretchyour physical education class t'me byincorporating or expanding on some of

Betty Kidd is a physical education in-structor at the Southwood ElementarySchool, Raytown, MO 64133. MarkPankau is director of intramural sportsat the Katherine Carpenter ElementarySchool, Shawnee Mission Public Schools,Shawnee Mission, KS 66201.


the listed in this article for the ben-efit of the child's educational experi-ences with both the physical and mentalwaves.

Let's first examine the normal phys-ical education class period At the ele-mentary level, a class might last 35 min-utes and meet twice weekly In anyparticular unit of instruction, practicetime must be allowed, but the unit mayoften last longer than the instructor hadoriginally planned, if every student isto make significant gains at both phys-ical and mental levels

Tile instructor has many sound unitsto include throughout the course of theschool year, in order that children have

14

the broadest, most complete physicaleducation possible. Under the usual plan,very few units are eve' completed to theinstructor's satisfaction What happensis that the children will either gain a fewideas about a very large number of unitsor gain a great mare ideas in only a fewunits. Is the Instructor locked into oneof these two choices?

Now consider the degree of learningthat might take place should the instruc-tor use the whole-part-whole vi inteaching. With this approach, the "whole-part" section often works successfully,but what about the second "whole" sec-tion? Even if oiily a minimal time isspent on group or individual fitness lev-

els, exercises, station work, running andtesting, and if the lesson begins upon theclass entering the room, we often findthere is simply not enough time per ses-sion to make the lesson educatiooal, aswell as, enjoyable, each and every time.

If the use of stations is incorporatedwhere small groups practice the variousparts of the entire lesson using a rota-tional pattern with a prescribed numberof minutes per stationthen the programbegins to resemble what a real physicaleducation class should look like Thisboth adds organization and control andensures interest at a high level. As aresult, more time can be spent on theactual "learning" of game skills.

Assuming all of the above alreadyexists, let's examine the time remainingfor playing of the game and exercisingthe newly learned skills Even with theuse of stations, little actual play time isremainingthe final "whole" is miss-ing.

In physical education, in most cases,we require our students to remember whatthey learned the last lesson, which mayhave been two or three days before. Thisis unlike most of the classroom academicsubjects, which are usually covered ooa daily basis.

If an intramural program exists, how-ever, then play time is guaranteed. Thereis no need to short change the actuallearning of a particular skill by the ne-cessity and provide time for letting hechildren "play" in class. With an intra-mural program added to the physicaleducation class time, the possibility in-creases that learning may also increase,not to mention the retention factor.

The experience at Southwood Ele-mentary School in Raytown, Missouri,has led us to believe that such an ap-proach is successfd In addition to thepluses already mentioned regarding theclassroom setting, Southwood studentsalso have the opportunity to play withboys and girls who are not in their regularphysical education class. This allows forbroader interaction among students anda chance to adapt their skills and strat-egies to a greater variety of teammatesand situations.

At Southwood, intramurals aic sched-uled both before and after school. Forexample, volleyball is held after schoolfor 45 minutes on three afternoons perweek, with students choosing to attend

one or a!I three sessions Those studentswho have another extracumcular activ-ity they might want to participate in canarrange their schedules accordingly. andlittle or no pressure is placed on the childto choose one activity over the other.

At Carpenter Elementary School, thesame philosophy exists, with variationsin implementation. There is a morningprogram with grades 4 through 6 com-bining to play a designated activityonemorning for the boys and one for thegirls. In addition, an after-school pro-gram reserves one evening for the 4thgrade, one evening for the 5th, and one

15

evening for the 6th, for both boys andgirls The morning program focuses onvanous team sports, while after-schoolis an individual and dual activity struc-turi. Actual time ranges from 30 minutesto one hour.

Both schools like to use one-day-typeactivities, such as an "Almost AnythingGoes" or a Super Stars" event Ac-tivities that are popular are Frisbee, golflead up, horseshoes, badminton, volley-ballmany of the activities that makeup the regular physical education class.

In order to participate, the student mustbring a slip signed by one or both parents


giving permission to come early or staylate to participate t the intramural pro-gram At Southwood, a printed listingwith all of the activities accompanies thepermission slip, and the student checksthose activities he or shz wishes to par-ticipate in At Carpenter, a permissionslip is used, but the students do not haveto complete such an activity list

Neither Southwood nor Carpenter be-lieves there is a substantial benefit in theuse of referees of officials specificallydesignated in that capacity, at this age

The instructors prefer to emphasize thereasons for play ant to tez.ch the benefitsof fair play, honesty, and good sports-manship.

Both programs resist awards cf ex-trinsic nature. The reasons for this is,again, the desire to retum play to a nat-ural state The instructors focus on joyof the intrinsic rewardsplaying for thesake of play and enjoying everyone,whether teammate or opponent.

Intramurals, when used as an exten-sion of the regular physical education

class, give the student the opportunityto participate in a controlled and low-key competitive situation Through par-ticipation in such activities, we hope-fully give every child the chance to bea winner and steer them in the directionof enjoying a lifetime of beneficial phys-ical activity Any activity used in phys-ical education can be further developedin the intramural program, if it is not,then we feel too many of our studentsare missing out on a lot of fun

PoLsibilities and Potentials High SchoolIntramurals

Its a place sport needs to get backto It' a place a few lucky kids hatefound

co ended a recent feature article byL Gary Reinmuth, ,ports writer fortheChicago Tribune. HI article focused onthe growing high school intramural pro-gram at North High School in DownersGrove. Illinois. Not only was Rein-muth's conclusion impressive, but hisopening paragraphs demonstrated re-markable insight into the value of intra-mural participation They are worthquoting here:

Hidden behind the vast wasteland ofChicago sportsondemeath the obnox-ious fans and the grezZy players and thesilly owners and the tennis mothers andthe Little League fathers and the win-ning-is-the-on1;,-thing mentality, lies anoasis of sanity, a breath of fresh aircalled 'ntramurals

It's a place where fun counts more thanthe score Where participation is para-mount tu competition '

Thomas Jandris is the principal atSpringfield High School, 101 S LewisSt., Springfield, IL 62704


Thomas Jandris

High school hoards of education, su-perintendents. and principals LI cross thecountry say emphatically, "Sine werecommitted to the philosophy of intra-mural programming in our schools Wejust can't afford to fund it The timehas come for those of us who deeplyunderstand the possibilities and poten-tials in high school intramural program-ming to teach our well-meaning col-leagues the fact of the matter"We can'tafford not to!"

For the past five years (1974-1978)the Annual Gallup Poll of the Public'sAttitudes Toward the Public Schools hasrecorded a consistent erosion in publicconfidence in the public schools It mus,be the concern of every administrator tostem and then reverse this tide of neg-ative public sentiment A great deal hasbeen written about the importance ofsubstantive public relations programs inschool districts. However. in general.most such "how to" guides have a tend-ency to overlook what is possibly themost valuable public relations resourceavailable to every school

In the last five years, secondary ed-ucation has been enjoying a mild re-surgence in school spirit and interest incocurricular activities Building on thisnew enthusiasm can boost a school's

16

public image more than any MadisonAvenue, media-oriented promotionHappy students are the best salespeoplea school has

Most administrators, given the op-portunity, would publicly tout the qual-ity of their school's academic programFor the most part, we are all already backto the basics and our test scores are evenon the rise So then, why the continuingslump in confidence? At least in part,the answer can be found by asking thequestion, "What are kids saying aboutschool?"

When was the last um, zi student wenthome and gleefully shouted. "Geeeverybody, you should see what a neatthing I learned about the periodic tableof the elements today"' or, "Boy, Ireally feel good about finally masteringthe conditional tense"'

Kids love school because of the qual-ity, affective expenences they have thereThe comprehensive intramural program,at the secondary school level. has tre-mendous potential for providing qualityaffective expenences for students of wideranging interests and abilities, as wellas providing a whole series of concom-itant academic benefits. In general twocategories of such benefits may accrue,student-centered and school-centered

The student-centered benefits arc rel-atively familiar to most of us physicalfitness, social growth, emotional stabil-ity. intellectual well-being. coping withsuccess and failure, leisure education.and building group spent. However, thereare several important school-centeredbenefits that are not widely known

I Reductions in high levels of student em-ployment At one affluent. suburban highschool in the Chicago area. 62% of thestudent body work, 92% of the seniorclass work, and 52% of the student bodywork more than twenty hours per week

2 A growing commitment by students to theschool and school-re!ated activities Inschools with comprehensive intramuralprograms. measurable and significant de-creases in vandalism have been reported

3 Involvement by parents and other adultsin school-related programs Intramuralsponsorship of events. open to the entirecommunity. such as fun runs and wintercarnivals, help to bring the schools andthe public together in an enjoyable en-vironment

4 Increased visibility in the community forthe school Not only do students enthu-siastically talk about their intramural ex-periences, but intramural media publicityoftentimes has even broader appeal thandoes the interscholastic athletic programor other exclusive programs

5 The provision of healthful alternatives forthe use of leisure time Some of the besthigh school intramural programs offeractivities starting as early as 6 30 a mand as late as 10 00 p m Weekend useof facilities and scheduling of programsis also common to those fine programs

6 The opportunity for all students to par-ticipate and grow in skill. no matter whattheir interests One suburban Chicagoschool, with a growing program. recentlyreported that nearly 2.0(X) of the 3.0(X)

member student body participated duringthe course of the school year and that therewas a cumulative total of 4.800 partici-pations in that same year

The story of scaools is thestory of students and theiraccomplishments. Students'enthusiasm, as a result of asuccessful intramuralprogram, can boost a school'spublic image more than anyMadison Avenue, media-oriented promotion. Happystudents are the bestsale,-eople a school has.Cony iering the possibilitiesand potentials of high schoolintramural programming,schools can't afford to neglectintt amurals.

Recently. Owen B Kiernan, execu-tive director of the National Associationof Secondary School Principals, com-mented. "More and more students revealthat a student's participation in cocur-ricular activities is one of the most im-portant facets of : econdary school ed-ucation. In support of that notion is a

pair of studies conducted by the Amer-ican Testing Service and the CollegeEntrance Examining Board. The formercompleted a study comparing four fac-tors thought to be possible rm-dictors ofstudent success. achievement in cocur-ricular activities, high grades in highschool, high grades in college, high scoreson the ACT. It was found that the onlyfactor which could be validly used topredict success in later life was achieve-ment 1.. cocurricular activities The latterstudy examined the accuracy of the SATin predicting how successful a personmight be at a chosen career upon grad-uation from college. The results showedthat there was virtually no correlationbetween scores on the SAT and successin later life. The study did find, however,that those students who had many hob-bies and interests, or were active in co-curricular activities, were most likely tobe successful

Administrators and boards of educa-tion cannot afford to neglect the possi-bilities and potential inherent in a qualitycomprehensive intramural program Thebenefits to the student, the school, xithe distnct are too great. The public re-lations advantages are too significantMost importantly if we do not encour-age students' aspirations, if we do notinvest our time, our enthusiasm, and ourresources in them, we may find that ourstudents, like the soft drink bottle, willbe labeled. "No DepositNo Return."

'Reinmuth. Gary, "Intramural, Oasis of Sanityin Sports Desert. Suburban Tot; Chu ago Trib-une. Feb 22. 1979, p 36'Gallup, George H The Tenth Annual Gallup Pollof the Public's Attitudes !nit and the Public .5( hauls,(Phi Delta Kappa. la , Bloomington IN), 1978

17Intramural Handbook 9

Intramurals, Above and Beyond . . .

Michael Tenoschok

ntramural can literally be translated1"within the walls," referring to thefact that intramural activities occurwithin the walls of an institution, re-stricting participation to those whoinhabit it. This may seem quite confin-ing, but a closer examination revealsthat it offers alternatives and achievesends that could never have beenrealized through interscholastic com-petition.

The potential of intramurals be-comes immediately evident upon in-specting a few of its purposes.

It supplements the curricularactivities of the physical educa-tion prograLn, acting as a labo-ratory where students may ob-tain additional practice timefor activities learned in class.It serves as a time for furtherinstruction and/or the intro-duction of unique activities.It offers the opportunity forspecialization in activities of in-terest to the student.It presents a setting for low keycompetition or game play.It attempts to offer -somethingfor everyone" by Introducingsupplementary activities nitpracticed in the curricular pro-gram.

Intramurals, unlike interscholasticsports which serve only the highly tal-ented, provide for the needs, wantsand interests of all students. Theseprograms:

Provide equal opportunities forboth girls and boys in either sepa-rate or coed activitiesPromote a healthy spirit of com-petition, develop sportsmanshipand teamwork, and emphasizefun rather than just winningEqualize teams according to age,

Michael Tenoschok is a physical edu-cation instructor and intramural direc-tor at Pine Mountain Middle School,2 720 Pine Mountain Circle, Ken-nesaw, GA 30144.


grade or ability, thereby allowingfor unequal rates of developmentin the participantsProvide opportunities to learnrules and attain sports apprecia-tionStress the individual, offering asmuch praise and glory for lessskilled athletes as 'or the giftedAllow each student the chance tobe a team captain, leader, andwinner, as the activities arechanged every two weeks to ap-peal to as wide an Interest groupas possibleGive all an equal opportunity toplay, thereby creating self-confidence, satisfaction, and afeeling of self-worth

Although intramurals often parallelcurricular course offerings and serveas an extension of them, they can bemuch more than that. Intramurals can

18

go above and beyond the tole of acurricular mirror image, and becomeintegrated Into almost every phase ofthe school program.

Make an effort to comb..t con-ventional time barriers, and make in-tramurals a part of the student,- totalday. For example, organize a joggingor bike club so that the studentneedn't remain after school to be-come a participant. He may simp'vhave his parents write a note verifyi..gthe distances that he ran or rode whileat home. The physical educationteacher then records this distance onthe school's Jogging Club Chart, giv-ing the student credit for his participa-tion. By plotting the distance of theentire jogging student body, the clubcould take Imaginary trips across thecountry or around the world therebyincorporating geography, history, andsocial studies Into physical education.

Physical education contests offeranother means of involving studentsin an intramural activity encompass-ing more than intramural time andmore than the physical education areaand staff. These contests may be doneeither at intramurals, at home, or inthe classroom, and include an essaycontest, a sports quiz, a slogan con-test, a drawing contest, a coloring con-test, and an invent-a-game contest.These contests are judged by a panelof teachers (art, English, physicaleducation), the first place entry ineach category winning a free day inthe gym afte. school. This techniquepromotes total school involvement inan activity fostering creativity and in-terdisciplinary efforts.

Involving Students and Faculty

Going above and beyond requirestechniques which encourage the in-volvement of others.

Kickoff Week. This is usually thefirst event of the intramural year. Itconsists of various field day type ac-tivities, appealing to all skill levels.Nonphysical education teachers helpcoordinate and judge the variousevents.

Student-Faculty Games. Thesegames follow an intramural teamsport activity. The teachers playagainst the top 2 teams in each gradein that particular activity. Thesegames may be part of IntramuralsAwards Day.

Fun Runs. These short road races(3.1 miles) are an excellent way toinvolve students and faculty, as well asbothers, sisters and parents, in a fit-ness activity. Those not wishing to runcan administrate (at aid stations, astimers, and so on).

Parent Participation Night. This isone night a year in which students andparents are allowed to participate ingames and activities taught in physicaleducation and intramurals. It is a verysuccessful public relations techniqueas students, parents, brothers, sisters,and teachers (from all fields) join in afun night of games and activities. Thisis excellent promotion of the programand increases participation. Parentsbecome more supportive of variousactivities when they understand them.

Awards Day. This event, occurringduring the school day, honors stu-dents for outstanding effort andachievement in both intramurals andphysical education class.

AAHPER Fitness Awards(Presidential, Gold Merit,Achievement).Intramural Participation.Awarded to students for par-ticipation in any Intramural ac-tivity.Referee Award. Presented tostudents for officiating in in-tramurals.Appreciation Award. Given tovisitors contributing time andeffort to the intramural pro-gram.Honorary Coaches' Award.Earned by teachers participa-ting in intramurals either asplayers or active observers.Outstanding Participant Award.A plaque given to the home-room with the highest percen-tage of attendance. An individ-ual award is also given to thestudent in each grade withthe most participation.Student of the Week. Awardedto students for excellence inphysical education and in-tramurals. Criteria includeleadership, sportsmanship, andathletic excellence.Ribbons and Plaques. Givento individual and team cham-pions respectively.Weight Club. Awarded toweight training club partici-pants.Jogging Club Awards givenfor specific distances jogged.

Jogging Award: given forbasic requirements

6th grade 60 miles7th grade 70 miles8th grade .... 80 miles

Marathon Award. 266Hall of Fame

AwardT-Shirts.

Road Race Shirts, given toall finishers of the race

Jogging Club Shirts, orderedby the individual uponcompletion of the basicrequirement.

500 miles

19

Superstar Shirts, given to thefirst place finishers in eachSuperstars Contest.

Weight Club Logo, appliedto a student's shirt uponcompletion of basic clubattendance requirements.

The above methods describe howothers may become involved. The fol-lowing methods serve to organize andpromote the above events.

Intramural Handbook. This isan outline of the intramuralprogram complete with organi-zational procedures, rules, ac-tivities, awards, respon-Abilities, and special events.Intramural Bulletin Board.This is located in the gym area.Information posted includes:weekly schedules, team stand-ings, event results, importantannouncements, Jogging Clubprogress.Intramural Posters. These aredisplayed by the intramuralrepresentatives in each home-room, presenting basically thesame information as tnebulletin board.Intramural Council. One stu-dent is elected to representeach homeroom. Councilmeetings are held every twoweeks. Members discuss activ-ity wants, needs, progress andprogramming.Intramural Staff Staff mem-bers encourage intramural par-ticipation through class an-nouncements, memos, bulletinboards, and word of mouthIntramural I 'ewsletter. Writ-ten by students (under staffsupervision), the letter honorsstudents, distributes informa-tion and promotes studentself-esteem.Daily Announcements. This isprobably the most significantmethod for disseminating in-tramural information, as theseannouncements are madeschool-wide during the morn-ing homeroom period. This isvery influential in recruitingsince students participate onhomeroom teams, and an-nouncements at this time allow

Intramural Handbook

for ease of organization,provided the students are re-minded of their scheduled daysand activities. Results of previ-ous activities are also an-nounced, along with the Gameof the Day, scoring leaders, andrecognition of outstanding ef-fort and/or performance. Thispromotes homeroom spirit aswell as participation.Newspaper Articles. Local pa-

pers, given a clear explanationof the activity and good black-and-white photos, are morethan willing to print short fea-tures about a program This isan excellent public relationstechnique, not only to stimu-late students but to arouse par-ents' interest in your programas well.

Total school intramural involve-ment can be achieved by maintaining

open channels ot communication, bybeing sensitive to the wants and needsof the participants, and by using imag-ination and modificatvns The above-mentioned techniques can result in aprogram with s'irprisingly interestingand enjoyable activities Tei:ing theinitiative to perceive, create and inno-vate in your own program will enableyou to develop ore that goes Aboveand Beyond

Extending the Intramural ConceptStewart A. Davidson

Approaches to intramural pro-gramming are as many and as

varied as the authors who write on thesubject. The benefit to be derivedfrom participation in intramural pro-grams is similarly a very personalthing, and differs from one participantto the next. In addition, the benefits ofintramural programs, as perceived bytheir organizers, may have little corre-lation to the purpose motivating stu-dents to participate.

Nonetheless, the physical educatorresponsible for planning, organizingand conducting an intramural pro-gram should ensure that the programoffers a variety of activities, emphasiz-ing enjoyment, camaraderie, chal-lenge, and of course physical activity.These are valid educational outcomesfrom a program conducted "withinthe walls" ot an educational institu-tion.

Outside the Walls

The question is, why could notthese outcomes be expanded at theelementary school level by extendingintramurals outside the walls, encom-passing several schools in a geo-

Stewart A. Davidson is a professor ofphysical education at the School ofHuman Kinetics, University of Ot-tawa, Ottawa, Canada.


graphic region? Such a program,properly implemented, would empha-size the fun element while at the sametime introducing the excitement ofschool representation associated withvarsity sports. The Elementary SchoolRegional Fun Tournaments, de-scribed here, were designed to re-spond to this challenge.

We established five main objectivesfor these Regional Fun Tournaments:

To provide fun for elementaryschool pupils without competitivepressurelo give elementary school pupilsthe pleasure and excitement ofschool representationTo provide leadership opportunityfor senior high school studentsTo develop closer liaison betweenhigh schools and their feederschoolsTo promote the intramural con-cept for parents.

A carefully thought-out plan wasessential to achieve these objectives.A check list was therefore devised,incorporating the steps necessary toensure that everyone affected by theprogram (administrators, teachers,pupils, student leaders, and parents)would be continually informed of theplanning in progress and given theopportunity for involvement in thatplanning.

20

Communicate program purpose toadministrators, teachers, pupilsand parentsDetermine regional schwdulesDetermine program activities foreach grade levelIdentify equipment needsEstablish budgetPrepare tournament schedule ofeventsAdvise schools of tournamentdatesObtain school entriesDetermine and allocate staff andstudent-leader responsibilitiesPrepare student leaders for tasksCompse and distribute promo-tion material for schools and par-entsCheck out staff. leaders, facilities,and equipment prior to tourna-ment dateCheck on tournament in progressCompose and distribute "wrap-up" letter to staff, pupils, leaders,parentsConduct evaluation of programwith all who were involved andwith parents

Communicating Objectives

The tournaments were first intro-duced for grades four through seven,but subsequently we employed thesame organizational plan at the pri-mary grade levels, adjusting it tomake it more appropriate for theyounger age group.

In each Instance our tirst prioritywas to communicate the five objec-tives of the Regional Fun Tourna-ments, as specified above, to the prin-cipals and teachers involvedtheelementary school classroom teachersand the high school physical educa-tion staff. This meant combining aphilosophical presentation with anoutline of the organizational pattern.As the program was to encompass 16high schools and 96 elementaryschools in four different types of tour-naments, it was essential that the pre-sentation be carefully and explicitlyprepared.

Scheduling

Once the idea of the program was"sold," the next step was to set up aplaying schedule. To avoid conflictwith other school events, all regionalschedules of competition, theatreproductions, choir and band presenta-tions, and special school events, wereexamined. We also determined what

commitments had already been madeto community organizations for use ofthe high school facilities.

Next, we determined what activitieswould be included in each of the fourgrade-level tournaments, consultingwith class teachers of the respectivegrade levels, and physical educationteachers in the region of the host highschool and elementary feeder-schools. The activities selected rangedfrom basketball and volleyball gameswith modified rules, to skill-type re-lays and novelty events. Each tour-nament concluded with familiar folkand square dances, where teams fromall the schools enjoyed an indiscrimi-natz social mix. Necessary equipmentand budget arrangements were pro-cured on schedule.

Following a review of other re-gional commitments and with a deci-sion reached on the events to be in-cluded in the tournaments, we theninformed all schools in the system ofthe dates selected for the tourna-ments, and the types of activitiesselected for each of the four gradelevels. Schools were requested to in-dicate their desire to participate bysubmitting an entry form. Each classin each grade level in a given schoolhad to be represented by at least oneteam.

Administrating

Upon receipt of the school entries.we prepared a schedule of events foreach host high school, and identifiedprogram responsibilities, to be allo-cated to the teaching staff and studentleaders. Staff duties were primarily of

administration and supervision; stu-dent leaders actually conducted theprogram as hosts, hostesses, officials,and team leaders. After allocation ofduties, meetings were held in each re-gion for discussion and revision ofthese assignments. Promotional liter-ature was then distributed to allschools, and through the schools, toall participarts and parents.

A week prior to each scheduled re-gional tournament we made a finalcheck of all necessary facilities,equipment, supplies, staff and studentleaders. On the date of the tourna-ment the Chief Organizer visited eachsite to observe the program and dem-onstrate sincere interest in its im-plementation.

Following each tournament a con-gratulatory letter was distributed tostaff leaders, participants and parents,emphasizing again the purpose of theprogram and extending the personalthanks and appreciation of the chieforganizer for all voluntary supportthat made the program possible. Inthe evaluation procedures that fol-lowed, participants, administrators,and teachers all agreed that the educa-tional values of the program out-weighed all problems of implementa-tion, and that it should be continued.

Anyone tempted to institute a simi-lar program should be warned that thedeciding factor in the success of in-terschool intramural tournamentsrests mainly in the enthusiasm of thechief organizer, who must painstak-ingly elicit full cooperation and in-volvement in the program by studentsand colleagues.

Int ramu ra! Handbook 13

The Intramural SyndromeRichard Tucker

An inflated economy has forcedhigh school and college adminis-

trators to review all planned expendi-tures. The future will definitely in-clude a reduction in program spend-ing. But even with less money tospend, it is possible to expand an in-tramural program through imagina-tive use of resources.

Richard Tucker is the director of phys-ical education at Schuyler HighSchool, Rushville, IL 62681.


Growth in intramural activities isdue, in great part, to the imaginationof the directorsuch imagination willincrease activities and participation,but not expenditures. However, manyprograms suffer from an IntramuralSyndrornea chronic lack of imagi-nation on the part of the director, whoevinces a continual desire to work in autopia of unlimited expenditures.This utopia is often referred to it pro-fessional magazines, where the stan-dard excuse for mediocre intramuralprograms is: "If we had their facilities

le

1.1

22

and expenditures we would grow, butthis is no utopia."

We are all guiltymuch toooftenof these excuses. Instead weshould take inventories of our cam-puses, and allow our imaginations freerein. Forget the traditional activitiesand facilities, and concentrate on areview of these four specific areas:(1) the attendance center, (2) theschool's parking lot, (3) the schoolgrounds, and (4) the community re-sources.

What better place to begin the in-ventory than the hallway of your at-tendance center, which can host ac-tivitie, in bowling, shuffleboard,quoits, skittles, bocce, marble shoot-ing, wristwrestling, and curling. Allthat's needed is a roll of floor tape andthe competitors for the start of an in-tramural contest. And while you aregazing at the new-found potential ofthe hallways, do not overlook yourclosets. They can serve as safe placesfur games of darts. The cafeteria is anideal area for chess, checkers, apinewood derby, bridge, backgam-mon, and other table games.

A parking lot offers almost unlim-ited potential for sport; a.iivity. Afew properly placed signs to redirectthe movement of traffic, a ! :ttlewaterbase paint, and presto! you havea sports arena. A frog jumping con-test, turtle races, auto-cross, rollerskating, model aircrafting, drag racing(participants push the go-carts),human-powered races, Highlandgames, street hockey, paddle tennis, afrisbee contest, and a snowman or icesculpture contest offer new avenues ofsports competition and program in-terest.

Let's say the hill west of your park-ing lot is hazardous for drivers follow-ing a winter snow or after a rain stormDuring these times, it can become acenter for intramural activity. Closethe street with the permission of thecity government and you have a cen-ter for ski runs, a sledding contest, a

back-packing climb, bobsledding, anda soap box derby. With a little cooper-ation from the local officials andmother nature, your department willnot pay a dime.

The school grounds and the skyabove permit even more expansion ofyour program. The grass terrace infront of the school is ideal for croquet,lawn bowling, bocce and frisbee golf.Practice football fields are excellentfor spring kiting, and the grassperimeter of the campus can serve as across country course for running andbicycle races.

During the winter, incorporate abiathlon into the program The pat-tern of ski-shoot-ski-shoot remains,

but marksmanship is limited to snow-ball throwinghalting four times at atarget to throw five times for a total of20 rounds of snowballs. Flood the lowarea of the campus for winter hockey,skating, and curling.

Use the sports practice areas forboomeranging, cricket, horseshoepitching, over-the-line ball, polo (onbicycles) and team handball. Thesephysical education teaching stationscan serve as an international sportsjamboree.

Use existing public and commercialfacilities for tennis, golf, bowling,trapshooting, billiards, swimming,and diving. Create new experiences inthe theatre with one-act plays, com-

edy routines and singing on the out-door stage. City lake and campground facilities add opportunities forfishing, boating, cyclo-cross, log rol-ling and orienteering.

Pay particular attention to thecreativity of the children themselves.Notice their games and im-provisations. Often it is wiser to in-corporate their activities into yourprogram than devise net untestedgames.

The utopia you are looking for isthereyou are working in it everychy! Overcome the Intramural Syn-drome, and start with an inventory ofyour utopia. Visualize how imagina-tive your program will become.

Points for Intramurals

wring the 1980-81 school year in-tramurals made a positive start at

Cherry Creek High School, En-glewood, Colorado. With administra-tive cooperation and the efforts of amathematics teacher who assumedthe additional role of intramural di-rector, the word intramurals took on anew meaning to 3300 students.

Floor hockey proved to be thespark when fourteen teams competedin a six week winter schedule. Thematches became the subject of hall-way and classroom conversations.Participants ranged from off seasonhighly skilled athletes to rookie"never- before athletes." Intramuralbasketball ran concurrently andevoked similar enthusiasm

Intramurals provided a refreshingexperience for a school used to bask-ing in varsity honors. Cherry Creek'simpressive interscholastic record in-cludes district and state champion-

Barbara Thelen, a member of the Par-ents for Intramural Sports (POINTS)Committee, is the mother of a CherryCreek H;gh School student.

Barbara Thelen

ships in 14 of 21 sports, in which abouta third of the student body participate.Additional students are involved inone or more of 40 other activities of-fered. However, there are still manystudents desiring athletic experiencesnot of varsity caliber.

Just such individuals stimulated theintramural idea already latent in theminds of many In November 1 979, aparent whose son had experiencedbitter disappointment at not makingthe basketball team expressed herconcern to the Cherry Creek HighSchool Parent Senate over the lack ofadequate alternatives to interscholas-tic competition. Her message moti-vated the group to hold a ParentingSeminar in February 1980, entitled"Sports Enthusiasm: Agony orEcstasy For Youth?" The attendancewas outstanding, and the discussion,

An evaluation sheet, circulated atthe seminar's conclusion, indicatedthe desire of parents and school per-sonnel to pursue the subject. A sportsfollow-up committee convened inMarch and became known asPOINTS (Parents Opting for In-

23

tramural Sports). This group sub-sequently submitted a report to theprincipal, which included statementssupporting intramurals and a specificoutline for a pilot program.

The basis of this program was sim-ple. Its goal was to cultivate in stu-dents habits needed for healthy, ac-tive lives. The objective was to re-model current athletic programs tostimulate lifetime interest in physicalactivity, among as many students aspossible. Thus the focus became todesign programs encouraging partici-pation by the widest range of students,faculty, and parents.

The school's principal was recep-tive to the concept and accepted thechallenge to initiate a program byJanuary 1981. He appointed an in-tramural coordinator, and, workingwith the athletic director, secured lim-ited financing: $1000 from the ath-letic department budget and an addi-tional $800 from other sources. Themoney was used to purchase equip-ment, pay staff members who servedas officials, and provide a modestcompensation for the intramuralcoordinator. At the end of the year,

Intramuml Handlxx)k 15

the parent senate also donated to theprogram to show its contintang sup-port.

The interscholastic coaching staffcooperated superbly, juggling sche-dules to free gym facilities for in-tramural use. Generally the programwas in operation for an hour afterschool on days when the varsity teamstraveled or did not practice, and from7:00 to 9:30 in the evenings.

The intramural program, still rela-tively new, is expanding rapidly. Floorhockey (14 teams), basketball (16teaips), aerobic dancing (60 stu-dents), and softball (12 teams) havebeen immensely popular. The num-bers of students involved in theprogram-800 thus farsuggest thatits continuing growth and develop-ment will require the hiring of a fullycompensated director of intramuralsas the next step. This will take fullacceptance by the district, and ac-complishing this is the next challenge

for the POINTS committee. Theproblem is compounded by therebeing two other high schools in thedistrict. However, they have ex-pressed interest in our intramuralprogram, and organized efforts to-ward formulating their own programsare anticipated.

As the Cherry Creek principal hassaid, "I believe it imperative that thefocus should now move to securing adistrict commitment from the boardof education, the superintendent, andthe district director af athletics, be-cause without that the Cherry CreekHigh School program will probablybecome a year-to-year, person-to-person program. The program will notreally be healthy until its survival canbe divorced from personalities andstand on its own, as an accepted partof the district commitment to ac-tivities for all students." While thesemore permanent arrangements arecontemplated, POINTS is pursuing

such interim plans as securing the ser-vices of a senior or graduate student inthe recreation field from a nearbyuniversity, willing to develop studentprograms as part of a work/study planThe formation of a Cherry Creek stu-dent committee, to help organize andrun activities, is also under considera-tion

Negotiations are underway be-tween the district and local govern-ment officials to provide additionalrecreational facilities. If plans aresupported and encouraged, intramu-rals will be considered an equal benefi-ciary with varsity teams and area sportleagues.

Today's youth are confronted withmany unhealthy alternatives. Positiveleisure time activities are a must, forthe good of the student and the schooland community as well. Sports in-volvement is a valuable means ofphysical and mental health.

Every Player Wins in Recreational SportsLou Fabian, Marilyn Ross, and Barry Harwick

The University of Pittsburgh has tra-ditionally featured a comprehensive

intramural sports program. One of thestrongest parts of the program has beenintramural basketball, in which six di-visions of more than 150 teams partic-ipate. In 1977, a new twist was addedrecreational basketballwhich differsfrom regular basketball in that the em-phasis is on playing rather than winningthe game. The game fosters cooperationrather than competition and the rulesmaximize exercise, speed up play, andsimplify decision-making; i.e., no time-

Lou Fabian and Marilyn Ross are Co-directors of Intramurals and Recreation,Department of Health, Physical andRecreation Education, University ofPittsburgh, PA 15213. Barry Marwickis head track coach at Bendy College,Waltham, MA 02254.


outs, free substitution, no foul shooting,call your own fouls ball is taken outof bounds and no keeping score.

An interview by the Pittsburgh PostGazette reveals why students participatein the recreational basketball program.

No-Win team captain Muoio says,"I belong to Phi Gamma Delta Theywere like a good high school team, that'sthe level they played at. I wasn't goodenough to make the team." The no-windivision, he says, gives him a chanceto play. "It's nice to release tension,just to come up here and play around

Adds one of his "opponents," BenBenack, a graduate student:

"Games can sometimes be taken awayfrom the players . . . In this game ofbasketball everybody knows it's just forfun. Nobody gets mad, you're not tryingto beat up the other guy

This program raised several questions

4,°4

about what intramurals mean to the par-ticipants. Some students enjoy partici-pating in organized team play but lackthe physical skills needed for competi-tive intramural sports. Others are shyplayers who are turned off by intensecompetitive play. Both types would en-joy their sport on a lower competitivelevel. There is a place for such studentsin recreational sports which provide anatmosphere of cooperation.

Background

There were several reasons for theformation of a recreational basketballprogram at the University of Pittsburgh.A key problem was the overcrowdingof athletic facilities. The opportunitiesfor open recreation were restricted by a"winner-stays" challenge system on thebasketball coat which gave lesser skilledindividuals little chance to participate.

Attempts to change this system met bitteropposition from competitive players whoaggressively dominated the courts. Thediverse cultural and ethnic compositionof some of the teams created natural andintense rivalries. Competition was aproblem during open recreation time.The competitive Intramural league hadhomogeneous divisions: fraternity, dor-mitory, women's and so on. This pro-duced a "must win" attitude and causedteams to use only the best players.

A literature search preceded the for-mation of the recreational basketbail pro-gram. It covered Sherif s investigations,during the mid 1950s, of competitionand cooperation. He supports the thc.urythat when two groups have conflictingaims, their members will become hostiletoward each other and that the proba-bility of achieving harmony is greaterwhen groups are brought together towarda common goal.

The conceptual basis for our innova-

25

tions in sport is a result of Terry Orlick'swork in cooperative games fot chil'iren.Orlick's research stems from the premisethat

A production syndrome has becomeas prevalent in children's games as inother aspects of our society Rewardsare contingent upon the defeat of othersand an excessive emphasis is placed ona numencal outcome. Positive self-de-velopment through sport necessitates thatour priorities change. Games of ac-ceptance must replace games of rejec-tion . The long range purpose ofthis exploratory work is to ensure thatconfident, cooperative, joyous childrendo not become an endangered species.

Graham's positive sum scoring con-dition also formed the nucleus of therecreational sports concept. Positive sumconditions provide scoring where thenumber of winners is greater than thenumber of losers.

Sport TheoryBasic behavior patterns control an in-

dividual's actions in a given environ-ment. Several types of basic human be-havior are exhibited frequently in a sportenvironment. Those listed in Table I areadapted from Peter Hopkins (19751

The question now is whether or notthese basic sport theories beneficiallyaffect a player's competitive level, phys-ical ability, enjoyment, and degree ofparticipation. Some of these factors, par-ticularly competitive level and enjoy-ment, are difficult to measure. Theirevaluation is largely subjective Im-provements in physical ability and de-gree of participation can be evaluatedmore objectively although such mea-surements can be complicated and timeconsuming. Institutions may be able toobserve fundamental differences in theattitudes of players in the recreationalprograms in comparison to those in thecompetitive intramural leagues withoutresorting to elaborate research

Recreational SportsRecreational sports are less competi-

tive versions of the team sports normallyoffered at every institutionbasketball,football and volleyballand known tostudents from childhood. Recreationalsports provide organized team activitiesfor the less skilled players who werepreviously restricted to open recreationalplay (Fabian and Evans, 1976). These


sports provide a transition between openrecreational play znd competitive ultra-murals (Diagram I).

Competition within recreational sportsis controlled by the rules of the game(Fabian and Ross, 1978). Key modifi-cations which reduce competitivenessinclude mutual goal-scoring, self-ofti-ciating, and free substitution. At first itmay appear that these rules will drasti-cally alter a game. However players soonrealize that all the traditional elementsof basketball are still present. A majordifference between recreational basket-ball and its competitive counterpart isthat the importance of winning dimin-f;:hes as the season goes on.

Benefits

Recreational sports provide manybenefits. They attract large numh:rs ofnew participants to intramural programsand offer them a choice of competitiveor less competitive team play. Recrea-tional players get more exercise becausethe games are faster under the specialrules. The recreational league also pro-motes cooperation toward a mutual goaland encourages positive social interac-tion. Participation is improved for allteam members since ability is no longerthe key factor in deciding who gets toplay.

Recreational sports also create greateroperating efficiency. Recreational bas-ketball, football, and volleyball do notrequire referees. This allows the elimi-nation of inept officials and providesmore time for on-the-job training of theremaining officials thus elevating the

Diagram ICharacteristics of Intramurals and Recreation

at the University of Pittsburgh

Each of these activities is ranked in a pyramid structure for different values.

Structure Success Participation Competitiveness

OR CI RS RS

RS OR Cl OR

Ci RS OR Cl

Key: Cl = Competitive IntramuralsRS = Recreational SportsOR = Open Recreation

quality of referees for the entire pro-gram. Recreational sports permit moreparticipants with varying abilities to en-joy a peaceful hour of play every weekIn summary, recreational sports savepersonnel. facility time, and money.

Competitiveness

Competitiveness will be examined fromthe view of intensity by the participantwithin each environment (CI or RS)Participants view competitive intramur-als as the most intense competitive en-vironment because of game structure,extrinsic motivation (playoffs), and door die situations Open recreation in mostactivities is win/loss oriented Both teamand individual activities elicit either suc-

Table IBasic Sport Theory

I. The sport environment has the potential to either enhance or destroy the individualparticipant's experience. Orlick, 1975-76 "

2. The more unstructured and spontaneous the activity, the more tun it will he andthe less emphasis there will be on performance and evaluation Devereux, 1971

3. The more emphasis on winning and performance, the greater the chance of non-participation. McPherson, 1974,7 Orlick, I974.''

4. There is a negative correlation between fun and emphasis on winning Orlick,1974.9

5. Extrinsic rewards tend to destroy intrinsic motivation Wankel, 1975 "6. Sports environments can he constructed to meet the participants' needs, foster

desirable behavior, and create a positive psychological influence Devereux,1971: Loy, 1974,' McPherson, 1974.7

7. An individual can relearn socially acceptable roles at any stage in lifeMcPherson, 1974.7

8. Some people are not interested in highly competitive team sports Orlick. 1974 9

18 Intramural Handbook 26

cess or failure, thus fostering a moderatecompetitive environment Recreationalsports promote the least amount of com-petitiveness from the participants

In summary, recreational sports havemodified game structures, increased theopportunity for success, encouraged ad-ditional parIcipants, and offered a lowcompetitive environmPnt ail within thecontext of the intramural-recreationalprogram

Table II supports the contention thatrecreational basketball is reaching a newsegment of the men's intramural popu-lation Men's competitive basketball in-creased steadily from 1976 to 1978. Thesignificant drop in the number of com-petitive teams for 1979 may he attributedto a 10% decease in freshmen enroll-ment The period from 1977 to 1980reveals that the number of competitivemen's teams decreased while men's rec-reational teams increased, although thetotal number of men', teams remainedrelatively the same An informal surveyof the players indicated that many hadnever participated in the intramur ' pro-gram before the addition of recreationalbasketball

The data on women from Table IItends to corroborate the data for men.Recreational basketball appears to bereaching a new segment of the women'sintramural population Since the initia-tion of recreational basketball in 1977,women's competitive basketball has de-creased by 50(4 However total women'steam participation has increased since

1

Table IIUniversity of Pittsburgh Intramural Basketball Participation

1976 1977 1978 1979 1980

MenCompetitive Teams 138 144 146 130* 122

WomenCompe.,tive Teams 12 12 10 10 6

MenRecreation Teams Not Offered 10 22 26 35

WomenRecreation TeamsTOTAL TEAMS

Not Offered150

3

169

-,

185

5

171

8

171

* The University of Pittsburgh's 1978-79 freshmenwhich may explain this decrease.

enrollment was down 10%

476. Once again, a decrease in women'steams from 1978 to 1980 may be a resultof declining enrollment.

ConclusionHopkins states that competition has

a pyramid effect on participation; higherlevels of competition reduce the numberof participants. Diagram I illustrates thecontrast between the level of participa-tion for competitive intramurals and forrecreational sports. If success or self-esteem are judged on a pyramid scale,then a majority of the participants mustinevitably lose. Unfortunately, theselosses usually foster negative feedback.By contrast, recreational sports mini-mize failure by providing opportunitiesfor successful cooperative experienceswhich benefit everyone's self- esteem

We believe there should be an alter-native sports program in which playerscan participate without pressure, andwithout being hindered by lack of phys-ical ability or the drive to win. Recre-ational sports can provide this atmos-phere because they are more structuredthan open recreation yet less demandinghan competitive intramurals. There is

the added benefit of play without hos-tility and aggression Most important,our findings indicate there is a separatepopulation of students that would onlyparticipate in intramurals within the rec-reational sports alt-rnative

References

'Devereux. E C 1971 Backyard Versus LittleLeague Baseball Games in Contemporary Amer-

Ica Paper presented at Conference on Sport andSocial Deviancy, 1971, Brockport, New York

'Fabian, Lou and Evans, Kathy 1978 Recre-anon BasketballA Viable Alternative to Com-petition NIRSA Journal 2 10-13

'Fabian, Lou and Ross. Marilyn 1978 Rec-

reation Football Less Competition. More FunNIRSA Journal 3 48-52

'Graham. Peter 1977 Intramural Sport Pro-grams The Rol. of Competition NIRSA Journal1 21-24

`Hopkins, Peter D 1975 A Child's Model forAdult Games Canadian Ministry of Culture andRecreation

"Loy. John W 1Q74 1 he Natthe of Sport ADefinite Eftort Quest 5 128-122

'McPherson, Barry D 1974 The Social Milieuof Minor Hockey in Canada Presentation to Ca-nadian Amateur Hockey Association. May, 1974

T D 1975 The Sports EnvironmentA Capacity to Enhance. A Capacity to DestroyThe Status of Psychomotor Learning and SportPsychology Research Dartmouth, Nova Scotia,Sport Science Associates

1974 The Athletic Dropouti" HighPnce for Inefficiency Canadian AHPER. 41 (2) 21-27

0 1976 Games of Acceptance andPsycho-Social Adjustment The Humanistic and

ental Health 4spects of Sports. Exercise andIlecieation 60-66 A M A , Chicago

"Guo, Dave "No Win Situation Proves At-tractive," Pittsburgh Post Gc._ette, 11 October1978, pg 2

"Sherif, M , 1956 Experiments in Group Con-flict, Science American, 195, (32) 54-58

"Wankel, Leonard M 1975 Social Facilita-tion Review of Theory and Research Pertainingto Motor Performance Status of PsychomotorLearning and Sports Psychology Research SportSelene,: Associates

For years, Greeneville Middle Schoolhad no intramural program. When

we decided to provide organized rec-reational activities for eighth-gradestudents, we encountered p 3blenistrying to obtain maximum participa-tion. There were no funds, andfacilities were not always available. Itwas difficult to find a convenient time

Randall Carte,- to a teacher and «willat Greeneville Middle School, Greene-ville, TN 37743

Midday IntramuralsRandall Carter

for both students and faculty Wesolved these problems by organizingactivities during lunch.

We began by arranging footballcompetition amon6 homerooms. Thetremendous student interest and en-thusiasm led to the development ofour intramural program which takesplace entirely during the students' 35minute lunch period.

A variety of team sports and indi-vidual activities make up our pro-gram. We schedule four team sports

4,0 7

during the school year. The time be-tween seasonal team sports is used tohold tournaments for individual ac-tivities, adapting all activities to fit ourunique program. Events are coeduca-tional when possible, and studentsrepresent their homeroom in allevents. A bulletin board posts up-to-date standings for each event and thetotals in the all-sports competition.Winners also receive recognition dur-ing the lunch-time announcements.

Our fall sport is coed wildcat foot-


ball. In the winter we schedule boysand girls' basketball. Coed volleyballserves as our spring sport. Since weplay two games at once, two facultymembers officiate our contests. Non-participating students occasionally as-sist by making out-of-bounds callsBetween the seasonal activities weoffer severa! individual tournaments:chess, cross-country, and spot shoot-ing. The possibilities are unlimited.

Nine homerooms comprise ourleague aria form the. 1-isis for our all-sports point scale. Team sports earnthe most points. Since there are nineteams, the first place team is awarded90 points. Second is awarded 80points, with ninth place receiving 10points. Individual sports are worthonly one-tenth as much (first = 9 pts.,second = 8 pts.... ninth = 1 pt ). Inthe individual compeAon a

homeroom could earn all the points ofa particular activity, by capturi..g allnine places. (Three by one homeroomhas been oer highest.) This adds im-portance to all activities. If onehomeroom dominates any activity,they advance in the standings. Withnine winners (18 in events that aren'tcoed), we have a large number of stu-dents contributing to their home-room's total.

Wildcat football, the initial in-tramural event, is open to all studentswith no limit to the number of playerson a team. Although the opposingteams are rarely equal in numbers, wehave not found this to be a problem.Adapted rules make the game runsafely and quickly.

WILDCAT FOOTBALL.The ottense has 4 plays to scorefrom the 20 yd lineOne hand touchNO contact (screens but no block-ingpenalty is ejection)We use a styrofoam (nerf) footballNo rushing the quarterback untilhe hands off or crosses the line ofscrimmageThe quarterback has file secondsto make the play develop, or losethe downPass from anyw here on the field. asmany times as neededIncomplete passball is dead atthe point from which it was passedThe ball is hiked after the referee'swhistle (this cuts down the delaysdue to penalties)One huddle per offensive seriesThe extra point is from the 5 ydline (limits the number of tiegames)

Our facilities allow for two sim-21-taneous basketball games Weschedule two homerooms for compe-tition, and the boys' and girls teamsplay at the same time. each with twohalves of five minutes running time, A30 second half-time allows for sub-stitu*ions. No time-outs are allowed.When fouls occur, the ball is awardedout-of-bounds

Coed volleyball is played outdoorswith no limit to the number of stu-dents on each team We play onegame to fifteen points. or ten minutes.

Students provide much of the lead-

ership for running individual sportsParticipants sign up in advanceBrackets are dray, n according to thenumber of participants involvedRules alloy, the activities to run quick-ly and safely

Our cross-country meet takes placeat the beginning of the lunch period sostudents can eat after the race Allparticipants run simultaneously in the1-11,4 mile course, but the boys andgirls are placed separately

The chess tournament is singlec!tminatton Students play m an un-used classroom while they eat theirlunch Student officials observe thegames

The spot shooting tournament lastsfor one week Students shoot ten shotsper day. two each from five desig-nated areas At the end of the weekthe students are ratA according to thenumber of sh..,cs made out of 50,Many students serve as rebounders.counters, and recorders. enablingscoring of several students at once.

Student interest has remained ex-tremely high Many students, eagerto work. have conducted tournamentswith little supervision They learn howto set up brackets for tournaments.follow through. and make certain theyrun smoothly Some students with lit-tle other sense of accomplishment canplace in the top nine and feel proudthat they contributed to theirhome coom' s point total Lunch duty ismuch more enjoyable when severalof the 200+ students are involved inan organized activity as a player.worker, or spectator


Intramurals at SixRoy Mc Case and Patricia Hardin

A novel approach to an intramuralprogram is the one employed at Par-kersburg (West Virginia) South HighSchool. Students return to school at nightfor activities beginning at six o'clock inthe evening and ending at nine.

The program meets two nights perweek, and each night is divide(' into fourtime slots of forty-five minutes' dura-

tion. Time slots apply only to team sportactivities. For individual and dual activ-ities the facility remains open for thethree-hour time limit, and the scheduleis adjusted to each contest unit. Timescheduling for the fieldhouse and playareas is arranged to avoid Interfering withvarsity athletic events.

Twenty-two activities comprise the

INTRAMURALParkersburg South High School

ACROSS THE BOARD

highlightsThe intrIorol °root., for VOILFYPALL--7 10 p m All Wirhta

1,71 ha. rotten oft to a orest

.tart 11th emfthasis being put on 'lease check the intramuralindividual and dual competition In bulletin hoard in the Fleldhounethe fall, the coveted number ONF for Your Scheduled time and courtsnot is still lin for vrabs

Competition is keen and In-terest high as we look forward tothe volleyball and basketball .71-nr,ns Thls year Is no exceptionrersrdine student participationThere are nine bove [P..11, threefirls teams, and two faculty team.wins for the top honors - totalof 160 partIcIpatIne Tt lookslike It is point to he anotherOPFAT YPASIIIIIII.

POINTS(After ce,en Events)

,.nvs

CURD FINFVCMFR., AMTmAIRFRUFFTF.

ATIILFTFC-/N-AOTIoNSTDDIFY ID-Verve

OIFFPN'e OPPNFRRrArriTYcoPpopopp cT1 DC

rPT1rpT

CFAs

OPfAFFPCApr (TTY ATM ETFc

.54

929

P.5

1172

64snl

1A2

15.

Tuesday, 12/517Tuesday, 12/12/7FCednesday. 12/11/7Tuesday, 12/19O11Thursday, 12/21/7PThuredev, 1/4/79Tuendav, 1/9/79Thursday, 1111/79Thursday, I/111/10

mednesdrf, 1/24/7.Thorpdpo, 1/25/79

(4-so

(4-sn

(4-sn

v-hall)

y-hall)

y-ball)

SARPFTSAIL--Iterins TuesdayIsiouary 10, Pro

7 10 P

(A schedule will he Riven In a

later edition of the newsletter 1

Soy, and rifle teamn will heformic, In early lanuary Four

member' per team, with two nubat -tutes Pe looking for additionalbulletin.

OCTSTA ;DING PARTICIPANTS

STOP RONDFC, lunior, member of

the CNIDFTFR took first place In

210 Table Tennis and was runner-up InHandball

The point ay.tem is brokeninto three of sport playmajor, intermediate, AM minorFach team receive. points hued onthe classification of the ctlyi vinto one of thou aaaaa 75,or 50

Also in the major sports,each teem is awarded 5 or 10points for the win /lop while par-ticipatin, during the season.

Finally, the teems will receiveplace point. dependent on theiroutcome in the final aandine com-pared to the other teams Theseadded together to Rive each temp'sstanding as the year advances.

ACTI% ( IIA MPS

PAID/RAUChamp IIm Hardin. rAoll

Runner-lp Pick PhoadesFNIFFirc

TARIF TFINTFChamp Rick Phoades, .11171FtRunner-lp loel Michael

AY1mALt

FROF Tpoo,,

Champ WWI ANI1O11t-95 pt.P unner-,, te--92 mt.

TI c-or-I AR

Champ I c

P inner -In rInIo )15f

rAnol FR All

Champ Orsio mrersv rl rt

Runner -In 'rent rP

DAIFY PIFIft

Champ Vat:Ii ir'elood oPFAIDPFRunner-Ip 1Im nod, oRfAtestTeam oRFAcFRt

rho,.

Pil'oiry prkorARunner -OP, 'eft I'roten, I.

Pick VanderorlftATIIFTFR-11,-.O'lc,

Team rlrrn vioF

RANDY infp, senior, member of Poor PI "' ifs.)

AWN', AMTNATR, took hush .coreIn Free Throw competition by sink-Ina 16 of 20 PANTY Alpo advancedto the semi - finals in Handball

RTfK VaNbillnITFT, Junior, memberof ATHIETTF-TN-PCITHN, was hlph

scorer In the Daisy Rifle comneti-tion for boys RTCY also took tophonor. in Home Pun Derby offered

in the fall

Chomp c--116 ptsspore -I, rloln NPF-10. pt.Ind pith Pick Isoderertft

Nein TIN,.

NATALTF mon. Ronhomore, member of heCRFAAPPC took top honors In the 'IrisDaisy Rifle competition. NATAIIF andminer PPP have been participating Inother activities during the year

29

Intramural season. Points are awardedto each team based on entry, win-lossrecord, and :ontest placement points.Point totals on an intramural bulletin boardenable each organization or team to seeits relative standing. Teams are com-prised of a maximum of fifteen students.There is no restriction on participation,except that varsity athletes are ineligiblefor intramural activities in their ownsports. The members select a team namefor the year and work for the commongoal of scoring points. At the annualawards assembly each spring, the intra-mural champion team of the boys' andgirls' division is introduced to the studentbody, and the team name plar'd on aplaque permanently displayed in thefieldhouse lobby.

This program is booming in Parkers-burg. Membership has doubled to 180(10% of student enrollment), 27 of whom

are varsity athletes. Varsity participationis Increasing and competition becomesmore intense each year; yet the programhas never lost its initial emphasis on in-dividual satisfaction and enjoyment.Faculty teams add spice to the scheduledactivities. These participate regularlyagainst the student teams and compilea win-loss record, but are ineligible forthe year-end trophy.

As with most successful physical ed-ucation programs, public relations havenot been neglected Mc ..rogram's twodirectors pi-901Kx a monthly newsletter,Intramural Highlights, providing a run-ning account of the team point compe-tition, top individual performers, and up-coming events. The paper is availableto all 1850 members of the student body,and is no small reason for the Increasingparticipation in the program.

Roy McCase is chairman and instructorof physical education at ParkersburgSouth High School, Parkersburg, WV26101. Patricia Hardin teaches physicaleducation at Parkersburg South HighSchool.


The Parkersburg program has at-tracted the attention of educatorsthroughout West Virginia. Costs are lowwhile Interest is high and constantly in-creasing. While proud of their work indeveloping this program, its directorsthink most physical educators could equalits success with a little enthusiasm, crea-tivity, and good management.

Note: Copie, of the school's Intramural Manualmay be act{ wed by writing Parkersburg SouthHigh School. 1511 Blinard Drive, Parkersburg.WV 26101

intramural

input

Intramurals in the Junior High SchoolFred Leider

FRED LEIDER, who has taught for14 years in junior high school. 's cur-rently working on his Ph.D. ,..t TexasA&M University.

The "lighted school" concept pres-sures the public school into a newrolethat of meeting the needs of allthe citizens within the school district.This new role dictates that many exist-ing programs within the school struc-'1.re be re' 'sed or expanded. The intra-mural program is one such program.In the past the intramural programwas designed for the junior high orhigh school student. Under this newconcept it encompasses these studentsas well as their families and othermembers of the community. In turn,this makes a demand on the intramuralprogram to provide a broader or morevaried range of activities.

This increased demand on the intra-mural program encourages the use of


new and possibly untried concepts. Thefollowing suggestions are proposed fora junior high intramural prog-am andtake into consideration student, family,and community needs. All are compat-ible with the "lighted school" concept.

Random- selection of teams. Toooften students are subjected to failurein our schools. A traditional intra-mural program is no exception. In mostcontests there are losers, which meanssome of the contestants will alwaysfail. If repeated failure is reduced, orat least dispersed over a larger numberof efforts, the student has the oppor-tunity to succeed occasionally. By pro-viding the student with both losing andwinning ?xperiences we are close', tofulfilling his needs. With random selec-tion of teams this occurs more often.

To operate by this method, each timea group meets to participate in an ac-tivity the teams are chosen at randomfrom the participants present. The one

30

single factor that has the most influ-ence upon the outcome of the contestis the determining criterion for selec-tion; for instance, wrestlingweight,volleyballheight, etc. Individuals ac-cumulate points by being on a winningor tying team. This allows for indi-vidual recognition at the end of eachseason, and still provides some measureof success to everyone participating.Peer pressure is reduced when an indi-vidual is forced to miss a scheduledcontest and the means for participatingin the next contest is built into thestructure.

Faculty-student play time. This ideawas initiated by an administrator as afollow-up to a special education pro-gram. Game play is established as acommon medium for fostering rapportbetween students and faculty and open-ing up channels of communication.While traditional iinramural programsoperate after the school clay, this pro-

grad moves up into scheduled fmean,1 draws from academic as well asphysical education classes. The im-rcrtance of these events is emphasizedby scheduling them as such. The stu-dent feels the event is as special to theteacher as to himself. These days shouldoccur at not less than two-week inter-vals. This maintains their uniquenessand still satisfies students' needs.

Inclusion of the gifted. In the pastintramural programs have excluded thegifted or the interscholastic team mem-bers. The reasons for this procedureare numerous, but not necessarily justi-fiable. There are many rewards in ath-letics, yet the most sought afterrecognition for a junior high student isfrom his peers. By providing the giftedwith an opportunity to participate inintramurals you give him a chance forthe approval he wants and you make itpossible for other students to identifywith him. Here again, with randomselection every student plays with andagainst every other student.

Equal facilities. This is not a newconcept in the junior high program;however, its current position needs tobe evaluated and the concept redefined.This is an area of education that isinconsistent with our progressive atti-tudes in other areas. The number ofmale and female students in a schoolsystem is about equal, but girls rarelyhave equal prime time and facilities ina sports program. The boys intraairalprogram is in about the same dilemma;they are usually assigned the indoor fa-cilities during the least desirable timeand completely neglected when indoorspace is critical. In colder climates theweather factor makes this situationeven more acute.

By employing new scheduling ideasfor the intramural and interscholasticsports programs it is possible to greatlyexpand the usability of exi3ting facil-ities. Some sports activitie: easily lendthemselves to being coeduca,:mial, aseither intramural or interscholasticsports. Swimming, gymnastics, volley-

ball, diving, tennis, golf, figure skatingand track and field are the most obvi-ous. Some major interscholastic sports,serving a minority of the student body,monopolize the facilities during theoverloaded prime time of wintermonths. Adjusting the competitive sea-sons of these sports quickly alleviatesthe problem. Because of this adjust-ment some students are forced tochoose between basketball and foot-ball; however, we were already askingthem to choose between basketball,hockey, swimming, wrestling, and gym-nastics. Sports clubs, for both individ-ual and team sports, permit students towork out on a year-round basis. Prac-tice is limited to once or twice a week,except during the competitive season ofthat sport when the frequency of themeetings increases slightly. This opensthe facilities to more activities andpermits the student to participate in abroader variety of sports. As moreeffort is made to increase the numberof winter outdoor sports activities,schools are exploring the use of snow-mobiling, skiing, and winter games intheir curriculums.

Parent-student involvement. Father-daughter, father-son, and mother-daughter activity nights are a popularform of parent-student involvement.This is one intramural function thatdirectly involves participation of bothparties and provides a medium wherethey can communicate with one an-other. Originally schools used these asisolated functions but they were neverfrequent enough to maintain constantexposure. Leagues using the father-sonand mother - daughter combinations areorganized in sports activities where in-terest prevails and are terminated whenthe participants indicate this is theirdesire. Random selection of teams isthe most favorable procedure.

Community involvement. The schoolneeds opportunities for the citizen toidentify with it, and at the same timefulfill some of their own needs. Adulteducation classes are directed toward

this, but because they are involved witninstruction In a specific area they arelimiting and don't permit total use ofthe school facilities. The followingcommunity program was offered as anaddition to the adult education classesand not as their replacement.

The school opens at least one of itsphysical education facilities to allmembers of the community at leastonce a week. Although all activities aresupervised, no specific instruction isoffered. Since the program is operatedthrough district and community funds,no charge is made to the participants.

The success of any intramural pro-gram is dependent upon many vari-ables. However, the success of anintramural program is directly propor-tional to the quality of leadershipprovided by the intramural directors.They must have a personal interest inthe program and its participants. Suc-cess also depends upon the availabilityof the activity. Transportation is avail-able to all students not within walkingdistance of the facilities. Equipmentand facilities do have a measure ofimportance on the success of the pro-gram yet not to the same degree as theother variables. However, equipmentand facilities should be made availablefor intramurals whenever they areneeded.

An hourly wage comparable to otherteaching assignments is paid to thosepeople directly responsible for instruct-ing and/or supervising in the program.This is more desirable than compensa-tion by the sport or season, as it per-mits the instructor's hours to be flexibleaccording to the needs of the partici-pants, which in turn permits a greaterflexibility of the entire program.

Junior high students need organiza-tion and time to project their plans.A monthly schedule of activities postedwell in advance of the first event giveseach student time to evaluate his in-terests and needs and anticipate theactivities he plans to participate in.

31IntrAttittral Hand:xx)k 23

Intramurals Commack StyleDouglas J. Prato

Intramural program activities playan important role in the district

physical education program in Com-mack, New York. The program struc-ture described below illustrates a dis-trict commitment to motivate in-tramural supervisors and students toparticipate actively

The Commack Public School Dis-trict consists of ten elementary, threejunior high, and two high schools. Theintramural program involves boys andgirls in grades five through twelve dur-ing fall, winter, and spring seasons.Each season contains approximately10 to 40 hours of contact time peractivity offered.

The Board of Education appointsintramural program supervisors priorto each season. Activities to be of-fered are approved at this time as well.Intramural personnel earn $7.98,$8.51, and $10.16 per hour, depend-ing on their positions on a three stepscale. Elementary, junior high andsenior high schools are allotted 120,240, and 360 hours respectively of in-tramurals per year. The number c fhours at each level reflects increasingstudent enrollment.

Programs take place before andafter school at the elementary andjunior high levels, since school startsat 9:00 a.m. and ends at 3:15 p.m.Most intramurals at the high schoollevel take place after school becausethe day starts at 8:00 a.m. and ends at2:30 p.m. Interscholastic programscommence after intramurals whenthere is a conflict in the use offacilities.

Intramural activities at each build-ing vary according to the student in-terest and the particular skills of in-try. nural supervisors, most of whomare physical education teachers. No

Douglas J. Prato is Director of Health,Physical Education, and Recreation,Commack Union Free School District,Commack, NY 11725.


,0

*

effort is made to have all schools offeridentical programs. The voluntary na-ture of intramurals necessitates a widevariety of available activities. If an in-tramural activity fails to generate ap-proximately students over the firstfew days it is offered, the activity isdropped and replaced as interest dic-tates.

Coeducational activities and par-ticipation are encouraged, but experi-ence in this community indicates thatthe number of females participatingtends to be much greater when certain

32

S

1

activities are offered for girls only.The initial approach is to offer ac-tivities without labeling them foreither sex. If sign-ups for an activitysuch as weight training have a veryhigh male enrollment, and females arereluctant to participate, an alterilativechoice is offered, such as slimnasticsor weight training for girls. In manycases these tactics elicit comparableparticipation by both boys and girls.

The table illusti ates different typesof activities offered at each level byseason.

L LevelIntramural Offerings by SeasonComack Style

Fall Winter

Elementary

Junior High

Senior High

Spring

European Handball Basketball ArcheryFlag Football Dodge Ball BasketballPhysical Fitness Floor Hockey CheerleadingSoccer Gymnastics Floor HockeySoftball Volleyball GymnasticsTumbling Wrestling HandballVolleyball Kickball

SoftballSTX LacrosseVolleyballWiff !obeli

Bowling Basketball BadmintonField Hockey Bowling BasketballFlag Football Floor Hockey FencingFloor Hockey Gymnastics Floor HockeySlimnastics Volleyball GymnasticsSoccer Weight Training SoftballVolleyball Wrestling STX Lacrosse

Track and FieldTennisVolleyballWeight Training

Basketball Basketball ArcheryBowling Bowling BasketballFencing Box Lacrosse BowlingFlag Football Table Tennis DanceFloor Hockey Indoor Soccer FencingSoccer Volleyball Floor HockeyWeight Training Weight Training Gymnastics

Winter Track SoccerVolleyballWeight Training

Figure 1. WATER FOOTBALL (see facing page)

in

15 --0-

Kicking and ReceivingArea

IMid-pool area for balls kicked or punted

out of pool

t

Kicki^g and ReceivingArea

-4--- Towels or other markers

-o0

t:t

Area for refereeing and snapping ball on each down

r , 33 Intramural Handbook 25

As the table indicates, the elementaryintramural program is primarily teamsnort oriented, with few individual ac-tivities. As the program progressesthrough junior and senior high levels,a variety of individual and dual ac-tivities, as well as team sports, becomeavailable. This shift is due to severalfactors: larger teaching staffs fromwhich to select interested and talentedsupervisors; appropriate facilities toaccommodate a variety of activities;the capability to transport studentseasily to sites such as bowling alleys;and increased student interest.

Elementary enrollment is approxi-

mately 1400 students in grades fiveand six; participation in the in-tramural program involves 43% ofthe boys and girls during each season.About 2200 students attend Com-mack's junior highs, and 3700 are it,the high schools. Participation in in-tramurals at these levels is 9% and6% respectively. The large dropofffrom elementary to secondary in-tramural participation is due in part tointerscholastic athletic activitiesavailable to secondary studentsthroughout the year. Each of the threejunior high schools has 12 such teams.Thirty-four teams from each of two

senior high schools offer competitionfor students outside the school dis-trict.

The intramural program in Com-mack accommodates about 1000 stu-dents district-wide per season, in anarray of individual and team sport ac-tivities. This system has worked su-perbly to encourage teacher andstudent participation. The activitiesdeveloped and listed here can beadapted elsewhere as local needs, In-terests and resources dictate. Theprogram described has been most suc-cessful, and reflects Intramu ralsCommack style.

Intramurals at Urban Junior HighJohn VanVeghal

Intramural sports participation isjust as popular as "Sheboygan

Bratwursts" at Urban Juninr High.The intramural program is adminis-tered through the physical educationdepartment and has been well re-ceived by the students, with over 50%of the students participating.

The program is introduced to stu-dents in the fall physical educationorientation program when a physicaleducation instructor conducts a 15minute presentation on intramurals.The orientation covers all the ac-tivities offered in the program: flagfootball, homeroom volleyball, tabletennis, swimming, tennis, softball,basketball, ring toss, and aerial tennis.

The intramural program activitiesare publicized on bulletin boards inthe gyms and throughout the school.All students not participating in a var-sity or junior varsity sport during thatseason are eligible. Prior to each activ-ity, students meet, more than once ifnecessary, to determine teams. Stu-

John Van Veghal is a physical educa-tion teacher and intramural coor-dinator at Urban Junior High School,Sheboygan, WI 53081.


dents can form their own teams bygrade level in all activities except vol-leyball and swimming. Teams are or-ganized by homeroom for coed vol-leyball, and the activity is quite popu-lar. Students swim at the high schoolpool (within short walking distance).in a program run strictly recre-ationally one night per week for nineweeks in both spring and fall. Studentsalso enjoy tennis in a coed program.The activities run from three to nineweeks depending upon the number ofteams and number of nights per weekplayed. Playoffs arc held in each ac-tivity, and many championshipteamsor an all star teamplays theschool faculty.

Facilities and time for the programare available right after school. In-terscholastic sports wait until In-tramural participation is finished,usually about 3:30 p.m. The juniorhigh gym (divided in half) is used formost intramural activities. Tennis isplayed at the high school courts and alocal city court. Outdoor sports takeplace on the outdoor athletic or physi-cal education fields adjacent to theschool complex.

34

Compensated at a rate of $176 peractivity, supervisors coordinate the in-tramural activities. Each activity hasone supervisor, except for swimming(four) and girls' intramurals (two).Altogether, 12 people supervise theprogram. some working on more thanone activity.

The intramural budget requiresonly $500 per year to purchase specialequipment. Good rapport with thephysical education department hasenabled the intramural program touse their equipment.

The intramural program at UrbanJunior High School is successful be-cause it has obtained priority for spaceduring prime time (right after school).This makes the program available othe majority of the student popula-tion, while the small group of in-terscholastic athletes wait for an hourto practice. In terms of the number ofstudent-. in each group, it is only sen-sible to work the priority scheme thisway. It provides all students, regard-less of ability, the opportunity forsports participation. This is what sportshould be for students in our publicschools today.

The Newton PlanAn Intramural Programfor the Middle School

probably the most important aspect.111- of the middle school concept whichwas adopted in the Newton, Kansasschool system was the removal of asmany pressures as possible from middleschool students. This included eliminat-ing the social pressures inherent in in-terscholastic athletics. The removal ofthe interscholastic program necessitatedabolition of pep clubs, cheerleaders, stu-dent athletic councils, letter award as-semblies, and even victory dances.

What Newton does have is a qualityintramural program in each of its twomiddle schools. The programs resembleinterscholastic programs, but do not havethe expenses associated with transporta-tion, meals, assistant coaches, high dol-lar uniforms, and medical supplies.

The design of the intramural programin Newton has made it more than a goodsubstitute for the former junior high in-terscholastic program. The lack of pres-sure to win and the number of partici-pants make it an ideal segment of themiddle school concept. The Newton de-sign is not to be confused with the typicalintramural program. The physical edu-cation teacher is not the intramuraldirectorthc assistant principal is. Hisjob description is not all that dissimilarfrom the assistant principal/athletic di-rector at the high school He hirescoaches for the nine sports and designsthe seasons of the sports into the schoolyear, including practices and scheduledgames or twitches.

The assistant principal also bracketsthe various tournaments and decidesupon round robin, single elimination ordouble elimination competition. Usingan intramural bulletin board and theschool's daily announcements as themedia, he/she keeps students and facultyaware of league standings, tournament

Gordon Stine man i.s assistant principaland intramural director at Santa FeMiddle School, Newton, KS 67114.

Gordan Stineman

progress, and even outstanding team orindividual accomplishment. This is oneof his ways to keep interest in the pro-gram at a high level. Another way is toaward certificates for participation andribbons for performance

The Newton plan is designed to offeras many sports as possible to as manykids as possible. The coaches are paid tocoach fundamentals, basic offenses, de-fenses, and strategies and to instill asmuch fun into the game as possible.

High school athletics in Newton is de-veloped during three stages. Phase I isthe building of youngsters' physicalskills and the develorment of their coor-dination in elementary physical educa-tion classes. Phase ll is the intramuralprogram in the middle schools where, in

35

addition to Phase I being continued, boysand girls are taught team play, funda-mentals, game etiquette, and sports en-joyment. Once they have learned toenjoy the game, and have not been"burned out" by long practices, longseasons, and demanding coaches, theyare ready for Phase Ill the high schoolinterscholastic program. And the varsityteams at the high school have comp:!edwinning seasons, with league and statechampionships.

The junior high school interscholasticsports pressure is dead and gone.

Phase II has now proven itself inNewton. It didn't by any means go un-challenged. But the pros of its design sooutnumbered the cons that it was re-tained.


Elementary Program Allows All Children toExpress and Enjoy Themselves Through

Sports and PlayJoe Lukaszewski

JOE LUKASZEWSKI

Physical Education Director

Fort Bragg Dependents School

Fayetteville, North Carolina

The philosophy of the intramuralprogram at the Fort Bragg Depend-ents School encompasses many ofthe same objectives and beliefs thatare prevalent within the normalservice classes. Emphasis in thisarea of our program is placed uponthe ability of the child to express,relax, and enjoy himself while en-couraging motor skill development,physical wc'l- being, and healthy so-cial and emotional attitudes.

Our activities are chosen by stu-dents on an interest basis. If a suf-ficient number of students expressa desire for a gi, en activity, weatterret to provide opportunitiesfor participation.

Sports in season are most suc-cessful. We do not have set teamsor tournament play. We take thestudents present and from thegroup form teams or other units ofcompetition. If a student choosesto attend and receives his parentswritten consent, he is guaranteedan opportunity to participate eachtime a club meets. By having clubsinstead of traditional units of com-petition such as classrooms, wehope to foster a healthy attitude to-ward lifetime recreational activity.

All activities are co-ed. Some,because of skill level, are open only


to upper grades, others include thewhole school. Following are thespecifics of the program at the ele-mentary level.1. Field DayGrades 3-6 Modi-fied track and field competition. Noteam scores are kept, only schoolrecords. Competition is with ownsex and grade level. Goals are indi-vidual best performance and at-tempts to better school records.2. Carnival DayGrades 1-6. Hal-loween is a good time for this ac-tivity. Art, physical education, andmusic specialists can collaborateBean bag toss games, rope climb,tetherball, and relays are good ac-tivities. A "haunted house" crawlthrough has been offered at severalschools.3. Mile Club Grades 4-6. Run ameasured mile at own pace at leastone afternoon a week. Incentiverun to a nearby town, the beach,

etc on a mileage chart. Keep upwith each child's total distance.4 Volleyball ClubGrades 5-6Power volleyball (closed fist). Onlymodification is to lower nets to"high as the tallest child can reach "5. Soccer ClubGrades 4-6 Alleyor regulation soccer.6 Flag Football ClubGrades4-67. Foik Dance ClubGrades 4-68 Gymnastics Leaders ClubGrades 4-6 This is a club for squadleaders They study gymnasticsskills in the club and then help asdemonstrators and assistants withtheir own class groups.

Other activities may be offeredwith student and classroom teachercooperation. Any sport, game, orspecial interest club may be offeredat any time and continued as longas there is good participation andinterest.

Clubs which are organized at the present time include

Photography Dance HobbiesHorseback riding Drama BowlingSwimming Journalism GymnasticsAuto mechanics Cooking ChorusTennis Instrumental music

Sports activities offered during the year include:

ArcheryBadmintonBowlingGolfGymnastics

HandballTennisTrack and fieldWrestlingBasketball

Football (flag)SoccerSoftballSpeedballVolleyball

36

Junior High Intramurals: A Positive ApproachJohn R. Gilbo

Decreasing budgets may make it nec-essary for some junior high schools toexpand their ir.tramuri.1 programs whilephasing out interscholastic athletics forthe seventh and eighth grades. In somerespects this may be a good thing. Somefeatures of interscholastic "varsity"sports may be inappropriate for thisage levelwidespread publicity, en-couragement of spectators, increasingdemand for winning teams, specializa-tion in one or two sports.

Junior high school students are stillgrowing physically; their bones andmuscles are highly susceptible to frac-tures and tears. The risk of permanent

physical injury to students this -Age fromparticipating in such contact sports astackle football and ice hockey is great.

Proper planning and implementationof an intramurals-only program requirespositive cooperation, an open-mindedschool board and good public support.With these ingredients it is possible toestablish a high quality intramuralsprogram complete with intra-schooltournaments.

Of the many possible ways to imple-ment such a program, two seem easiest.In the first, each school within a givwschool district hires its own supervisorof intramural programs whose only

a.

37

responsibilities are to the intramuralprogram and its growth in that school.If that is financially impossible, a su-pervisor of intramural programs may behired to develop and implement anentire school district's intramural pro-gram The intramural supervisor wouldwork with the principals, physical edu-cators, and teacher-coaches from eachschool in the district, trying to betteruse the physical facilitie:, of the district,would be solely responsible for schedul-ing the intramural programs and eventsin the district, and would recommendimprovements in intramural programsto the school board. The supervisorwould work with the principals and thesuperintendent of schools on the budgetneeded to run such a program.

Within the schools, the intramuralprogram could serve as a laboratoryperiod for sports and such related acti-vities as clinics to teach students how toofficiate a variety of games, keep wellorganized statistics records, and writeintramural sports articles for the schoolnewspaper. The mair, idea is the entirestudent body is involved.

Activities selected for the intramuralprogram should be those that are inseason, such as touch football in fall,soccer in winter, and indoor swimmingany time.

Each school in the district shouldhave several intramural bulletin boardson which to post schedules, rosters,game results, statistics, student officials'assignments, and general intramuralinformation for everyone to see.

Desired Outcomes of the ProgramThe intramural supervisor, the phys-

ical educator, and the teacher-coachcan take advantage of the intramuralprogram to instill a sense of fair playin the youngsters. Perhaps this wouldalso be a good time to show studentsthat whenever there is competition be-

JOHN ROBERT GILBO is a graduateassistant in the Department of Healthand Physical Education at BowlingGreen State University, Bowling Green,Ohio 43403.


tween two forces, one is going to winand one :s going to lose The supervis-ing personnel can help students acceptthis fact without uncontrolled anger. Itis natural to feel disappointed at a loss,but how that disappointment is handledis the key to learning how to take aloss. Physical educators, especially, canbe instrumental in teaching studentshow to display good sportsmanshipsince they are the ones who see andwork with these students all day long.Too often in competitive athletics thereis the unhealthy attitude that the endjustifies the means.

In a school district that can affordboth interscholastic athletics and anintramural sports program, "one shouldnot be designed as a training ground orfarm system for the other It should bepossible for a student to move from oneto the other, but this should be inci-

dental in nature, rather Eh,. i planned "1In a school district that cannot afford

both programs, especially at the juniorhigh level (with the exception of ninthgrade interscholastic competition), theintramural program can provide experi-ence for students who plan to partici-pate in interscholastic athletics in seniorhigh school. In this case the physicaleducator must be careful to make allthe intramural teams as equal in abilityas possible. Putting all the "good abil-ity" students on the same team or allow-ing them to form their own teams isunfair to students of lesser ability andcan be demoralizing to the rest of theteams in the intramural program Thiswould assure the intramural program ashort life

When a program of this type is sug-gested for a school district, the publicwill probably view it with skepticism.

It is natural for parents to want to seetheir children involved in competitiveinterscholastic sports activities. How-ever, if the school board and schooladministrators, ;_specially the intramuralsupervisor, have an effective publicrelations program promoting suggestedintramural program, they should meetlittle opposition If the administratorscan effectively communicate the bene-fits of such a program, it will neverbecome an issue. I believe that such aprogram can enhance senior high schoolinterscholastic programs by better pre-paring students to participate in highschool sports

I Charles A Bucher Adminictranon ofHealth and Physical Education Pt of;lamsIncludini: Athletics ( St Louis C. V.Mosby, 1971) p 208

Coed Sports in High SchoolLee Johnson

While college intramural programs in-clude an increasing number of coed sports,high school programs seem to be slower tomake the transition One reason may bethat high school students aren't as in-terested in coeducational sports because,when they've tried a sport with a coedgroup, they've always played the traditionalrules which tend to allow the males todominate the game

An initial positive exposure to coedsports, in which play is fun and challengingfor everyone, will re. ult in happy partici-pants who are amor As to try more coedsports Following are suggestions for adapt-ing the rules and strategies of five sports forcoed play They are aimed at developing afair sense of competition and eliciting equalparticipation from both sexes After the stu-dents understand the rules, the instruc-

LEE JOHNSON is director q recrear,Jn inthe Physical Education Department at theUniversity of California, San Diego, LaJolla, California 92093

Intramural Handbook

torwho must know and understand theactivities welldiscusses the strategies

Basketball

Teams consist of three females and twomales Females' field goals count threepoints, males' field goals count two, and allfree throws are one point Except for freethrows, males may not score more than sixconsecutive points A male may dnbble amaximum of five times before passing orshooting Defenses must be man-to-manand woman to-woman Only one male isallowed in the key at a time

The best offense is an effective fast breakinitiated by a male rebounding and outlet-passing to his male teammate The secondmale should then head down the middle ofthe court, ideally flanked by the two femaleswho released when the opposing team shotIt is important that the male playmaker thenpass off for the females to shoot because ofthe point differential in sconng If a fastbreak is not possible, it is generally best toset up an offense directed by a male at thetop of the key The females should set picksfor one another, attempting to spring an

38

open teammate for a 6- to 10-foot shot Ofthe five coed sports discussed here, basket-ball may be the hardest to implement suc-cessfully because most males enjoy shoot-ing too much and have trouble adjusting tothe slower tempo

Flag FootballA coed flag football team consists of three

males and three females Players may onlyblock players of their own sex, if a manconfronts a woman or vice-versa, a screenblock (either moving or stationary) must beused

Offensively, only women may make di-rect or indirect runs from scnmmage Menmay not carry the ball from scnmmage, normay they receive a pass behind the line ofscnmmaaP and advance pas. 't On passingplays the quarterback and passers may beeither male or female Males may completepasse only to female receivers, femalesmay pass to any player At no time is a directball exchange between two male playersallowed

Defensively, zone pass defenses arenever allowed All pass defenses must beman-for-man, woman-for-woman Withthe ball placed ready for play. a 10 -yard

square with the ball at its center is desig-nated as the neutr zone Any male playerwho intercepts a forward pass intended for afemale receiver outside the neutral zone isguilty of defensive pass interference

The best strategy in coed football is tomove the ball by passing. Two basic setswork well. In one, two females play end andthe third lines up in the backfield From thisset all three can go out for passes or the onein the backfield can run. This is difficult todefense because of the females' optionscoming out of the backfield. The disadvan-tage is that it sometimes takes a play longerto develop In the other basic set, the thirdfemale can be put in the slot, bnnging hercloser to the line of scrimmage The singlefemale on one side can run a square-outwhile the other two can cross Also, thefamous "flea flicker" works beautifully off ashort square-out with a fast male trailing Asin football, it is important to change theformations and particularly the patterns oneach down

Floor HockeyRules and strategies for coed floor hockey

are similar to those for ice hockey We havefound it best to play three 12-minuteperiods with six members per team Most ofthe rules modifications are intended to slowthe pace of the game and limit the ma-neuverability of the players, thus enhancingthe importance of the female players

Divide the floor into offensive and defen-sive zones, assigning two players to the of-fensive and three (including the goalie) tothe defensive end The sixth player, thecenter, may use the entire floor This mod-ification elimina :es rapid movement up anddown the floor, allowing females to partici-pate more effectively It also prevents con-gestion in a particular area, resulting in amore wide open game that accentuates theeffectiveness of the females

It is necessary to discourage male domi-nance and encourage aggressiveness in thefemales One way we do that is by making agoal by a female worth two points, thusencouraging males to involve females in of-fensive plays Another way is to say that afemale must play center dunng the secondpenod of each game, forcing females into amore strategic role since center is the mostimportant position

To establish the player advantage idea, apenalized team must play without its centerfor the duration of the penalty Thus thefouled team has a power play at the offen-sive end and an extra athlete at the defen-sive end because of the center's maneu-verability

While checking is an integral part of icehockey. it is best to prohibit any body con-

tact in the coed version of floor hockey Thishelps reduce the number of iniunes and letssmaller players (generally female) partici-pate without fear

With the exception of the second penodwhen a female plays center, the most effec-tive line-up finds males at goalie, center,and wing, with females at the two defensivepositions and the remaining offensive spotThe most effective strategy is to position thefemale in front of the goal and set her up onoffensive by centenng her the puck, pre-senting sconng opportunities She is also inposition to hit in any loose pucks in front ofthe net The other important strategy is toavoid congestion and pass the puck quicklyand accurately

Soccer

The most successful arrangement seemsto be eight playersfour male and fourfemale The goalie must be male. Twopoints are awarded if a female scores, onepoint if a male scores Hands may never beused to control the ball Females may pro-tect themselves above the waist by "gluing"their hands to the area about to be hit by theball. If two or more male players from thesame team pass the ball to each other threeconsecutive times (with no female or oppos-ing player touching the ball), a foul is called,the opposing team gets a free kick at the siteof the third touch.

Females are an integral part of the scoring

attack and are counted on for offensivepunch One of the best offensesin whichthe three mz'es alternate positions and do c.lot of runninguses a male at left wing, afemale at middle left, a male at middle nght,and a female at right wing A female plays inthe middle of the field, and a male and afemale stay back on defense The fourfront-liners go all the way down when at-tacking, but the female m the center doesnot go much beyond the midpoint of thefield Her responsibility is to slow down theopponent's fast breaks and, when the de-fense stops an attack, to do ever Jthing pos-sible to return the ball to the front line. Thefemale on defense is sent out first to meetthe attacker, and should either force a passor force the ball to go wide She must slowthe attack until the two forward males areback to help (the females remain in theoffensive end) If the attack is stopped onthe right side, the fullback and left wing startback downfield, if it is stopped in the left, thefullback and nght wing go downfield

SoftballTeams should have equal numbers of

men and women, or perhaps one extramale Institute a mandatory male-female al-tem ating batting order so that, fora success-ful rally, females must get on base Have theoffensive team pitch to its own batters (a


maximum of three pitches), thus generatingmore hits, having more actual plays beingmade, and speeding up the game To allowthe generally weaker-hitting females anequal opportunity for hits, inscribe an arc onthe outfield grass 175 feet from home plate,while a female is batting, no outfielder maybe inside this line until the ball is hit This isthe most effective adaptation for increasingthe importance of women's participation

If there is an odd number of players (5vemales and four females), the best battingorder has the two highest percentage hittersfirst and last because they are batting back-to-back and theoretically will produce themost runs. In this arrangement, the twoweakest hitters should be fifth and sixth. Allbatters should try to move the ball aroundand go for one line or the other on the firstpitch If that ball is foul, the batter should bemore conservative on the second pitch Thebatter who can hit to either rightfield orleftfield will force the outfielders to playstraight away, thus opening up the alleysGames should be high scoring (and moreexciting) when the players have learned tohit to either field. It is also important to lelmto hit the ball on the ground and behind therunner Males especially should constantlytry to stretch singles into doubles, therebyreducing force-outs and/or double playsituations. On defense, it is best to play thethree top fielding females on the left side (atfirst, short-second, and second) so that theyhave a shorter throw to fire and will receivefewer hot smashes

VolleyballThe males and females on the team

(three of each or four males and twofemales) must alternate serving order andposition on thy- floor However, switching isallowed after tt.2. serve When more than

one player on the team plays the ball, one ofthe hits must be by a female Blockingacross the net is allowed When there aretwo females and only one male on the frontline, a back line player (usually a male) maycome up to the front line to block However,no back line player may spike the ball unless

his/her takeoff is behind the 10-foot lineFollowing through over the net is allowedon any type of hit if the baths contacted onthe proper side of the net

With four males and two females on ateam, the best strategy is to run a 4-2 of-fense, with the females playing oppositeeach other in the rotation and setting in allthree front row positions Defensively, thetwo male front row players should doubleblock on both sides, with the setter covenngthe sharp angle hits and inside dinks Sheshould switch back to the front middle posi-tion fc setting purposes upon a successfuldefensive dig The back row should have afemale playing deep back in the middle, onemale covering down-the-line hits and dinksover the block, and the other male movingforward to take the power hit inside theblock

With three females and three males, most

problems occur when one male is in thefront middle position, with females in bothhitting positions The male should switch tohis stronger hitting side on offense If rulesallow a back row male to come out forblocking purposes, the back row male onthe hater's weaker side should switch with

the female in front of him, the team playsthe defense described above If a back rowplayer is not allowed to come up, the frontrow male switches to the middle on defenseand must then block both sides Whenblocking, he should attempt to take away aparticular shot (such as down-the-line hits)

every time so that his back row playersknow where to expect the hit

Water PoloConventional water polo is not condu-

cive to coed competition However, requir-ing participants to sit in innertubes reducesthe strong swimmer's dominance and giveseveryone a more or less even chance in thewater We recomm-nd playing four7-minute penods with teams of four malesand three females, requinng the goalie to bemale At the start of play, the teams line upat opposite ends of th, iool The refereethrows the ball into the center of the playingarea and both teams propel their innertubestoward it After each score, the referee givesthe ball to the scored-upon goalie to put itback into play Leaving the innertube whiletouching or maneuvenng the ball is a per-sonal foul, a free throw or penalty throw isawarded to the nearest opponent Playersshould be allowed to fall out of their tubesduring the act of shooting The goalie mustsit in the innertub,l, not Just wear it aroundhis waist The last two rules lead to moresconng, since the goalie is less mobile andsince everyone gets a good shot, not Just thestrong swimmers and the strong armed

The most effective strategy is one inwhich there is a set offense of two femalesand one male, and a set defense of twomales and one female To conserve energy,the offense remains in one end of the pooland the defense stays at the other Playersshould pass the ball quickly from one end ofthe pool to the other, swimming it downonly when the offensive players are unableto break free for an outlet pass Once theoffense has the ball, the players should setscreens for each other (much as in basket-ball) to try to free a teammate for an openshot

4 032 Intramural Handbook

Administrative Support: The Key to IntramuralProgram Development

Faye Burchard

The idea of beginning an intramuralprogram in public scl.00l is not

new. Often thoug. , Individuals plan-ning an intramural program overlookthe most important area om whichsupport is requiredthe administra-tion. This article takes a look at howadministrators perceive intramuralsand what must be done to convincethe; that a sound program can beinstituted for their students. The pur-pose is to capture administrative sup-port.

Several superin' udents, princi-pals. school board members, andphysical education teachers wereasked about their perceptions of in-tramural programs. These individualsfrom various sect'ons of the UnitedStates Lnanimously recognize the im-portance of intramural programming.Although they all agreed that there isno conflict between properly con-duct,x1 intramural spo's programsand interscholastic athletics, and thatboth areas should be a part of thesports program, their respective pro-grams did not necessarily exemplifythis principle. Intramurals seem to bemore wide', accepted and supportedin the elementary and junior highschools than in the senior high schoolswhere varsity athletics are prominent.As one school board member com-mented, "Society will Hot allow thevarsity programs to be axed." Thatfact is evident in the many school dis-tricts where kids now "pay to play"varsity sports.

Begin with a Comm' ted Leader

How can intramurals be introducedinto schools where athletics play such3 prominent role? According to thoseon ...e administrative level, the firstneed is finding a committed individualinterested in intramural program-ming The administrators emphasizedthat t!..e individual should nit accept

this responsibility while "waiting foranother position to open." In the ad-ministrators' %iew, int. amurals shouldnot and cannot play second fiddle to aleader's other interests.

There are many examples of com-mitted physical educators bringing anintramural program into their schoolsand what that commitment meant tostud ;tits. One individual who starteds program not only received no com-pensation but also drove a ate schoolbus each afternoon for the partici-pants. In a year's time ,he programsold itself, the director was z.ompen-sated, al d a driver was hired to drivethe late bus. At McArthur MiddleSchool in Jonesboro, Arkansas, GwinHughes believed in and was commit-ted to buildings program. He die sowithout receiving any monetary com-

aye Burchard is the director of-intramural /recreational sports at Mis-souri Western State College, St.Joseph, MO 64507.

pensation until the program was es-tablished. Happy participants and thesatisfaction of one's accomplishmentsare the reward. At McArthur, class-room teachers assist with intramuralsupervision because they experiencebetter rapport with students they haveplayed with.

Prep. a ProposalAfter the need for a committed per-

son, the ne:. need for those institutingan intramural program is to prepare aproposal backed by data. Forward itthrough the proper administratiochannels. The proposal should in-clude when the program will be run,the proposed number of students whowill participate, transportation de-tails, equipment and facility needs,projected costs, persons who willserve as super nsors and officials,units of participation, and the ac-tivities to be included.

Selecting appropriate activities, theadministrator: note, is important to

11 I

1;1 I"

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wpot .0110;ille

otbi'i,11,

141 a

41Intramural Hpndbook 33

intranmal programming. The needfor the intramural program to offer awide variety of activities which meetstudents' interests while not duplicat-ing club and varsity sports wasstressed. The administrators statedthat recreational activities are as im-portant as competitive events. Sug-gestions for recreational activities in-cluded a disco dance, obstacle course,dirt bike ride, hot-shot basketballcontest, bicycle rodeo, motor de-velopment activities, and gymnastics.

Coordinate and Integrate

Many schools successfully incorpo-rate intramural activities into theacademic program with math andyelling contests, poster or art con-tests, and drama productions. AtAB Saint's Epispocal School inVicksburg, Mississippi, students con-tribute points to their respective in-tramural teams by achieving a certaingrade point and being named to theschool honor roll each semester.

The financial aspect of intramuralprogramming did not seem to be aconcern to the admmistrators. Manyschools compensate tht director com-parably to coaches or soonsors of thevarious campus groups. Other schoolsgive the director one less class periodto allow time for intramural pro-gramming. If the program is run dur-ing the school day, there are no addi-tional building expenses incurred.

Is money available for officials orawards? If yes, that's great. But the.,do not make an intramura: programThrough program modifications, seIf-officiated contests, and the ingenuityof everyone involved, minimum pro-gram costs can produce maximum re-sults.

Administrators must be convincedof the need for an intramural pro-gram. They should be approachedwith a well thought-out plan, and theperson desiring to start the programmust be persistent, enthusiastic, andcommitted. In thousands of cases,

"seeing is believing." If children be-come interested and excited about aprogram, amazing things can happen.To ensure " amazement," Mark Pan-kau suggests finding a couple of par-ents who will support the program.Persistence and time can make any-thing possible.

References

The following individuals were interviewed byphone in obtan.mg information for the abovearticleBanks, Sharp, Jr , superintendent of schools,

Warren School District, Vicksburg, Missis-sippi

Hamming. Jack, director of physical education.Shawnee Mission School Dictrict, ShawneeMission. Kansas

Hughes. Gwen, instructor, MacArthur MiddleSchool, Jonesboro, Arkansas

Jernigan. Frank, director of intramural/recreational sports, Georgia State and cur-rent school board member. DeKalh County,Georgia

Pankau, Mark, instructor, Rose Hill Elemertary School. Shawnee Mission, Kansas

Troester. C...rati., superintendent of schools. StJoseph. Missouri

High School IntramuralsAn Endangered Species

Gerald Mass

High school intramural sports pro-grams are probably best exempli-

fied by Earnie Shavers on the ropes tryingto evade the knock out blow from LarryHolmes. These programs suffer frqmdisinterested students. lack of finances.lack of space to run a program, conflictwith athletics, busing. and a myriad ofother problems (excuses). Does this sit-uation sound familiar')

It is strange when one looks back tothe elementary and junior high schoolswhere the intramural programs enjoymuch higher orvess rates Youth sportsprograms dr, .remendous numbers ofboys and girls in their programs. Manyare highly competitive and indoctrinateyoungsters on the importance of winningand increased competitiveness. Theseprograms, along with lower grades in-


tramural programs. become feederterns for the high school athletic pro-grams This system essentially turn, alarge number of youngsters on to sportsbut then later cuts them out at a criticalage because only the highly ',killed willmake the high school athletic teams Evenmore irony is evident when high schoolgraduates (both athletes and nonathletes)go on to colleges and on .;pities andparticipate at high rates in intramural-

recreation programsData collected by this author in public

schools in the state of Iowa shed somelight on this dilemma Responses in that

Gerald Maas is program director, in-tramural-recreation. Universal. of Wis-consin Madison, WI 53706.

42

study indicated that roughly one-third(104 of 318) of the schools surveyedsponsored any type of organized intra-mural program The three most prevalentreasons cited for not sponsoring intra-mural programs were conflict s,iih in-terscholastic athletics. insufficient time(directly related to athletic conflict) -hdlack of facilities Many principals re-sponding in the study commented that"students who desired sports experi-ences were being served in interscho-lastic athletics" and that there was "noreal need for intramural programming

This author believes that excellenceIN rarely found in high school intramuralsbecause it is neither expected nor de-manded Excellence is, however. de-manded in many high schoo; athleticprograms'

The conflict with interscholastic ath-letics was made more difficult when TitleIX regulations give directives concern-ing equality of sports opportunities af-forded to girls. Many schools had onlyboys athletic programs and had to putin a similar program for girls. These newprograms for the girls took up additionalfacility time, and in many instances theIntramural programs ended up the biglosers.

These, then, are the facts. Youth sportsprograms are highly popular with theyounger set. Elementary and junior highschool intramural programs enjoy highrates of participation. Many high schoolstudents don't participate in intramurals.These same students go to colleges/uni-versities and participate in intramurals.

Something is amiss here, but is thesituation really hopeless? Are there thingswhich can be done to help build up in-tramural programming in the high school?This author thinks soand suggests some

eas in that regard.The following list of approaches to

help promote high school intramurals isnot complete but should provide a start-ing point for the optimist.

I. Student involvement. Students mustbe made aware of the benefits to be gainedthrough intramural participation A stu-dent committee should be established toassist in promoting the program in theschool. This may be difficult as manystudents have been turned off by com-petitive youth sports programs and/orInterscholastic athletics and will out-wardly think this is "another one of thosedeals." It is essential to convince stu-dents that fun- recreational activities areInvolved in the program along with thetraditional team sports. Co-recreational(boys and girls on same teams) sportsshould be highlighted as a unique typeof sports participation which cannot befound in the traditional athletic pro-grams. Fun and recreation must bestressed, not competition. This approachwill provide a broad interest base for theprogram which should appeal to manystudents. The students should be en-couraged to talk to parents, fellow stu-dents, and school administrators con-cerning the program. Many times studentscan open administrative door; which arenot open to staff.

2. Educaton. Administrators, par-

ents, and students must be educated con-cerning the values of intiamural partic-ipation. intramural leaders should bereading professional literature (intra-mural articles in JOPER, intramural re-source materials/books, NIRS A andAAHPERD publications) to find sup-portive information and research whichsubstantiates the place of intramural pro-grams in the educational setting. Makethese matenals available to students andadministrators. Seek out any successfulIntramural programs in neighboringschools and attempt to get representa-tives from these schools to come in totalk to your administrators.

3. Innovative programming. A large,successful program in intramurals willnot occur overnight. The program mustbe built on a successful smaller programwhich generates increased interest andparticipation. For example, quickie oneday tournaments can be scheduled whensome of the varsity teams have games.These types of activities allow you toattract participants and show them a goodtime. Once this is done, a foothold isestablished. Accurate participation rec-ords should be kept as they will be thekey to accountability for financial sup-port and justification for future funding.Cost-per-participant statistics are excel-lent to use as graphic evidence of "get-ting the taxpayer's money's worth" whileshowing lower costs when compared withthe athletic program.

4. De-emphasize the conflict withathletics. The athletic and intramuralprograms have a common bond of in-terest in sport/physical achy .ty (althoughthe emphasis is obviously afferent) andevery effort should be made to foster acooperative, positive relationship. Nei-ther program should be compromised forthe gain of the other; each has its placein the school. Many "pro-athletic" peo-ple in the school will label you "anti-athlet, if they view the intramural pro-gram as threatening excellence in theathletic program. Traditional after-schoolpractice times fall into this category.Requesting this time will have a goodchance of being viewed as a sabotageattempt on the athletic program. Rela-tionships with athletics need to be care-fully established and an attitude of "prointramurals" must evident rather than

arm-athletic." Research concerning the

43

effects of both athletic and recreationalsports participation should be searchedand cited. These studies should then beput into the hands of administrators sothat the facts are known.

5. Publicitypublic relations. Theprogram director must use all methodsavailable to inform students and facultyconcerning the intramural program Pub-lic address announcements, bulletinboards, the school paper, announce-ments in physical enucation classes, flyersto homerooms/counseling groups, andthe local newspaper are excellent mech-anisms to use. Once the program is inoperatior, word-of-mouth from satisfiedparticipants will emerge as one of theprogram's best publicity tools. The posi-tive aspects of participating in the intra-mural program should he stressed

6. Involvement in professional or-ganizations. Involvement in the Na-tional Intramural Sports Council of theAmerican Alliance for Health, PhysicalEducation, Recreation, and Dance andthe National Intramural-RecreationalSports Association will keep the intra-mura: sport specialist up to date withwhat is happening in the profession. Theintramural leader should take an activepart in these organizations. These as-sociations provide the individual profes-sional the knowledge and strategy neededto cope with local situations. New ideasand trends in intramurals are commu-nicated through annual conferences/con-ventions, professional journals, andworkshops as well as the personal con-tact with other professionals in the field

The problem described here can besolved through the work of committedIntramural leaders in our high schoolswho are supported and backed by well-informed administrators. Student input,support, and involvement will developas the participants begin to realize thepossibilaies available in the intramuralprogram. There are many, many stu-dents in our public high schools whoneed the experience offered through in-tramurals. Athletic programs tend to re-ward only the highly skilled individualswho have dominated the sports/activityprograms all through the grades. It is

time frit- intramurals in the high schoolsto come of age and provide positive sportsparticipation experiences to our studentsas they complete their public school ed-


ucation. After high school, many stu-dents don't get another oprortunity tohave this experience which could be sovaluable to them. They leave school with

questionable feelings concerning sportin the public education system Themasses of students deserve better thanthis

Gerr SurNtn of Intramural SpurtsProgranp, to Iowa High St.hook Irma Av i-non 01 Health P In %u al E(/ii anon Re( (cationJournal 10(1 8-10 tall 1977

How to Succeed in IntramuralsWithout Really Trying

John Calder and Jan McGregor

rrg-lhe growth of intramurals in the school1 system in North America has been

stymied in past by two key factorsthe wrong people are running the shoe.and we don't have any imagination.

Who Runs the Show?

We've got to stop kidding ourselvesthat it is the teachers who must do allthe work. It is the studentswho shouldcarry the bail. This is riot to say thatteachers dc nothing. but rather tl,at pro-;rams mu:.' be set up ill such a way that

^hers take more of a back seat in the-ess and give more responsibility andiority to students This ituation doesrk and some of the more successful

ograms attest to this.Obviously the amount of work that

has to be done by the teacher varies from;,..:hool to school and whether the levelis elementary or secondary. but the pointis that school intramurals will never en-joy any real success in situations whereteachers are involved in inter-school sportsand also have responsibility in intra-murals. That' called burn-out, and itshappening too frequently

The best organizational model is theIntramurals Council, in which the teacherresponsible for intramurals selects thecouncil members A carefully chosencouncil is almost a guarantee that theprogram will be a success.

The council structure shown hasbeen taken from Intramurals A Teacher'sGuide, by C, M. Hendy and I. McGregor(New York: Leisure Press), This book,designed specicically for school teach-ers, is an excellent guide for setting upand running intramural programs,

A council structure similar to the one

SF Intramural Handbook

illustrated is utilized by many schoolsacross Canada Each council is modified

to suit the structure of the school, butall follow a similar premise the stu-dents assume the responsibility. The

8"'"4..Pmotromme

4

4

44

Council at Ro'is Road Elementary Schoolconsists of three boys and three girlschosen for their maturity, leadershipqualities. enthusiasm. and ability to rep-resent all groups within the school

1,1

Meeting on a regular basis with a staffadvisor (the teacher responsible for in-tramurals), the council assumes respon-sibility for all aspects of the intramuralprogram. The council has formed twostanding committees, Activities and Rulesand Schedule and Records, which meetweekly. A selection committee to struc-ture teams was not established, becauseall our intermediate students are auto-matically placed in a house, the basicunit of competition within our schoolThe Activities and Rules Committee,consisting of three count members,chooses the activities to be offered, es-tablishes and communicates rules to ref-erees, and receives complaints and sug-gestions from the student body. TheSchedule and Records Committee drawsup a timetable for each event, maintainsscoreboards, and keeps records.

!n addition to serving on these "firstline" committees, council members alsoserve on "second line" committees withstudent volunteers. These committeesinclude the Referees Committee, whichrecruits and trains officials; the Equip-ment Committee, which organizes man-ager:, to ensure equipment i6 ready to goand stored properly; and the PromotionCommittee, which publicizes each event.Our council does not include an AwardsCommittee, since it has been traditionalat our school to present only one trophy

John Calder is an instructor at the RosyRoad Elementan School. North Van-couver. Canada Ian McGregor is di-rector cf recreation at Simon Frost'?University. Burnaby. Canada

LCOUNCIL

Staff Advisor6 students (3 boys 3 girls)

Activities & RulesCommittee

2 Council members

RefereesCommittee

Schedule & RecordCommittee

2 Count .1 member,

SelectionCommittee

1 Council members

EquipmentManagers

IPromotionCommittee

AwardsCommittee

FIGURE 1 A Sample Intramuralltec Sports Council and Committees

at year end to the house accumulatingthe most points.

Use Your ImaginationToo often the word "intramurals"

conjures up in students' 7.nd teachers'minds a picture of floor hockey and vol-leyball, period! With this restrictive def-inition, there's little wonder that intra-murals have struggled along. Organizersof successful intramural programs acrossNorth America have discarded this nar-row view and have instead adopted animaginative "anything goes" approachThe following is a list of idea., that mustbe considered if you are going to be suc-cessful in attracting students to your pro-gram.

Tournamentsone shot affairsno recurring time commitmentscan be an unusual event. e 2 . monopoly

tournament. or more consentional, c g .2-on-2 basketball. 3-on-3 volleyball

Nontraditional Gamesinnovative variations of traditional games.

c g . bucketball and crazy cricket, whicharc zany versions of softball

Alternate Intramuralsa method of reducing competitiseness byeliminating team affiliation and playingthe game for its own sake (for more in-fohaation. contact authors)

Organized Free Playson-le students Just want to playnoleagues. tournaments. etc

organize a volleyball day no refereesschedulesyou Just show up to play

New Gamesnoncompetitive fun games. e g para-

chute games. log roll

Cooperative Gamesexamples are blanket solleyta'I. cooper-ative standup

Novel Gamessomething different. unusual. zany. e g .

siamese soccer. turkey trot. wrist wres-tling. flying bedstead race

Srecial Eventsorgal ize an aquatic day mini Olympus.

10-p n bowling extras aganza

Preventing Injuries in CollegeIntramural Sports

Lawrence Sierra

Since every type of sports activityoffers some risk of injury, with thenature of the sport dictating the typeand frequency of injuries which maybe expected, accident prevention pro-cedures must be employed in an effort

IZ.

to minimize the occurrence of such In-juries The following is a discussion ofseveral ways in which injuries may beprevented in intramural and recreativesports.

Selection of Participants. While safety

45

cr Asciousness on the part of participantscan contribute a great deal toward re-ducing accidents and injuries, it is thecareful selection of the participants :fiatis of the utmost importance when de-

veloping a comprehensive program for


any activity. A policy of planning com-petition for participants with near equalskills and abilities minimizes the dan-gers of accidents and injuries. Competi-tion between high school and collegestudents or between senior high schooland junior high school students, forinstance, increases the possibility of in-,uries because of differences in matura-tion. Varsity athletes should be excludedwhenever possible from intramural com-petition because of the advantages theyreceke from training and coaching.Every effort should be made to keepcompetition on a level ecpial to theabilities of all those participating.

Considerable emphasis is placed insome cases on numbers of students par-ticipating in recreation programs. Fre-quently, in an effort to increase thenumber of participants, the welfare ofthe students is neglected. Emphasis onnumbers at the expense of the safetyand physical condition of those whoparticipate can be self-defeating, for ithas been found that if activities areconducted in a worthwhile manner andif safeguards are adopted to protect thestudent, more enthusiasm for activitiesis generated and many more studentsparticipate.

Just as interscholastic and intercolle-giate athletes commonly have medicalexamin..tions prior to participating incompetitive sports, sc a medical exam-ination should be a requisite for thehealth protection of the intramural par-ticipant as well.

Coaching and Teaching of Skills. Theunskilled person runs a greater risk ofincurring injuries, since he does notknc, v how to handle or pos:iion him-self to exert maximum effort with theleas, strain Knowing the rules, tech-niques, and strategy of a sport is ex-tremely important. For instance, atMichigan State University, a higher rateof injuries occurs to freshmen in theintramural program than to upperclass-men, simply because they lack experi-ence, especially in touch football.

Even though much of the burden oflearning an activity is placed on theindividual. at Michigan State certainsituations are created to help him de-velop a proper skill level. Prior to the

LAWRENCE SIERRA is in the De-partment of Health and Physical Edu-cation at Michigan State University,East Lansing, Michigan 48823.


season, team managers hold meetingsat which touch football films nepictingcorrect play are shown and rules arediscussed in depth. On such a largecampus it is more expedient for intra-mural staff members to go to the resi-dence hall complexes for pre-seasonconferences with the students. Duringth.: playing sea-on each game super-visor and official is instructed to critiquethe games played and to point out anddiscuss repeated violations at half-timeand at the end of each game.

Training and Conditioning Trainingand conditioning are important factorsin injury prevention nd control. Oppor-tunities for practice and conditioningshould he made available before everyscheduled competition

Where it is not possible to providethese opportunities, modifications of therules should be made to minimize in-jury to improper conditioning Theboundary lines of the court or playingfield can be shortened. The periods ofplay may also be shortened to minimizefatigue, or running time may be substi-tuted for timed periods where the clockis stopped in actual play In intramuralsoccer at MSU, for example, a sm fillerfield (105 x 60 yards) is used in place ofthe regulation 120 x 75 yard field andthe quarters are shortened from 22minutes to 12 minutes. Intramuralhockey is handled in a similar fashionAlthough the rink is regulation size, the

46

_....111.

periods are shortened and running timequarters are utilized. Since ice-time is ata premium, practice sessions are limited.However, all teams are required to haveat least one practice session during theweek prior to scheduled contests. Thesesessions are fully supervised, as are allcontests.

Protective Equipment. The kind andamount of protective equipment used isdetermined by the rules of the sport inwhich an individual is competingWhenever possible, equipment shouldbe furnished to ensure safety Whereprovided, equipment should fit, be freefrom defects and safe for use, and beinspected regularly to ensure that it isin good working order.

Students should not be required topurchase expensive equipment. The useof cleated shoes in touch football shouldnot be optional, as cleated shoes pro-vide distinct advantages in running, cut-ting, and blocking

Frequently, p.otective equipmentsuch as helmets and shoulder padstends to create more reckless play asthe players disregard their own safetyNew lightweight plastic or inflated vinylheadgear should be explored for theireventual use.

The problems of cost and the me-chanics of issuing, retrieving, and sani-tation of large numbers of helmets mustbe considered. Other administrativepioblems to be faced Include the need

for policies to ensure that students weareyeglass guards or safety glasses andthat mouth pieces are worn in all con-tact sports. Exceptions Should not bemade so a contest can continue; rather,contests should be stopped before ex-ceptions are made.

Safe Play Areas. Playing areas andfields should be level, well-drained,without mud or dust, and free of ob-stacles. Some areas may have to befenced or situated so that participantscannot run into the street, bu:Idings, orother obstancles. Playing areas shouldbe stell-defined for different activitiesand efforts should be made to use ap-propriate methods for making them assafe as possiblefor example, throughthe use of padding on walls, restraininglines for players and spectators, orbright colors to define obstacles.

Supervision and Officiating. Officialsand supervisors play an important safetyrole not only in enforcing rules but alsoin being alert for signs of injury orillness among the contestants. It wouldbe ideal if intramural games could beplayed without officials, except perhapsfor timing purposes and to make callsthat players cannot see. Players shouldbe oriented to the philosophy that theofficial is not out to catch him, that itis his responsibility to play within therules and that it is not solely the offi-cial's responsibility to make him controlhis personal actions. Good understand-ing of this relationship leads to a healthyatmosphere and better play.

Up to a point, the more officialsassigned to a specific game such astouch football, the fewer injuries w,"occur Well-placed officials can be at

the point of action more quickly andbe able to keep play moving withgreater continuity. Penalties should becommensurate with the severity ofthe injury potential of the violation.For example, offensive body blocking,shoulder blocking downfield, clipping,tripping, and unnecessary roughness alldraw a loss-of-ball penalty at the lineof scrimmage or point of greatest loss.

Accident Reporting and Injury Costs.One philosophy concerning injuries isthat if the intramural program is spon-sored by the university and students areencouraged to participate and use thefacilities provided and maintained bythe university, the university should beresponsible for injuries occurring duringa supervised and scheduled contest.During the school year 1969-70 atMSU, the total charges for ail healthservices rendered to students as a re-sult of intramural sports exclusive ofprofessional fees totaled $9,255.85. Be-ginning with fall 1970, students weremade responsible for all costs for anyinjury incurred during intramural con-tets. That year the number of injuriesreported and the number of injuredstudents reporting to the health centerdropped drastically. In my opinion, inprevious years when students have beeninjured and have had their injury costscovered by the university, a few lawsuits may have been prevented. In myestimation, if the university confirmedto assume costs for student injuries, itis likely that fewer individuals wouldbe walking around with untreated in-juries because they would be more will-ing to seek treatment for injuries.

The primary concern when an injuryoccurs is not the mechanics of record-

ing the injury and how it happened, butthat of initiating appropriate first aidand emergency care for the injured stu-dent. Enorts have been made at MSUto develop an effective accident report-ing system to help in the preventionand control of acc'dents and injuries.All intramural staff members are askedto report all injuries occurring in theactivities they supervise. Since they aremade aware of the possible uses ferthese accident reports, they are moreInclined to complete the accident reportform in a manner that will give as cleara picture as possible of the accident.Reports from the health center on stu-dents who have been injured are help-ful because an indication is given bythe physician of whether an injury ismajor or minor and whether the stu-dent's participation is to be restricted.

First Aid and Medical Treatment.Prompt medical treatment should followand supplement good first aid andemergency care for injured students.Intramural supervisors need to bequalified to carry out first aid andemergency care policies to help mini-mize further injury. Appropriate trans-portation of the injured to the healthcenter by the campus police and heavailability of an on-call physician inthe health center helps to ensure prompttreatment of the injured.

Injury reports from ''',e health centertogether with the injury reports com-pleted by the intramural supervisors arehelpful in determining what needs tobe done to improve the quality of theintramural program so that students getthe most out of their participation inintramural sports with a minimum ofaccidents and injuries. 0

Injuries and IntramuralsJ. D. Parsley

I. D. PARSLEY is intramural directorat the College of St. Thomas, St. Paul,Minnesota 55105. He is now serving ascontributing editor for the "Intra-murals" column.

One of the most neglected areas inthe field of intramurals is caring for theinjured participant. Contact sports, inparticular, are responsible for a largenumber of injuries to students. For ex-ample, on most campuses touch football

s 47

is a popular intramural activity thattakes its toll in injuries. Unlike inter-

collegiate or interscholastic football,protective equipment is virtually nil,but aggressiveness and fierce contactare still evident. The end result? Injury


What are you doing as an intramuraldirector to see that your participants aregetting the best care possible?

I suggest the following format as pro-cedure in caring for injuries.

1. Require intramural supervisors tocomplete a course in athletic injuriesor first aid.

2. Require officials to report all injuriesto the supervisors on duty. The su-pervisor will then proceed withemergency measures

I 3. Have a working agreement with theschool's athletic trainer, whose re-sponsibility can and should includeintramural participants

4 Require dl supervisors to carry theemergency telephone number ofyour local hospital Speed is ex-tremely important if a serious injuryoccurs.

5 Require that an injury report formbe filled out by the supervisor Thisreport should be kept on file as youwill no doubt have to refer to It at

a later date regarding insuranceclaims.These procedures are easy to imple-

ment and if done with care will lessenthe confusion that occurs at the time ofinjury.

It is vital th every Intramural par-ticipant carry medical insurance. Asevere injury to an individual withoutinsurance could impose a severe finan-cial burden on the injured participantand could lead to a lawsuit with you,the intramural director, being the de-fendant.

A NISC Feature: Financing Intramurals

Regular School Budget

At the Adams Middle School in Hol-liston, Massachusetts, the entire intra-mural program costs are borne by theschool budget. No fund raising activi-ties are used.

The three-season program providedfor the 1,230 students, grades 5-8, wasoperated last year for a total cost fig-ure of $4,593. Intramural supplies arebudgeted at a low $290 because regu-lar physical education department sup-plies are utilized as much as possible.The supplemental intramural figure pro-vides for activities not in the PE cur-riculum, such as ping pong. A sum of$175 underwrites the cost of awards.Permanent trophies for each team sportadd the name of the new championeach year.

Supervisory costs for the programadd up as follows:

Grades 5 and 6, a five-day-a-week programFall: 50 days x 4 supervisors /day

@ $4/hr = <R00Winter: 60 days x 3 supervisors/day

@ $4 /hr = $720Spr'ng: 35 days x 4 supervisors/day

@ $4/hr = $560Grades 7 and 8, a four-day-a-week program

128 days x 4 supervisors/day@ $4/ hr = $2,048

The program provided offers a vari-ety of activities for each grade leveland includes: flag footbali. folk sing-ing, cross country, kickball, cheerlead-ing, track and field events, soccer, field


Where does the money come from to finance the intramural activity pro-

grams sponsored by schools and colleges? Can budgets for intramurals be in-

creased by tapping additional sources of funds' Because such questions of fi-

nancing are of vital concern to administrators and all those working with infra-

murals, the National Intramural Sports Council addressed itself to the problem

and solicited information about methods of finance from intramural personnel

eround the country. Presented here are brief descriptions of methods currently

in use. AA HPER members who have found success with other ways of raising

funds are encouraged to share their experiences by w-iting to: NISC Executive

Committee, c/o XAHPER, 1201 16th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.

hockey, chess workshop, basketball,free throw tour ament, gymnastics,volleyball, newcon..), badminton, pingpong, softball, horse shoes, and frisbee.

Mosby Turner, intramural coordi-nator, holds costs down through the vol-unteer services of the Grade 8 OfficialsClub. Members, all trained by Turner,make it possible to run as many as sixdifferent activities after school, a num-ber far too large to he handled by theavailable faculty supervisors. The needfor increasing participation, rather thaneconomy, initially fostered the forma-tion of the Officials Club.

The Adams Middle Schoc, intra-mural program has received the full

48

support of the Holliston School Com-mittee since its inception. ChairmanThomas A. Lyons described it on theTown Meeting floor as one of the bestdollar values for the taxpayer in theschool budget. "A good intramural pro-gram such as ours involves many stu-dents in activities at an important form-ative time of their lives. It helps to givestudents the fundamentals of any sportprogram they may aspire to in lateryears. The Holliston School Commit-tee each year appropriates approxi-mately $5,000 to support the Intramu-ral program and this sum of money iswithout doubt one of the best invest-ments our Committee makes."

General Fund

The Cobb County Public School Sys-tem, Marietta, Georgia, through its gen-eral fund, allocated a $3,600 salarysupplement for intramurals to each ofthe seven m'ddle and three junior highschools (12,106 students) in the sys-tem. The supplements, ranging from$800 to $1,500 (for directors), are ap-portioned among staff in each school,by the school principal and intramuraldirector.

"It is the intent of the Cobb Countysystem to provide each student withthe opportunity to experience partici-pation in an organized program of in-tramurals involving a balance of in-dividual, dual, and team sports," statesPaul L. Hildreth, physical educationinstructor and intramural director forFloyd Junior High School, Mableton."The schedule of activities is uniqueto each school, in keeping with its fa-cilities, equipment, age level of stu-dents, and structure of the physical edu-cation department. Whenever possible,intramural activities correspond withthe instructional program." An intra-mural handbook for the county (pre-pared in 1973-74) provides commo..bases for systemwide implementation ofprograms in terms of goals and objec-tives and allows for individual teacherand pupil differences in the process ofachievement of stated goals and objec-tives.

Pat Logue, intramural director atEast Cobb Middle School, Marietta,one of the Cobb County public schools,adds additional notes about fi..ancing."Each spring the intramural directorand the chairman of physical educationmeet to make decisions about buyingequipment to be used in both the PEservice classes and the intramural pro-gram, from the funds allotted to thedepartment for necessary equ, enteach year." The principal sets aside$200 from general funds for EastCobb's intramural budget to buyawards, such as ribbons and patches.

When East Cobb offers golf, ice skat-ing, and tenais, fees are charged to playat local facilities. In return, the publicrecreational facilities provide medalsto each student who participates me.award trophies. Since no money is al-lotted for transportation to and frompublic recreational facilities, volunteerparents help with transportation. It is

handled on a week-to-week basis bymembers of the school's Triangle Club.made up of parents interested in per-forming real services to the schoolThese parents work directly with teach-ers, students, and .,tall in a cooperativeeffort to increase the effectiveness ofschool programs.

Special Appropriation

During the 1973-74 school year, theschool board of Palm Beach County,Florida, authorized a committee tostudy discrimination in the system.One of the changes resulting from thestudy was an appropriation of $32,000for intramural programs in the secon..:-ary schools. These monies are allocatedto the schools using the formula of$.90 for each student enrolled. Thesefunds are to be used only for suppliesand equipment used in intramural pro-grams and for salary for an intramuraldirector ($300): they are entirely sep-arate from athletic and physical educa-tion funding.

In addition, the school board pro-vides a teaching supplement of $100for each intramural unit. A school mayhave one unit for each 100 students, andeach unit must last at least 20 hours.No staff member is allowed to operatemore than four intramural activitiesduring the year.

Caroline Sigmon, physical educationteacher and intramural director for theForest Hill High School (2,200 stu-dents, grades 9-12) in West PalmBeach, reports they have Intramuralunits for both boys and girls in wres-tling, golf, tennis, basketball, flag foot-ball, volleyball, softball, slow pitchbaseball, gymnastics, howling, badmin-ton, and recreational games. Most ofthe units are held during the lunchhour, but for those sche iuled afterschool, an activities bus is provided forthe students who are bussed into theschool district.

General UniversityEducation Appropriations

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and StateUniversity, in Blacksburg, with a stu-dent population of 17,500. offers anintramural program of 78 te.m and in-

49

dividual sports for undergraduates and18 for faculty'graduate students. Over9,000 undergraduate students and 600faculty-graduate students participatedin one or more activities last year at acost of $1.25 per year per participant.

Budget allocations for the intramu-ral program are received directly fromthe College of Education, upon approv-al of the University administration,from the general university educationalappropriation The intramural programis under the direct control of the Divi-sion of Health, Physical Education, andRecreation, a part of the College ofEducation, but its allocations are sep-arate from the HPER division. Theallocation front the general fund is theonly source of funding for the ultramural program. No resources are re-ceived from student fees or otheragencies.

At VPI, intramurals are recognizedas an integral part of the educationalprocess, reports Paul H. Gunsten, di-rector of recreational service activityprograms. They are, accordingly, fund-ed from the general education budget,the same as other disciplines.

Physical EducationBudget Support

Overall funding for the inuarnural pro-gram at the College of St. Thomas inSt. Paul, Minnesota, comes from thephysical education budget. The physi-cal education revenue is received di-rectly from the general operating fundof the College.

The intramural budget consists oftwo categories (1) eouipment and sup-plies and (2) student help. The firstcategory covers all tangible Items nec-essary for operating the program, whichserves the student body of approxi-mately 2,000 men. The second categoryincludes both student assistants andstudent officials.

The intramural directc,- annuallysubmits a proposed budget to the chair-man of the physical education depart-ment, who includes the request as a

part of the total physical educationbudget The budget officer for physi-cal education accounts submits thebudget to the College Budget Com-mittee for final approval.

J. D. Parsley, intramural director forthe College of St. Thomas, describes anadditional method of financing for one

Intramural Handbook 4i

activity. An admission fee is chargedfor the semifinal and final bouts in in-tramural boxing, in order to pay for aboxing ring, the cost of which wouldotherwise have been prohibitive. Anyexcess money is put into the generalfund, to be distributed as a part ofthe overall funding. (Parsley dues notnecessarily advocate either boxing asan activity or charging aumIssion forviewing an intramural activity, but be-cause of the intense interest created inboxing as an elective physical educationclass, it was added to the intramuralprogram. The only feasible way to cov-er expenses was to charge admission.)

General FundsPlus Student Fees

The intramural/leisure activity pro-grams at the Catonsville CommunityCollege in Catonsville, Maryland, arefunded primarily through college oper-ating funds. A small percentage offunds are appropriated through the stu-dent activity fees. The College recog-nizes that the intramural/recreationalexperiences are valuable to the over-all educational programs offered. Thecollege administration, along with theDivision of Health, Physical Education,and Recreation, provides strong supportfor the leisure activity needs of thecollege community.

Federally funded work study stu-dents, supervised community collegefield workers, and university internsare utilized to supervise, lead, organize,and officiate intramural/recreation ac-tivities, says Larry R. Williams, coordi-nator of recreation and intramuralsAlong with professional staff they helpto carry out a diversified leisure activi-ty program for students, faculty, staff,and community residents.

Student Fees andConcess;on Accounts

For several years the intramural/recre-ation program at Texas Tech Univer-sity has received operational supportthrough funds derived from studentservice fees and from campus conces-sion accounts. Allocation from thesetwo sources have provided the ;.2,000students with ample financial support forthe ongoing programs.


The intramural/recreation budget isfunded through action taken by a Uni-versity-wide Allocations Committeecomposed of student government offi-cials and administrators of the Univer-sity. The budget is funded strictly uponjustification and not upon any pro ratabasis in reference to men and womenwho have paid the fees. The Intramu-ral/Recreation budget for the currentyear is a little more than $100 thou-sand. Of this sum approximately $20thousand is all.,..ated to the budgetfrom the campus concession accounts,with the balance being provided fromstudent service fees. The campus con-cession accounts are those funds thatthe University derives from normalcontractual relations with vendors whoprovide the University with food anddrink concessions. At the present time,this position enables the University tcassess the students a fee which is some-what less than would be required werethe concession account funds not available.

Every student at Texas Tech Univer-sity (undergraduate and graduate) isassessed a required student service feewhich is based according to the credithours enrollment. The structure of thisfee for the academic year 1974-1975is as follows.

Credit Hours Enrolled Required Fee

1 $ 2 252 4 503 6.754 9.005 11.256 13 507 15 758 18 009 20 25

10 22.5011 24.7512 or more 27 00

The fee structure is divided into fourcategories. Category 1 involves a re-quired fee associated with those stu-dents who enroll for no more than 1 or2 credit hours Category 2 is propor-tioned for those who are enrolled for3-8 credit hours. Category 3 (which in-cludes the Intramural 'Recreation Pro-grams for Men and Women) is propor-tioned for those students who are en-rolled for 9-11 hours. Category 4 in-volves all students who are carrying 12err more credit hours.

This graduated fee, structured ac-cording to credit hours enrollment, isfunctioning well for Texas Tech Uni-versity. University policy regarding res-ervations and use of various types of

50

equipment for Intramural/Recreationactivities requires that students who re-ceive such reservation; and equipmentmust have paid the required fee forCategory 3 and/or Category 4.

Administrators interested in more de-tails of fee structure provisions in ref-erence to the sei vices provided withinCategories 1-4 may obtain informa-tion by writing directly to H EdselBuchanan, director, Intramural/Recre-ation, Texas Tech University, Lubbock,Texas 79406.

Funds for the construction of newfacilities, whether they be recreationalor academic in nature, come from asource entitled "buildings use fee." Thisis a fee authorized by the Legislatureof the state of Texas, and the fees varyfrom or; state institution to anotherAt the present time, funds for newareas and facilities for intramural/rec-reation are derived from this source.The Texas Tech University Board ofRegents approves allocations for newfacility construction depending uponpriorities and justification for the fa-cilities requested

Student Activity Feesand Entry Fees

All intramurals at the University of Col-orado, Boulder. are student and partic-ipant funded through student activitiesfees and entry fees. Enrollment at theUniversity in Boulder is about 20,000students with a participation in intra-murals of 9,400 Participation is opento all students who have paid their ac-tivities fees and to paid members ofthe recreation center Rates for nonstu-dent members are different, dependingon the group: for example, faculty-staff pay $25 semester, alumni $115/year, and community members $165/year

Each student paNs an $81 activitiesfee per seme,,ter, about $22 of whichgoes to the Recreation Center. Of this$22, $15 goes to pay off the bond issuefor the building of the new center whichopened in February 1972 The rest isfor the operation and program aspectsof the Recreation Center, such as clubsports. women's athletics. aquatic pro-grams, ice rink utilization, mountainrecreation, equipment and services,open recreation, and general adminis-tration of the building

The total budget for intramurals isapproximately $48,300 This covers ev-

erything: part-time student employeesin the capacity of supervisors, officials,scorekeeper/timers, and two secretaries:supplies: equipment; maintenance suchas lining fields, etc.; awards; and salaryfor a coordinator and assistant coordi-nator of intramurals.

Entry fees are an important sourceof revenue. An entry fee is charged perteam, some of which helps pay officialsand a lesser amount pays for award,:.

Team entry fees run from $3.00 forunofficiated volleyball leagues to $18.00for the more involved sports, such asice hockey, tootball, or basketball. Com-petition in team sports is generallyround robin within leagues with singleor double elimination playoffs amongleagues. The entry fees do not totallypay for the student employees (super-visors, officials, and scorekeeper tim-ers). The awards, however, are totallypaid for from the entry fees. Individualsports have an entry fee of about $1.00.

Currently, reports Carol Thieme, as-sistant intramural coordinator, in theRecreation Department, the Universityof Colorado makes available some 40intramural sports and events, includ-ing men's, women's, and coed activities.The philosophy is that the people par-ticipating should help defray the cost,rather than having those who do notcompete pay snore than they alreadyhave, and so the intramural programis totally funded through student activ-ities fees and participant fees

A Percentage ofStudent Activity Funds

At Palm Beach Junior College, the in-!ramurat program is funded from thestudent activity fee Since intramuralsare considered as an extracurricular pro-gram, the funding is also outside theregular matriculation fee charged stu-dents The student activities fee is $15per semester, At the p-esent t,rne, ac-

cording to Roy E. Bell, director of in-tramurals, the program receives 8.5%of the fee. This percentage was estab-lished several years ago by a committeecomposed of representatives from allthe extracurricular activities. The dis-tribution is reviewed annually by thecommittee and revisions are made toinclude new activities in the system.The student body, by a referendumvote, has earmarked one third of thestudeut activity fee for athletics.

The percentage distribution systemhas allowed each activity relative finan-cial security, and there are other ad-vantages. Since all students pay thefee (part-time students pay a pro-ratedfee), all are eligible to participate in theintramural program. The flexibility inthe funding system allows the programto adjust to changing student prefer-ences for activities All changes are de-termined by expressed student nee 's.Any unexpended funds may be carriedover to the next year, which makes itpossible to provide for expansion.

Starting with the 1975-76 schoolyear, Palm Beach Junior College willchange to a per credit hour fee replac-ing the syst- n presently in use. Al-ready the P ,ard of Trustees has reaf-firmed the percentage distribution sys-tem in support of all extracurricular ac-tivities programs. The percentage dis-tribution formula will be. applied toone dollar per credit hour earmarkedfor student activities, and the intramu-ral program will receive 8.5%, or 81/2cents per credit hour. Projected figuresfor next year indicate that intramuralincome will remain within a workablerange and continue to provide securityin support of intramurals.

Student Fees PlusPE Supplies

Wayne Community College. Goldshor^,like other state-supported institutions in

North Carolina, receives no funds forintramural activities from the state.

State funds are allotted for physicaleducation programs, and any equipmentand materials that are approved forPE curriculums may be used for theintramural program. Activities forwhich materials or equipment are notavailable through PE supplies at WayneCommunity College are paid for throughstudent activity fees. These fees arecontrolled by the Student GovernmentAssociation, and the intramural budgetis submitted to the student governmenteach year. Trophies, travel, shirts, offi-cials, materials and equipment are allincluded in the budget. Allocatedmonies, activities, and schedules for in-tramurals are coordinated through theStudent Services Department by thecoordinator of student activities.

Jim Bennett, Department of PhysicalEducation, adds that Wayne Commu-nity College no longer participates inintercollegiate competition (intercolle-giate athletics in North Carolina receiveno state funds). Their goal is to involveall students in activity that is of in-terest and enjoyribl, to them, and theprogram is continuously expandedand adapted to include innovationssuitable to their students and situation.The Isothermal Community College,Spindale, North Carolina also offers anintramural program to its student bodyof 700 with funds from student activi-ties fees Students pay $10 per fallquarter. $10 per winter quarter, and $8

for the spring quarter.The director of intramural programs

submits an annual itemized budget tothe Student Activities Fee, Committee.It is they approved by the Student Gov-ernment Association. Executive Com-mittee, and the Board of Trustees. inturn, reports Janet F Smith, chairman,Di',ision of I ifc Sciences

51Intramural Handbook 43

Standards and Guidelines for Intramurals

Intramurals, recognized as an inte-gral part of the educational experience,

must meet standards and guidelineswhich will assist in the administrationof organized programs at all education-al levels. It is the responsibility of each

educational institution to provide a pro-gram of recreational activities commen-

surate with the needs and interests of'he institutional community, in concertwith the adopted school philosophy,and within the limits of their facilities,personnel, and finances.

This statement is intended to assistschool and college personnel in the or-ganization and administration of qual-ity intramurals, which are defined as"any program of activities offered to en-able students and others opportunitiesfor fulfilling growth, developmental,

and recreational needs." It was devel-oped by a task force of intramural di-rectors and school and college admin-istrators under the auspices of the Na-tional Intramural Sports Council, spon-

sored by the National Association forGirls and Women in Sport and the Na-tional Association for Sport and Physi-cal Education of the American Alli-ance for Health, Physical Education,and Recreation.

General ObjectivesThe complexity of the modern world,

the diversity of our population, cultu-ral pluralism, and the need for nationalconsensus have combined in their im-pingement upon the individual person-ality to endow intramural programs withdynamic new urgency and importance.All intramural programs should havespecific objectives based on the needsof the constituents to be served. Whileinstitutional objectives will vary andmay be unique in character, it is pos-sible to broadly categorize them in the


following way: physical (motor skill,fitness); mental (cognitive. value clari-fication, assimilation); social (interac-tional, intracultural); emotional (stressrelease, self-image), and leadership(provision for and use of leisure).

Participants. ne raison d'être of intramural activ-

ities is the participant. The nature andscope of programs are based on partic-ipant interests, desires, and needs. Thebasic qualification for participation isinterest. The individual participatingmay be any bona fide member of theinstitutional community who is inter-ested and who is willing to abide by theoperational rules and regulations of theprograms in whie- he or she becomesinvolved.

Leadership and PersonnelQualified and dynamic leadership is

essential to the implementation of aneffective and comprehensive programof intramurals. The key to the Intra-mural program is a competent, con-cerned director. The director of intra-murals must be knowledgeable aboutgrowth and maturation patterns and besensitive to student needs, desires, andconcerns. Competent assistants in co-ordinating and officiating capacities arealso essential. Each, however, must becontinuously aware that the heart ofthe program is the participants and thatthe program must be shaped to theirneeds. Provisions must be made for:

I. Director of tiara 'tealsQualifications for a director should

Include.College degree with professional

preparation in intramurals, pref-erably with a degree in administra-tion in such programs

Working experience in intramuralprograms

Broad knowledge of sports and lei-sure activities and their organiza-tion for competitive and recrea-tional programs

Working knowledge of budgets andfinancing programs

Sensitivity and capability in humanand public relations

52

2. Student InvolvementStudents are needed to provide a di-

rect line of communication between theprofessional staff and participants andfor leadership in planning, organizing,supervising, administering, and evalu-ating activities. Qualifications for stu-dents in leadership roles should include:

Sincere desire to be of service totheir peers

Respect for and of their peersMature judgmentWillingness to accept and follow

rules with a commitment to theIntramural program

Broad working knowledge of theintramural program

3. OfficialsQualifications for trained officials to

officiate in intramural activities shouldInclude:

Thorough knowledge of the rulesand interpretations

Working knowledge of the me-chanics of officiating

Good judgmentPractical experienceAbility to make unbiased decisions,

especially under pressure, andskills in human relations

4. Auxiliary PersonnelQualifications for auxiliary person-

nel to assist in supervision and coordi-nation of the program should include.

Sincere Interest in the programSkills commensurate with their re-

sponsibilitiesKnowledge of policies and proce-

dures under which the programfunctions

Desire to be of service to all in-vnlveo in the program

ProgramIntramural programs vary in nature

to fit existing conditions. There is noset program that will meet the needsand provide optimum participation forall situations. There are, however, cer-tain standards and guidelines pertainingto programming which can be appliedin any educational setting. Therefore,provisions should be made for:

I. PlanningThe area of planning takes into con-

sideration:Availability of facilities, time, and

clienteleSupervisory capabilityExisting policies and proceduresFinancial supportCultural, ethnic, environmental,

and socioeconomic factor,Philosophy of the institution

2. ActivitiesA wide range of activities is needed

to provide maximum opportunity forparticipation of students according totheir needs, interests, and capabilitieswithin the limitations of the local situ-ation. Activities should be:

Both competitive and recreationalby nature

Physically vigorous and intellec-tually challenging

Structured and nonstructuredBoth comprehensive and reflective

of special needs

3. RulesIntramural rules should support the

concept of fair play and safety for theparticipant. Rules and regulations shouldbe:

Flexible so as not to hinder en-joymentDesigned to ensure balance ofcompetition

Consistent with existing school pol-icies and regulationsProtective of the health of eachparticipant

4. Recognition for Individuals WhoParticipate

Satisfaction from participation af-fords the ideal recognition. In addition,recognition may appropriately be de-rived from:

"t^

A system of awards reflecting theneed for motivation and promo-tion in keeping with philosophicperspective and economic variables

Extensive use of media resources

Financing, Facilities, andEquipment

Financing, facilities, and equipn_ent,while vitally important, need not nec-essarily dictate the nature or quality ofthe intramural program. Adequate fi-nancing, facilities, and equipm-nt canenhance opportunities for participation,accommodate varying interests, and pro-vide flexibility and comprehensivenessof programs. The success of effective in-tramural programs is highly dependentupon appropriate administration of ex-isting finances, facilities, and equip-ment. Therefore, provisions must bemade for:

sY. -

53

ti

At.


1. FinancingThere should be dependable finan-

cial support, just as for other educa-tional programs. Financial planningshould ake into consideration:

Participation potentialProjected activitiesFacility and equipment require-

mentsPersonnel

2. FacilitiesFunctional facilities, designed to pro-

vide settings for optimum and safe par-ticipation, are needed.

Provisions should be made for:Priority scheduling for structured

and unstructured activitiesEquitable service to the total cli-

entele to be servedImplementation of a wide variety

of activities

3. EquipmentConsiderations for equipment in suf-

ficient quantity and condition to en-sure utilization by all participants shouldinclude:

AvailabilityMaintenance and storagePlanned program of utilization

EvaluationIt is the responsibility of each insti-

tution to develop and implement guide-lines for the constructive evaluation of

current as well as anticipated intramuralprograms. The word "evaluation" isnot synonymous with comparison be-cause of the unique nature of variousprograms. Consequently, each govern-ing body should make provisions forinternal evaluation which is ongoingand inclusive. Provisions should bemade for the periodic implementationof external evaluation techniques. Stepsmust be taken to ensure th compati-bility of the evaluation methods used.Any evaluation is futile unless the datacompiled are effectively employed.

Current evaluative procedures andinstruments include:

Participant evaluationParticipation records

Questionnaires and interviewsCheck listsConsultantsExperimental researchPersonnel evaluationSuggestion boxesvideo tapes

AdministrationImplementation of a strong intramu-

ral program can provide benefits equalin importance to those of others dis-ciplines. The greatest accomplishmentsin the area of intramurals N. likely toresult when the program is made aseparate administ-ative entity of the in-stitution concerned.

TASK FORCE TO DEVELOP iTANDARDS ANDGUIDELINES FOR INTRAMURALS

Paul H. Gunsten, Chairman, Director ofRecreational Service Activity Programs,Virginia Polytechnic Institute and StateUniversity, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061

Ronald Hyatt, Associate Professor, Physi-cal Education, Department of PhysicalEducation, University of North Caro-lina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514

Coulbourn H. Tyler, Chairman, Divisionof Health, Physical Education, and Rec-reation, Ferrum Junior College, Ferrum,Virginia 24088

Pamela C. Gunsten, University of Cincin-nati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45211

Barb Landers, Supervisor, Physical Educa-tion, Duval County Schools, Jackson-ville, Florida 32209

Albert L. Ayars, Superintendent of Schools,Norfolk, Virginia 23911

James L. Wilkerson, Instructor in Educa-tion, Division of HPER, Virginia Poly-technic Institute and State Ur iversity,Blacksburg, Virginia 24061

Margaret L. Driscoll, Professor of Educa-tion, Virginia Polytechnic Institute andState University, Blacksburg, Virginia24061

Paul L. Hildreth, Intramural Director,Floyd Junior High School, MabletonGeorgia 30059

Charles E. Clement, Jr., Intramural Di-rector, Blacksburg Middle School, MainStreet, Biacksburg, Virginia 24060

Pat Logut, Intramural Director, East CobbJunior High School. Marietta. Georgia30062

Checklist for Procuring anIntramural-Recreation Program Sponsor

Steven A. ShermanIn these times of rising costs, d,-

diming student popuiation, and yetincreased demands for service and participation opportunities, intramural-recreation directors are faced with grow-

Steven A. Sherman is director of recrea-tion, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY112/0.

46 Intramural HandN)ok

mg financial challenges To maintainprogram quality and to insure continuedgrowth in the future, there will be a needto seek new sources of revenue. Preo,' inhis article on educational validity andfinancial integnty, reviews several op-portt:oe methods of raising revenue forone's program These methods includedrental fees, faculty and alumni fees, pro-shop operation,,, and specialized pro-

54

grammirtt Similar tee type suggestionswere presented by Ostrander' in terms offinancing programs Maas,' in his pres-ntation on the involvement of a local

, food restaurant, comes closest to thedirection this article will proceednamely, how to procure commercialsponsorship of intramural-recreationprograms The objective I:, to provide thereader with a gume or checklist prnce-

dure for instituting such a program onone's own campus.

Step 1. Determine the Feasibility of Utili4inp, a C^mmercial Sponsor For Your Pro-gram.

This would include examining institutionaland departm:ntal philosophy and regulationswith regard outside contributions and thetypes of sponsors that would be acceptable foryour program. Make sure you have approvalof necessary college offices for seeking suchssistance before beginning. For example, if

,hdosophy or legality preverns you from en-tering into an agreemen' with a sponsor en-gaged 1; the sate of alcoholic beverages itwould be inadvisable to pursue this avenue ofassistance. Included in this feasibility deter-mination study shoulA be two other factors.The first is to decide if additional financialassistance is required and the second shouldbe a concern with one 's ability to successfe!:yprovide a program or the sponsor Remem-ber. you repent your institution -is well asthe intramural-recreatiln programs Preo'ssuggestions on mergin6 the consideration; offinancial nitegrity with education valid!'good point to heed. Once you have decided

yc u want and can accommodate commercialsponsorship you are ready for Step 2

Step 2. Determine the Desired Extent and....al Involvement of the Sponsor.

This phase invoes selecting the type ofevent for which sponsorship is desired (e.g.,special event or league. short or long termInvolvement). When determining the type ofevent, try to be aware of those activities thatmight have some special attraction or useful-ness to a local commercial sponsor

Step 3. Identify Prospective Sponsors inYour Campus Community.

Step 4. Prepare a She -t But Complete andInteresting Proposal for the PotentialSponsor.

This proposal should include a completedescription of the program. the benefits forthe sponsor and an accurat 'midget Highlightthe strong points of your program that wouldserve to estaolish worm for the sponsor Re-member You are not asking for charity butan; sous to engage in a legitimate venture thatwould b:nefit two parties, and the spon-sor Include in your package information onthe extent of participation in your program.

Let 'he sponsor know how many people oncampu. the intramural-recreation programsare able to reach directly, as well as yourprogram's gro potential The prospectivesponsor will be asked to provide dollars inreturn for positive local exposure. Be ready tosuggest direct means of exposure available tothe sponsor in your proposal. such as in-tramural t -shirt awards, coupons. advertising,or other promotional Items Try to slant y o'.-proposal toward the potential sponsor'scommercial operat'm and the type of assist-ance which your special program could pro-vide Be able to develop one general proposalwhich, with slight modifications, could betoed for different sponsors.

Step 5. Contact the Prospective Sponsorand Arrange a Meeting to Discuss YourProposal.

This may be the most difficult point in theproceduie Phone contact or a personal ap-;lointment are usually the best means for thisstep. If not feasible. mail the sponsor a copyGt your proposal with a personal cover letterrequesting a future chance to discuss matterspersonally

I.


Step 6. Choose the Sponsor that Best FitsYour Needs and or Meets the PhilosophicalGuidelines of Your Institution and Pro-gram.

Hopefully, interest will be such that youcan make a choice There is always a goodDoccoc.:Ity or r ) Interest Do not get discour-aged. Getting a gotscl sponsor, one that meetsyour pre-developed criteria. is not often aneasy task Remember Be patient. be persis-tent and be willing to compromise (only if it isnot to the detriment of your program or insti-tution).

Assuming You Now Have Secured A Sponsor

Step 7. )rganize, Define and Agree onDefinite and Workable Expectations forSnonsor and Program.

Make sure that the sponsor understands alllimitations as well as potential benefits. Thesuccessful working relationship between youand the sponsor can be crucial for any futureinvolvement with other sponsors. Remember.Do not promise what cannot be delivered

Step 8. Prepare a Written Agreement(Contract).

Step 9. Have Agreement Reviewed (ifnecessary) by Legal College UniversityCounsel.

T`1,5 should include determination of anyunusual liability risks or insurance needs foreither party. The term, if necessary, wasadded because some commercial arrange-ments may not even require a formal agree-

ment as they may be tAvered by generalpolicy Your best, sound judgerr,:nt as a pro-fessional is required here Wher in doubt, getapproval of higher authorities in writing

Step IC. Sign the Agreement.This could be in the form of a letter outlin-

ing all aspects of the program and sporsorinvolvement to be signed by the sponsorYour original proposal will be most helpfulhere 2onfirm when and how sponsor is todeliver money, awards, or promotional mate-rials

Step 11. vet to WorkA Successful Pro-gram Always Helps.

Step 12. Promote the Program and the

Step 13. Keep the Sponsor Informed andInvolved.

The extent of this will be based on yourjudgment, the agreement and the nature ofyour working relationship with the sponsorMake sure you keep accurate (and positive)records on this program for final evaluationAlso, it is a good idea to retain for yourrecords copies of everythingpromotionalmaterials, advertising, correspondence.photographs, .,tc for future reference

Step 14. Write a Thank-You Leiter to theSponsor.

No matter what the final outcome of theprogram and commercial sponsor's involve-ment, (hopefully, it will be positive) a finalnote ending things on an upbeat is always agood administrative procedure

Step 15. If It WorksTry to Make It anAnnual Event.

If your program has benefited, try to get thesponsor involved on an annual basis or to agreater extent This can be helpful in futureprogam budget decisions Remember Be-fore proceeding. always evaluate in terms ofprogram and institutional philosophy You donot want a sponsor to take over

Each program with its potential spon-sor.; is unique and should be treated assuch. You may want, for example, tothink about this concept only for ex-tramural events in association with otherschools or only for snecial events Thischecklist wa- developed as one tool to beused as a guide for professional in

securing the services and support a

commercial sponsor in an intramural-recreation program.

'Preo. Larry "The Perfect Marriage FinancialIntegrity with Educational Val.dity N I RS A

Journal Leisure Press March 1917Ostrander. Harry R Irmo- PVC Methods of

Financing Your Programs NIA Proceedings

XXIII 1973 (in Peterson. J and Preo. L In-tramural Dire: tors Handbook Leisure Press.1977

3Mass. Gerry 'Commercial Incolcement in In-tramural~ McDonak, s Restaurant Inv( anent inInt.amural Sports PuLlicity at Iowa State Uni-versity NIA Proceedings XXIV. 1974 (in Peter-son. J and Preo. L Intramural Direr tors Hand-tsttA

VISIBILITY The Key to Building a SuccessfulIntramural Program

Lloyd Wasmer

At Downers Grove (Illinois) NorthHigh School, the intramural pro-

gram as it is presently constituted is inits third year. It now offers 40 activitiesduring the school year, including teamsports, individual sports, free play ac-tivities, recreational opportunities, andeven community-oriented events thatfeat/ire adults and students participatingtogether.

We believe strongly that the visibilityof our program is mainly responsible forits rapid growth. While many of the ideas


used to make the program visible are notoriginal, they have proven so successfulthat more than 700 students and 100adults have taken part in the fall pro-gram. Many (most notably, the stua,nts)have taken part in n,ore th, one activitysince the offerings are available beforeschool, after school, in the evening:,, andon Saturdays. How did we make our

Lloyd Wasmer is director of intramurals, Downer. Grove North High School,Downers Grove, II 60515.

56

program visible.> The publicitydiscussed in the rest of !':is articshow you how.

1

The Weekly Intramural ReportEvery Monday the weekly Trojans

Intramural Report is published. Nor-mally four pages in length, it featuresresults of the previous week's activities,previews of coming events, features onindividual performers, and standings inthe various sports being played at thetime. In addition, we have used items

Ike "The Weekly Injury Report" (notreal injuries, of course), and a local ver-sion of "Jimmy the Greek," the Im-mortal "Cal Q. Late" with his weeklypredictions. The students look forwardto these features with many wonderingwhen they can "get injured" so theirnames will be on the injury list. Theweekly predictions cause quite a bit ofconversation, especially when Cal Q.Late is wrong. (And when he is, he hearsabout it, too.) Three hundred copies ofthe Intramum; Report are printed anddistributed each week. The best part ofthis report is that the average studen getsto see his/her lame in print and readabout his/her accomplishments. We makean effort to mention not just the superiorplayer, b It a!so the average player.

T-Shirts For ChampionsOne of the first priorities after starting

the intramural program was to come up

with something which would be mean-ingful to the students as an award. Aftergetting much student feedback, the ideaof awarding each champion a t-shirt wasimplemented. With the increasing costof t-shirts, the next step was to find asponsor who would buy them for us. Asponsor was located who would pay foiall the t-shirts in return for having a smallreplica of his logo featured on the shirts.All the shirts bear the inscnption "Tro-jan Intramurals Champion" on the front.The winner of a shirt can then have what-ever he wants printed on th- sack, at ourcost.

Team UniformsIn the team sports, where teammate

recognition is important, we were forcedin most cases to play shirts and skins orwith one team wearing a target shirt.Some teams did buy their own shirts,and this prompted us to approach localmerchants to help sponsor teams. Theresult was overwhelming. Five localmerchants have contributed enoughmoney to buy over 100 jersies in sevendifferent colors. Teams are assigned acolor for each game and the shirts arelaundered after the games are played.The sponsor's name appears on the frontof the jersey and numbers on the back.The colored jersies have helped our of-ficials in calling the games, and the stu-dents have responded positively to hav-ing uniforms to wear.

Pt otographsThe use of photographs has helped

make the North High School IntramuralProgram and the people in It visible.Every winner's picture is taken for dis-play on the Intramural Bulletin BoardAction snap shots of students as theyparticipate are eisplayed on the bulletinboard as well, often with comic captions.The students like the display of pictures,and can receive their pictures at the endof the year.

Community Oriented EventsFor community-oriented events, eve-

ning open gyms are free to the publicas well as to the student body. This fallan Evening Volleyball League was con-ducted. The idea was to have each teamcomposed of adults and students. Theleague was a big success with "ver 100people taking part, almost equally di-vided between students and non-stu-dents.

This year we will stage the Third An-nual Trojan Mlle. The first Trojan Mileattracted 65 runners, and last year's hadover 100 runners. Every runner gets acertificate for finishing. The top male

_tithadAg

57

and female in each age division gets atrophy. We also give trophies to theyoungest girl and boy to finish the race,regardless of their place. This year weare hoping to get a sponsor to buy t- shirtsfor the entrants.

Annual Intramural ChampionsPizza Party

During the course of the intramuralyear, players are asked to pay a nominalentry fee for each organized activity inwhich they participate The fee is $1.00per player for a team sport and 500 or250 for an individual event, dependingon the length of the season. The entryfee is charged for two reasons: (I) be-cause the students gain mire of a senseof involvement if they are contributingto the program and (2) because the entryfee money is used to do things for thestudents. The lettering on the back ofthe champion's t-shirt is paid or throughthe entry fees a:, are gold medals whichare presented at various special events.

The bulk of the money, though, goesto finance the end-of-the-year IntramuralChampions Pizza Party. Last year ap-proximately 200 Intramural champions

Intramural Ilandbook 49

participated in the pat), mts championt-shirt is their ticket of admission.

Last year studews who had graduatedthe previous sprir,g returned, in their t-shirts, for the pia party. This year moreprevious winner, are "xpected to attend.

Fon,,er students who return for whatamounts to an Intramural Homecomingpush the program. Once again, it's vis-ibility that counts.

The Ideas described in this article havehelped to make the Intramural program

at Downers Grove North High Schoolvisible. Students today want somethingto do. If they can see something thatlooks like fun, they'll flock to it as theyhave hereand that's by the hundreds!

Increasing ParticipationDavid H. Moyer

Bayard Middle School's comprehensiveintramural basketball program has servedas a rehabilitative force in the lives of urbanadolescents victimized by the social condi-tions typically associated with poor and un-educated peoplepoverty, high unem-ployment, poor and inadequate housing.rising cnrrie rates, inadequate health andrecreation facilities, alcoholism, drug addic-tion, violence, vandalism, illegitimacy.etc Data show that children who participatein the program exhibit a positive behavioralchange Therefore, as many adolescents aspossible must be encouraged to participatein this rehabilitative athletic activity Thisarticle focuses on the step-by-step devel-opment of ar individualized intramural bas-ketball program which increased studentparticipation on the part of three groups ofstudents who were identified as reluctant toget involved ,n athletic activities

In order to redesign the intramural bas-ketball program to include those adoles-cents, I conducted a needs assessmentwhich identified those students who neededto be turned on to the intramural basketballprogram In a total student population of982 6th-, 7th-, and 8th-graders, 22% werenon-Spanish Caucasian (referred to only as"Caucasian" in the remainder of this arti-cle), 65 6% were Negro, anu 12 4% wereSpanish Using data from the spring 1975report of the intramural director (see table1), I drew the following conclusions1 Minority students at all grade leveis, par-

ticularly Spanish dominant and Cauca-sian students, are reluctant to participatein the intramural basketball program

2. Sixth graders, regardless of ethnic back-ground, are reluctant to participate

3 Girls at all grade levels. regardless of


ethnic background, have a low percent-age of participation in the program

Table 1 Percentage of participation in intramuralbasketball program 1974 -75 (n =982)

grade 6 grade 7 grade 8

male

Cauc 20"x, 88` 127Negro 10 0% 42 0% 54 0%Span

female

0% 0 5% ? 2%

Cauc 0% 6 6% 8 5%Negro 8 5% 35 46Span

averaa'

total

0 5% 1 2% 36'",

3 5' 14 0% 20 7%)

Statement of Objectives

A revised intramural design for 1975-76was to include activities to motivate thegroups of "reluctant.' students to partici-pate The intramural director recorded thenumber of participants each day dunng afour-month tnal penod (December 1975-March 1976) to determine whether the fol-lowing four measurable objectives were ac-complished

1

2

3

4

A 50% increase in participation of 6thgraders (boys and girls)A25% increase in participation of minor-r students (Spanish and Caucasian)A 50% increase in participation offemale adolescents at all grade levelsA -,0% increase in participation of allstudents

Solving the Problem

In seeking ways to increase participation.

58

we raised two questions at a regular staffmeeting Wha ._ the most likely reasonsfor the low percentage of participation onthe part of the three major identified groupsof students2 How can the intramural bas-ketball program be reorganaed to encour-age the reluctant urban adolescent to par-ticipate in intramural athletic activities2 Aftermuch discussion, we drew the followingconclusions about the students we wereconcerned with1

2

3

Minonty students (particularly Span-ish-dommar t youngsters) lacked first-hand knowledge of basketball In addi-tion. these students did not feel that theywere an integral part of the total schoolpopulation Thus this group. regardlessof grade level. wanted to function as agroup in order to build group identity,individual sec unty, and self-confidencethrough success as a groupSixth grade boysand girls were reluctantto participate in the intramural basket-ball program because of the vanety oflevels of physical development Gener-ally these children lacked the motorskills and physical size necessary tocompete with older. more developedboys and girlsGirls of this age range have a dominantinterest in boys rather than in athleticsGirls enjoy watching boys' activities andin some way associating with those boyswho are successful in athletic activitiesIn addition the extreme aggressive be-

DAVID H MOYER is assis.int pnncipal atBayard Middle School. Wilmington. Dela-ware 19805

havior on the part of a few dominant girlsdiscourages other girls from active par-ticipation in the program

I met with the staff to plan the reorganiza-tion of the intramural basketball program toinclude the following five options necessaryto achieve our four stated objectives.

NBA Option (boys only) This option wasdesigned to provide athletic opportunitiesfor 7th and 8th grade boys Each team wasmade up of 7 players selected by the use ofthe player draft system to equalize the levelsof competition One varsity player served asthe captain of each team He selectedplayers in each of 7 rounds until all of theteams had selected their personnel Theseteams were scheduled to play twice perweek There was a play-off for the top fourteams in this ophm The Spanish-dominantstudents used this option to enter an all-male Puerto Rican team Although thisteam was not selected by use of the playerdraft, this team was permitted into this op-tion because of the desire to improve per-centage of participation among Spanish-dominant students

ABA Option This option was designedfor girls who had a dominant desire to as-sociate or participate with b in athleticactivities This option served both 7th and8th grade boys and girls No male or femalevarsity players were included in this optionThese teams played twice per week Therewas a play-off among the top four teams

76er's Option (6th grade studentsonlyboys and girls) This option was de-signed to encourage participation among6th grade boys and girls Individual athleticskills as well as team organization skills wereemphasized Teams were arranged byhomerooms to promote cooper'ive peerrelationships There was no play-off in thisoption, however, reinforcement (awards)was given to players who showed progressin their development of individual athleticskills and team-related organizational skills(teamwork'

One-on-one "All-Star- Option This op-tion. open to all boys and girls, was de-signed to encourage the more physicallydeveloped student to display his/her skillsagainst anothE r student of comparable skilldevelopment this option was scheduleddunng the half-time interval of the daily

scheduled intramural games The guide-lines for this option are as follows (1) Thefirst student to score 10 points was declaredthe winner (2) This option was a singleelimination altemative (one loss eliminatedthe participant) (3) Each participant whoscored five con.,ecutive victones was placedit the finals competition

Foul Shooting Option This option wasdesigned to provide an opportunity for theless aggres.tve student tc eceive recogni-tion for atnletic achievenint It was com-posed of three-person teams The competi-tion was by grade level The winner of eachgrade level received an award The winnerswere determined by the best average per-centage per team Ties were broken wheneach team member shot two additional foulshots The percentage was recomputed todetermine the winner This option was apre-game event

Motivational TechniquesIn order to put this plan into operation,

colorful posters were made in the UnifiedArts area to explain each of the options tostudents To motivate reluctant youngsters,photographs of contemporary basketballstars were shown in action participatingeach of the five options Such stars asKareem Abdul-Jabbar, David Thompson,Billy Cunningham, Walt Frazier, Earl Mon-roe, and others attracted the attention ofmany youngsters as they entered the build-ing

Promotion programs involving knownlocal athletes were given for each inter_ds-ciplinary team of students to reinforce inter-est in the revised intramural basketball pro-gram The central focus of the interaction inthese promotional programs was to informstudents that everyone could experiencesuccess in the program regardless of theirlevel of ability or knowledge of the game

Toe implementation phase began as therespective teams were organized by the use

of the player drift system similar to the oneused in the NFL and NBA Ccmparablelevels of competition were achieved in theNBA Option, the ABA Option, and the76er's Option More experienced playerswere directed toward the One-on-One Op-tion where they could show off their skillsThe less aggressive youngster was encour-aged to take advantage of the Foul Shoot-ing Option

The results of each game were an-nounced each day to verbally reinforce the

59

accomplishments of new participants Manyof the team members enjoyed heanng theirnames mentioned for specific achievementsin the program Photographs of individualparticipants in action were displayed on bul-letin boards in the hallway near thecafeteria. Students stopped to commentabout the sc ass of their peers in eachoption of the program. Beneath the actionphotographs were posted the scores of eachday's competition These results were writ-ten in both English and Spanish.

Another factor which contributed to themaintenance of interest among the mem-bers of one of the target groups was theinvolvement of a Puerto Rican father whowas a tremendous help in pi omohng teamspent ai-ong the Spanish-speaking partici-pants

All students who participated in any oneof the five options of the intramural basket-ball program were reinforced at an AthleticAwards Assembly, where each participantreceived a Certificate of Achievement Spe-cial awards were presented to outstandingachievers in each of the five options Manyfavorable comments were received fromstudents, teachers, and parents concemingthe success of the program

Evaluation of the Results

The results of an analysis of the data col-lected daily dunng the four -month trialpenod may be interpreted as follows withrespect to the four stated objectives

The change in percentage of participationof 6th graders from 3 5% to 20% representsmore than the expected 50% increasestated in objective 1 The students partici-pated pnmanly in the 76er's option

Male and female ninonty students ateach grade level, except the female Cauca-sian in the 7th grade, exceeded the 25%predicted level of increase stated in objec-tive 2 However, the need to increase totalparticipation amono these students remainsa problem to be solved, perhaps throughthe use of additional motivational activitiesgeared directly to this target group of stu-dents

The net change in percentage of partici-pation among females at all grade levelsexceeds the predicted 25% increase statedin objective 3 However, the data reveal theneed to redesign the program to attractmore Spanish and Caucasian females at allgrade levels

The net cl.ange in percentage of partici-pation of all studentsfrom 12 73% to


25.5%represents considerably morethan the 50% predicted increase stated inobjective 4 However, even with this In-crease, only slightly more than one-quarterof the total studer opulation was Involvedin these intramural activities

Conclusions and Recommendations1 This program has shown a consider-

able measure of success and should be con-tinued as an integral part of the total middleschool activities program

2 Additional motivational techniquesare necessary to continue to improve thepercentage of participation of 6th graders,

females, and minonty students3 The One-on-One Option must be

further individualized to control the heightand weight of each participant

4 Alternative intramural activities mustbe designed to supplement the basketballprogram Perhaps the growing interest involleyball will serve as a stimulus for theplanning and implementation of such aprogram

5 The personality of the intramural di-rector as well as involvement of parents as-sisted in the growth in participation amongstudents

6 No additional time, money, or labor(personnel) were re,luired to individualize

the intramural athletic activitiesThis program has become an important

part of the rehabilitative curnallum at theBayard Middle School It will 3e operatedeach year with some minor modifications,we hope funds will become available for itsexpansion The success of this program hascause] some rethinking at the distnct levelregarding pnonties in middle school in-terscholastic athletic programs Athleticprograms are an important part of the re-habilitative process These programs pro-vide opportunities for positive interpersonalrelationships as well as individual achieve-ment among adolescents who expenencethe frustrations of poverty

National Intramural Sports Council

The National Intramural Sports Council isa substructure of the National Asssociationfor Sport and Physical Education (NASPE)and the National Association for Girls andWomen in Sport (NAGWS) Its purpose isto provide leadership in the initiation andimprovement of intramural programs at alleducational levels

The NISC had its beginnings in 1966 andwas granted permanent status by theAAHPER Board of Directors in 1968 Sincethat time, its membership , as grown rapidlyand its services have bee. 0,-.:tly ex-panded Membership in the Council is opento professional AAHPER members who areinvolved in directing, administering, orcoordinating intramural sports programs atthe elementary, secondary, or post-sec, ndary levels, and -:so to members whome.ely have an interest in the intramuraland recreational sports field

NISC is actively involved in intramural-related publications Rules for Coeduca-honul Activities an Sports will soon be in itssecond printing, and Professional PrepGra-tion of the intramural-Recreational SportsSpecialist was recently published Both pub-lications are currently offered for sale by

AAHPER Future publications will centerupon intramural trends/new ideas andsports club administration NISC is also re-sponsible for the intramural column inJOPER and is currently in the process of


developing a reference set of past JOPERarticles pertaining to intramural and recre-ational ports Intramural-related man-uscripts of interest to the profession arewelcomed and will be considered forpublication

NISC has implemented a successful pro-gram of regional intramural conferences,

the first of which was held in Chapel Hill,North Carolina in 1974 Since that time,regional conferences have been held inMinneapolis, Kansas City, and San Dial()Future plans call for conferences to be heldin Boston in !978 and in Milwaukee in1979 NISC is also assisting Southern Dis-tnct with an intramural workshop in LittleRock, Arkansas in February 1978.

60

Other current p,. cts in coordina-tion with the National Association of Sec-ondary School . nncipals (NASSP) on thevalue of intramural programs within thesecondary schools, development of an an-notated bibliography of intramural relatedpublications, a revival of the state intramuralrepresentative's program, and the devel-opment of a promotional flyer which willbetter acquaint AAHPER members with theservices offered by NISC

An excellent selection of topics isscheduled for this year's AAI-'PER nationalconvention in Kansas City and NISC wiilhave a Drop In Center located it , se exhibit

area All AAHPER members are urged toparticipate in the programs, which coverthese topics intramural officiating (promo-tion, recruitment, training), facilities and fi-nance (how to stretch your intramural dol-lar), ideas that work, and the past, present,and suture of NISC

The National Intramural Sports Council isconstantly seeking to provide needed as-sistance in the area of intramural program-ming arid administration Questions or sug-gestions are always welcomed by anymember of the Executive Committee

Computer Coordination for Campus IntramuralsBruce Holley

There are many challenges andfrustrations in running a large 'rite-murr' ogram .,, over 25,000 activ-ity-minded students. How does anintramural staff effectively orgarize,schedule, and track such numbers as500 bowling teams, 700-900 basket-ball teams, and 500 + flag footballteams (just to mention 3 of 60 differ-ent events offered) and WI keep theneeds and desires of the studentsforemost?

The intramural program at BrighamYoung University (BY'J) has a tradi-tion that dates back to the early 1900s.The program and the student partic-ipation have grown steadily to be-come one of the largest intramuralprograms in the country. As the Yearsprogressed, so did the need for ad-ditional full-time and part-time per-sonnel. More efficient ways of per-forming tasks became necessary forthis growing program.

The philosophy and objectives ofintramural& at BYU have always beendirected at serving the needs of thestudents and giving them the qualityprogram they deserve. Five years agothe intramural administrators be-came concemcc.' v-itr. the overwhelm-inn amount of paper work that seemedto be directly opposed to their objec-

tives. Graduate assistants (GAs) inthe capacity of intramural coordina-tors were becoming totally occupiedin such tasks as trying to schedule700 basketball teams in 87 leaguesper week. Their time was spent re-cording final scores, indicating teampower ratings, registering sports-manship, forfeits, and defaults as wellas handling numerous double sched-uling problems and protests. The in-tramural program had become so largethat the coordinators were working30 hours a week for a 20-hour paycheck, spending 90% of their timesteeped in paper work and not enoughtime serving the students' and pro-gram needs. This provided the chal-lenge for Brigham Young University.

It was found that other universitieswere facing the same predicamentand were in need of new ideas andconcepts to solve this statisticaln:ghtmare. Computer applicationseemed to be a possible answer but,other than a few small attempts, noprogram had been developed in in-tramu rals.

Where does one start when lookinginto the possibility of computerizinga comprehensive program? BYU wentto their Computer Department for athorough feasibility study, which turned

61

out to be very positive. After carefulconsideration of the University's re-sources, the budget requirements, andthe potential for such a program, itwas determined the following bene-fits would re-ult: overall increasedefficiency, better service to the stu-dents' needs, a superior evaluationdevice, and more consistency yearin and year out, even though studentpersonnel turned over quite rapidly.This would help eliminate hundredsof hours of scheduling conflicts, mis-takes, and problems that occurredwith the old program.

The following is an overview of thecomputerization of Brigham YoungUniversity's intramural program, a re-sult of over two years of study anddevelopment. Special recognitiongoes to Bruce Nielsen, assistant deanof Admissions and Records and mas-ter programmer for Brigham YoungUniversity, whose incisive mind de-veloped this revolutionary program.

Overview: Computerized Program

When a team enters an activity, thecoach fills out an entry form. This in-cludes all team statistics, names, stu-dent numbers, telephone numbers,etc. Each team is assigned a division(e.g., competitive or noncompetitive)


and league. The team information isthen entered into the computer viathe CRT (computer terminal) screenin the intramural office. This is themaster record from which all otherprograms will function. The masterrecord will track individuals and teams,keeping vital statistics on all they doin intramurals.

By using the CRT screen, any ofthe following information can be ob-tained1. An instantaneous check of st 1-

dents' status to '111 whether theyare eligible to participate in intra-murals (e.g., full-time or part-time).

2. The win/loss record, what teamsthey have played, and what theirteam power rating and sports-manship was for each gameplayed.

3. Who played in each game and who,if any, were suspended.

4. Identification of officials and eval-uation of their performancethroughout the program

5. A complete history for each team(can be brought up for review, ad-ditions, or deletions).

The graduate assistant in chargeof this program schedule' ne teamsfor play each week. He/sh . does thisby entering into the computer the fa-

dines and times given by the facilitycoordinator. Once this is done, thecomputer schedules each team to afacility, time, and day, taking into con-sideration some of the following fea-tures:

1

2.

3.

4.

5.

6

7

8

The computer will check eligibility Ifthe team is eligible, it will be sched-uled.If a team fails to show up (forfeit), thecomputer will drop the item from fur-ther play.Two fair or one poor sportsmanshiprating or two excused losses will au-tomatically drop the team from furtherplayThe computer prioritizes teams ac-cording to the number of games theyhave played and schedules first thoseteams with the fewest games played.If, when scheduling a league, the com-puter rune out of facilities, it will thenassign byes to all other unscheduledteams and put them on priority for thnext schedulePrint-outs are produced for posting oncampus, they have the following in-formationOne team verses another teamEach team's win loss recordThe facility in which they have beenscheduledThe time and day they will playThe print-outs list teams in alphabet-ical orderThe scheduling program has a varietyof capabilities It can schedule on a

Re-cap and Evaluation: A Computer Bonus

At the end of the year, the com-puter is used for program evaluation,statistical analysis, and a final report.Every act,vity administered throughthe Intramural Department is ana-lyzed by the computer for participa-tion, money spent, and other criteriato determine program effectiveness.(Appendix E - K). Many questions canbe answered that few, if any, uni-versities with a large program couldanswer without such assistance. Suchquestion's are: "How many freshmen,sophomores, juniors, seniors, grad-uates, and faculty participate in theprogram?" "What are the percent-anes of each?" Is the program serv-ing the needs of the students?" V. , atis the ratio between male and femaleparticipants?" These are just a few


weekly, bi-weekly, or an entire se-mester basis

9 The computer recognizes a team'sidentity and will not schedule any twoteams to play each other more thanonce, as in a round robin tournamentAfter the computer schedules the

teams, it will produce a team gamesheet with the following information:team statistics, names of players,opposing team name, and the facility,date and time scheduled. The gamesheet is a universal form that is usedfor all team activities administered,e.g., basketball, football, softball, waterpolo

The intramural computer programat BYU has an inventory of or accessto:1 An IBM 360 computer, or one of

similar capabilities2. A CRT screen with on-line tie in

to the admissions and registrationdata base.

3. An on-line printerThe entire program nas been writ-

ten in COBAL with the core devel-oped around the teie-processing sys-tem. All programs can be manipulated,adjusted, and revised through the CRT(computer terminal). All of these com-puter programs can be adapted tosmaller units, even mini-computersthat do not have on-line capabilities.

of many que3tiuns that can be an-swered by the computer, to assist youin justification of the program.

One problem with such large num-bers of teams playing each week (500-700) was being able to schedule, run,and oversee the program. With thecomputer doing the work, time is freedfor the leaders, which allows them todeal personally with the students Thisis essential for quality programs

Brigham Young's intramural pro-gram is a large diversified one, thuslending itself to computer support.Other universities on the same scalemay find this type of computer pro-gram to their liking In smaller schoolsan adaptation of all or portions of theprogram may better suit their needs

The computer program at Brigham

62

Young University has not eliminatedany personnel. It has, however, im-proved our ability to serve the studentand has eliminated hundreds of hoursof scheduling and other book workThe graduate assistants operate inthe best of both worldsthey are beingexposed to advanced techniques ofcomputerization and to traditionalways of administering programs byhand when the task is considered toosmall for computer application Somemight say that even though manyproblems are eliminated, the com-puter will create more. This may betrue to a certain extent, but onceunderstood and developed, the com-puterization of intramural depart-ments across the country will be theway of the future.

An Equitable Intramural Point SystemFrancis Rokosz

Although point systems are out offavor in sc'ne intramural sports

programs, man: schools employ themto stimulate participation and en-hance competitiveness in intramura!programs. In most cases, point sys-tems establish rigid point values foreach sport in the program, and foreach place finish within each sport.Often the assigned point values do notaccurately reflect the participationvalue of each sport relative to theothers. Presented here is a systemwhich adjusts itself automatically todifferences in participation patternsfrom sport to sport and from year toyear. Essentially, it is based on the setnumber of participants per sport, andthe number of contests actuallyplayed per sport per season.

A group can earn points in eachsport for three achievements: its tour-nament place finish, each match orgame victory, and participation (com-pleting its schedule without a forfeit).Since the procedure for determiningthe number of points achieved by eachgroup for its tournament place finishis rather complicated, the steps in-volved are outlined below for easy re-view. Following the outline, a detailedpresentation is made of the pro-cedural steps for a sample program ofactivities.

The Outline

1. Establish the number of placefinishes to be recognized for allsports, and assign to each placefinish a percentage of the totalpoints available.

2. List all the sports in the programand their set numbers of partici-pants per contest. Add the num-bers to arrive at a total figure.

3. Determine the "base weight" of

Francis M. Rokosz is director ofIntramural-Recreational Play atWichita State University, Wichita, KS67208.

each sport relative to the others bydividing the total figure into thefigures for each sport.

4. Find the total number of points tobe awarded for each sport by mul-tiplying the base weight times the

63

total number of contests played.5. Determine a group's earned points

by taking from the total number ofpoints available a percentagewhich is commensurate with thegroup's place finish.


The Procedure

Step 1. Determine the number ofplace finishes to be recognized for allsports. A figure of 16 is suggested be-cause many sports determine onechampion through a single elimina-tion tournament or playoff. Sixteen isa power of two, and it allows for aconvenient grouping of place finishesfor the purpose of assigning to eachplace finish a percentage of the totalpoints available. Note, in the exaiaplebelow, that place rankings can begrouped by powers of two, because, ina single elimination tournament orplayoff, there are two losers in thesemi-finals, four losers in thequarter-finals, and so forth.

Place Finish Percentage ofPoints

Available

1st 20%

2nd 14%

3rd, 4th 9% each

5th, 6th, 7th, 8th 6% each

9th, 10th, 11th, 12th

13th, 14th, 15th, 16th 3% each

Step 2. List all the sports in theprogram and their set numbers of par-ticipants per contest. A set number ofparticipants for volleyball would be12, because six players are on a sidethroughout the whole match, regard-less of the actual number of individu-als splitting the playing time of the 12positions on the court. For meets, a /is listed. Total the numbers. For thepurpose of illustration, assume thatthe following listing of sports consti-tutes a whole program.

Participants Sport

12

14

10241

43

Softball(10 fielders, one batter,and an average of onebaserunner at any onetime during the game)Football(7 people per team)BasketballTennis-SinglesHandball-DoublesTrack & FieldProgram Total


Figure 1

Program BaseParticipants Total Weight Sport

12 divided by 43 = 279 Softball14 divided by 43 = 326 Football10 divided by 43 = 233 Basketball2 divided oy 43 = 047 Tennis-Singles4 divided by 43 = 093 Handball - Doubles1 divided by 43 = 023 Track & Field

BaseWeignt

279328233047093023

Figure 2

Number of Points ToContests Be Awarded Sport

X 213 = 59427 594 SoftballX 232 = 75632 756 FootballX 306 = 71298 713 BasketballX 98 = 4606 46 Tennis-SinglesX 116 = 10788 108 Handball-DoublesX 173 = 3979 40 Track & Field

222222

Figure 3

ParticipationParticipants Polms Sport

X 12 = 24 SoftballX 14 = 28 FootballX 10 = 20 BasketballX 2 = 4 Tennis-SinglesX 4 = 8 Handball-DoublesX 1 = 2 Track & Field

(2 points per participantper event)

Teams

Figure 4

Points Earned TotalPoints

100 440 high shot tong for Placeyds yds mile jump put jump Meet Finish

PointsTowardPoint

System

Jordan 4 6 18 2 0 4 34 2 5.6

Watts 0 2 0 10 0 0 12 7 2.4

Condor 10 0 2 0 10 0 22 4 3.6

Chestnut 6 0 0 14 2 8 30 3 3.6

Irvin 0 10 4 0 6 0 20 5 2.4

Hickory 10 4 0 0 0 0 14 6 2.4

Walnut 0 0 6 0 4 0 10 8 2.4

Birch 0 8 0 4 8 18 38 1 8 0

Step 3. Divide the total figure (43)into the figures for each sport, to ar-rive at a three-digit figure for ,achsport. The decimal point is ignored.This procedure gives each sport a

"base weight" relative to the others.(See Figure 1.)

64

Step 4. At the conclusion of eachsport, determine the total number ofcontests played among those groupsinvolved in the point system, and mul-tiply that figure times the base weight.The resulting numl,,Ir is too large tobe tr:mageable, so drop the last two

digits, and round off to the next highernumber. This new figure representsthe total number of points to beawarded for that sport. Since anumber of contests doesn't apply formeets, the number of participants perevent is established, instead. Then,the participation numbers per eventare added for a total participation fig-ure for the whole meet. It is that figurewhich is multiplied times the baseweight (see Figure 2).

Step 5. For each sport, a group'snumber of earned points is found bytaking from the total number of pointsawarded for that sport a percentagewhich is commensurate with thegroup's place finish (established in thefirst step). For example, if Team Afinished seventh in basketball, itwould get 6% of the 713 points avail-able for basketball. That would resultin 42.78 points.

For meets, a system must be estab-lished which will result in team scoringfor the meet. Then, team placefinishes can be determined from thetotal scores achieved in all events inthe meet by the individuals associatedwith each team. For example, assumethat a track and field meet has sixevents (runs of 100 yards, 440 yardsand one mile, and a shot put, highjump, and long jump). Each event hasa scoring system which awards pointsto individuals who finish in the topfive places.

PlaceFinish Points

1 102 83 64 45 2

After each event is completed, thepoints earned by individuals are re-corded for the team which those indi-viduals represent. Thus, if teammatesJohn Smith and George Jonesfinished first and second, respectively,in the high jump, they earn 18 pointsfor their team. A running total ofpoints achieved by each team is re-corded after each event, and the teamwith the most poii ., after all eventsare completed is the first-placefinisher. The results for the top eightteams in a sample meet are illustratedin Figure 4.

Once all teams have establishedtheir final place finishes, the numberof points achieved in the programpoint system can be determined. InStep 4, it was established that 40points were available for Track andField. Birch was the meet winner, so itgets 20% of the 40 available points,which is 8 points. Points for the otherteams are determined in similar fash-ion, utilizing the percentages estab-lished in Step 1.

Match or Game Victory

Since the assignment of points islimited to only 16 place finishes, thereis a need to award achievement pointsto more groups. All teams can attainpoints for each game or match victoryrecorded during a sport season in ad-dition to any points received for a highplace finish. The same relationshipsmust be maintained between sportswhen awarding victory points as inawarding points for place finishes.Victory points are assigned on thebasis of the set number of participantsper sport (as established in Step 2).Thus each victory in basketball would

be worth 10 points, each victory infootball 14 points, and so forth.

For meets, such as the track andfield meet illustrated above, victorypoints become those points whichteams earned for all place finishes inthe six events. Looking at Figure 4, inthe column labeled Total Points forMeet, note that the victory points forChestnut are 30, for Hickory they are14, and so forth.

Participation

Points are assigned to those groupswhich complete their seasonalschedules without forfeiting. Again,the relationships established in Step 2are utilized; but this time eachnumber is multiplied by two. A teamwhich completes its basketballschedule without a forfeit gets 20points for participation, and a groupwhich has two people competing ineach of six track and field events gets24 points (2 people times 2 points perperson times 6 events) (Figure 3).

Total Points

A group's total point achievementfor a sport is found by adding thepoints earned for tournament placefinish, victories, and participation.For example, a softball team winseight games, without forfeiting, onroute to a tenth-place finish. Theteam's total point achievement is de-tailed below.

Elements Points

Victories (8 12 points each) = 96Participation (12 X 2) = 24Place Finish (10-3% of 594

pts. available) = 17.82Total 137.82

G5


Controlling Unsportsmanlike Conduct inIntramural Sports

Jean Paratore

Jean Paratore is Coordinator of In-tramural Sports, Student RecreationCenter, Room 136, Southern IllinoisUniversity, Carbondale, IL 62901.

Dench clearing incidents, verbal andphysical abuse of officials, fighting,

pushing, elbowing . . . what can be andshould be done? Intramural directorshave long been perplexed by the prob-lems of fighting, unnecessary roughness,and profanity which pervade intramuralcompetition. The question of whethersuch behavior is natural and should beexpected as a result of the intensity ofcompetition is one which each intramural,erector, in accordance with his/her ownphilosophical belief, must answer. Atsuahern Illinois University at Carbon-dale (SIU-C), the intramural sporty staffhas taken the position that pleas of"natural instinct," "reflex action," and"self- defense" are unjustifiable de-fenses for abusive behavior and that un-desirable behavior can be and should beprohibited.

It is not an easy task to control indi-viduals and situations and to thereby pro-hibit or prevent undesirable behavior. AtSIU-C, our initial efforts have beengeared toward attempting to identify thecauses of the unsportsmanlike conductwhich has been displayea by our in-tramural participants. We believe thattreating the causes, while dealing withthe symptoms, is the most logical ap-proach.

Generally, frustration aid/or ignor-ance seem to be the apparent causes ofdisruptive actions on the part of in-tramural participants. Frustration as a re-sult of pool skill, the inability to acceptdefeat, ignorance of the rules and regula-tions of the contest, and poor officiatingmanifests itself in the form of abusivelanguage and/or actions. The need to re-taliate through premeditated violent ac-


tion for supposed previous wrong-doingby an opponent must also be recognizedas a cause of abusive behavior. Whileeffective communication and propertraining of officials may treat thesymptoms displayed as a result of frustra-tion and ignorance, dealing with indi-viduals interested only in retaliation isextremely difficult.

Intramural sports at SW-C is attempt-ing to deal with the causes of abusivebehavior through more effective com-munication, improved officiating, en-forcement of strong regulations, and theinitiation of a "preventive program"through which warning letters are sent toindividuals and teams displaying un-sportsmanlike conduct.

We try to ensure that everyoneparticipants, officials, supervisors, andoffice personnelis aware of the rulesand regulations governing the activity.An attempt is made to provide writtencommunication rather than verbal."Word-of-mouth" is simply not ade-quate when a large number of partici-pants and personnel are involved. Com-munication should also continue after anactivity has begun. Notifying teams ofrule changes or additions, problems withteam rosters, forfeits recorded, etc., isvital in order to avoid the frustration sooften associated with "surprise" dis-qualifications or rule interpretations.

Officials must also be communicatedwith tnroughout an activity. SIU-C is at-tempting to improve communication andconsistency by organizing an officials'club, assigning a graduate assistant 20hours per week to work with the exten-sive training and evaluating of intramuralofficials. Dy using this method, the clubwill bring students together as an or-ganized group and help to instill in them asense of pride. The club will assist intraining sessions and will be instrumentalin developing r. degree of profes-sionalism among officials in the areas ofpromptness appe: ranee, dependability,poise, and consistency. The graduate

66

assistant will act as an advisor and willrecruit, schedule, and evaluate all work-ers. Further, guidance and the availa-bility of a "listener who cares" are im-perative in developing officials who willenhance the over-all intramural sportsprogram. As our officials become morequalified, they will make fewer mis-takes. Fewer mistakes will mean lessfrustration for the participants.

In support of our officials, as well as inan attempt to discourage individualsfrom purposeful retaliation, SIU-C hasadopted stringent regulations which arestrictly enforced. Enforcement ofpolicies encourages teams to control theirown members and also discourages indi-viduals from premeditated retaliation.Participants are informed that wheneverthey are removed from a contest by anofficial or supervisor, they are im-mediately ineligible to participate in anyfurther competition until they have metwith the coordinator of intramural sports.Following that meeting, they will be sus-pended from play in one or two contestsor, if the incident is severe, for the re-mainder of the tournament, one semes-ter, two se:nesters, one year, or perma-nently. Anyone who physically abusesan opponent, spectator, or teammate issuspended from the remainder of thetournament or the remainder of thesemester, whichever is longest. Physi-cally abusing an official or supervisorresults in the individual receiving a min-imum penalty of suspension from the re-mainder of the tournament. Also, whenthe incident involves physical abuse, theindividuals are put on permanent proba-tion. Should the participant be involvedin such an incident in the future, the re-sult would be permanent suspensionfrom all intramural sports activities whileattending SIU-C.

In any case involving student disci-pline, a Student Relations DisciplinaryReport is completed and placed on file atthe University Student Relations Office.The participants now realize that all regu-

lations will be enforced and that the offi-cials and supervisors have the authorityto eject individuals or entire teams fromthe playing area, before, during, andafter a contest. Participants are awarethat the Intramural Sports Office willsupport its personnel. We have also en-couraged our personnel to report any in-dividuals or teams who have not beenejected from a contest, but who have

displayed unsportsmanlike behavior.These individuals or teams are sent awritten reprimand warning them that asecond complaiht would result in furtheraction by our office. This has been effec-tive in lessening the number of discipli-nary cases which involve punishment.

In 1977-78, 41 cases involving disci-plinary problems were reported duringthe fall semester while only 22 were re-

ported during the spring semester. Of the41, 9 were sent warnings and 32 involvedsuspensions. During the spring, of the 22cases reported, 11 involved suspensionswhile the remaining 11 resulted in theissuance of warning letters. The numberof suspensions declined 341/2%. Whileunsportsmanlike -onduct will never beeliminated completely, it can and shouldbe curtailed.

Sports Without officials why Not:Frank Butts and Bill Kingery

with the tremendous growth in in-tramural and recreational sports

programs on college campuses, theproblem of recruiting, training, andpaying sports officials has become arecreation director's nightmare.Given the increasing number of com-petitive sports teams, the meresOeduling of officials alone has be-come a time consuming burden, andfrustrations multiply when officialscancel or :;imply de not show. Fur-thermore, in an age of tighteningbudgets, salaries for officials drain ouroperating monies, frequently prevent-ing the development of new programsand the purchase of necessary equip-ment.

To combat this problem, the in-tramural director should consideroperating a competitive sports pro-gram without the traditionalintramural-department-supplied offi-cials. Such a transition could provideall concerned with considerablepsychological/sociological, monetary,and managerial benefits.

Program Goals

The basic goals of an intramuraland recreational sports programs areparticipation, socialization, exercise,and character development. Operat-ing a program in which each team vol-untarily furnishes its own official as apart of the roster, or even conductinga program without officials may wellencourage more unity and coopera-

tion among participants. This type ofarrangement does not appear to di-minish the competitive, exercise, orparticipatory aspects of a program,and may facilitate a more positive at-mosphere for socialization andcharacter development. The potentialmonetary benefits of a program oper-ated without department-sponsored,paid officials are great enough at leastto warrant an investigation. One caneasily visualize the new avenues thatcould be opened if the money we payofficials were channelled in other di-rections.

AIL

Making such a change is not anovernight task. People (even stu-dents) are often reluctant to change;one must develop a carefullythought-out, long-term strategy foreliminating department-supplied of-ficials from the sports program. Study-ing intramural programs across thenation, one sees "officialless" pro-gram. only rarelyeven then the ideais in limited use. Why not incorporatesuch a scheme in the total intramuralsports program? Is such an idea prac-ticable? Perhaps the illustration of theexperimental, officialless program

Ar


conducted by the Division ofIntramural-Recreation& Sports at theUniversity of Mississippi will providesome answers.

Insufficient Officials

During the past few years, theintramural/recreational sports staff atthe University of Mississippi triedseveral methods of upgrading In-tramural officianngdevising newtechniques for recruiting officials,raising salary scales, improving train-ing clinics, and revising program andofficial evaluations. Inevitably, how-ever, as the spring semester in-tramural softball season approached,softball officials' clinics generated lit-tle interest. The 1980 season againfound us with an increased number ofteams, and only a handful of prospec-tive officials. Extensive recruiting wasundertaken, but achieved little suc-cess. The staff was again confrontedwith a deficient number of officials.As the starting date for the seasonrapidly approached, the softball pro-gram was in jeopardy.

Thus pressed, the staff decided toallow *he students to play the gameswithout officials assigned by the in-tramural office. Teams were given twooptions to select from prior to eachcontest they played. Option one en-abled teams to play regular slow-pitchsof ',all, provided they supply theirown game officials. Option two, using"two-pitch softball, ' was to be fol-lowed if teams did not provide offi-

Frank Butts is an assistant professorand Bill Kingery the Director of In-tramural Recreation and Sports, De-partment of Health, Physical Educa-tion and Recreation, Univerf:ty ofMississippi, University, A. ; 38677.

cials or if they mutually agreed to useone volunteer official to rule on allaspects of the game. Under the two-pitch rule, the team pi ovided a pitcherto pitch to his/her own team members,with a maximum of two pitches perbatter. For each game, the intramuraloffice provided a "game monitor" tohandle duties other than actual of-ficiating, recruited from among thegraduate assistants working in theintramural-recreational sports office.

The Two -Pitch Solution

As expected, the students at firstaccused the staff of grossly wateringdown the game of softball through the"two-pitch" version. After a sessionat which the department explainedthe changes and the philosophy be-hind them, team representatives in at-tendance agreed to continue with theproposed program. During the springseason, 95% of the games were con-ducted under option two. By thesummer season, all games followed

option two.The following four general

guidelines served to implement the of-ficialless softball program:

The Division of Intramural -Recreational Sports will not assignofficials to act as home plate or baseumpires for any softball games dur-ing the regular league play or dur-ing the playoffs.

A "game monitor," assigned by theIM/REC Office for all games,(1) supplies equipment, (2) startsgames at scheduled times, (3) ex-plains general rules and timing of thegame, (4) obtains team captains'signatures on the scorebook,(5) determines option to be used,(6) times game and keeps officialscorebook (7) declares forfeitwhen necessary, and (8) answers

questions concerning organiza-tional policies The game monitordoes not serve as an umpire or a'-tempt to settlf disputes resinungfrom officiated calls.Officials may be secured by theteams to officiate the contest.These must be mutually agreedupon by the teams, and any finan-cial compensation for their servicesmust be paid oy the teams TheIM/REC Office will of secure offi-cials.

The Division of Intramural-Recreational Sports wa not recog-nize any protests arising from anycontest, other than that c f playereligibility

Player Response

Some hat to the surprise of all con-,:erned, our new softball officiatingprogram was a complete success.After some resistance at the onset,participants gradually warmed to thechange as the season progressed. Dur-ing the 1980 season, participationstayed strong, the intramural staff re-ceived fewer complaints and partici-pants appeared more content than inprevious seasons.

Overall, we are most enthused bythe program and its implications forfuture programming. Through in-novative, skillful planning, and by in-volving students in the change, wesucceeded in escaping the officialshortages that haunted us in the past.The concept of student-officiatedgasaes has proven both financiallybeneficial and managerially more ef-ficient; but the greatest asset of all isthat it places the responsibility for en-suring cooperation and sportsman-ship back into the hands of the stu-dents.

60 Intramural Handbook68

Are Officials Really Necessary?Len Horyza

When I started our lunch hour intramur-als program ten years ago, my biggest prob-lem was finding good officials, particularly atthat time of day There were so many argu-ments that playing time was too short for asound program

' rally asked myself, "Why officials"-SA_ stopped using officials except in basket-ball and set up some special rules so thatteams ould officiate their own games I Stillofficiate championship games

In slow pitch SC )all, for example, we usethese rules

1 No bunting2 No sliding3 If team fields a ball cleanly and there

is a close play at any base, the runner is out

LEN HORVZA is ihtmmural director at Cre-tin High School, St Paul, Itlionesota

4 If a team bobbles a hit ball and thereis a close play at any base, the runner is safe

5 No balls or stnkes are called. u,..t twostnkes is an out

6 Three foul balls in one time at bat is anout (This rule was put in to speed up thegame )

7 All the rest of the rules of softball ap-ply

We play four games on four differentfields dunng each lunch hour (freshman,sophomore, Junior, and senior lunchhours) I station myself so that a team with aquestion about a rule can get to me quickly

In volleyball we do not use officials ' ss

requested by the participating teams Theyget their own officials and I handle nychampionship games

We change our basketball rules to make it

easie. on the officials We play half courtbasketball with four games going on at oncein the gym The special rules are

1 If a player is fouled while shooting, h steam gets the two points but no free throwsare shot

2 If an offensive player is fouled, he getsone point and the ball out of bounds

3 With five minutes left in the lunchhour, all nonshootrig defensive fouls areone and one so the team on defense has achance to get the ball

4 To make it easier on the officials, thescore is kept with the losing team's scorealways at zero-2-0, 15-0, etc

These simple rule `-anges have mademy Job easier and the r. ers seem to eaioyplaying rather than arguing The rules makethe Job so easy for the officials when we Jouse them that they want to officiate again

But How Will We Play Without Officials?Mark Pankaa

Do intramurals programs really neer' acorps of officials' If acquinng, develormg,and/or paying good cfficir.is have beenproblems in your program, c, whathappened in ours when we did away %,..ithofficials and let the kids call their own s A-

in my first year of teaching phi,ic.ca! °du-cltion, I conducted an elementary level in-trianura;s program At that time there werefew models to pattern such a program afterexcept for half rem "mbered high school ofcollege programs I started my program withflag football and soccer, using officials

MARK A PANKAU is director of intramurals for Somerset Elementary School,S'iawriee Mission School Distnct, Pra.ne Vil-lage, Kansas 66208

(some students and I officiated) Childrenlearn by example, it didn't take them long tostart arguing about called fouls and debat-ing with officials, Just as they see being doneby professional athletes

Yet these same children can go out ontheir own and play all day long, settling eachof their problems quickly if not alwaysquietly Why not try to run an intramuralsprogram that way)

When I announced tt )uld use noofficials for an upcorni 5- Ketball tour-nament, only or irth-giader k:id,But how will we , I found myself

involved in a group discussion of the impor-tance of fair play, sportsman shir andfnendly competition The students agreedto forget about officials and call their owngames based on honesty, fairness, fun, andsportsmanship Now, instead of slow games

69

punctuated by bickering and name-calling,our program has an air of free play that hasresulted in happier students, parents, andtaffThis system may seem extre fr. too

basic ..:r.a ton relaxed But, while childrenneed organization, they do not always needto be told what to do They can makechoices and must learn to accept decisionsEven in situations where the use of officialsis not likely to be aboli, hed, as in collegeintiamurals, this free play concept may beconsidered as an option Let students,guided by physical education professionals,choose their level cf competition Studentsneed to accept responsibility as officials, toaccept decisions as players, ind to play to-geth_ r for the benefit of all This systemmeets those needs and helps instill in thestudents a proper sense of sportsmanship


WI

N

I

rather than an ail-consuming dnve to winOnce students see the possibilities in thesystem. changes begin taking place fromwithin instead of being imposed from with-out

Th, number of students participating inour intramural program has increased in thethree yearssince we did away with officialsStudents who previously weren't involvedin intra murals because they were turned offby the presence of dominrcnng officials likethe new spirit of equality All the studentsare learning that fnendship is more impor-tant than the score of a game With thepressure to win reduced, the game becomesfun again The fourth graders who began inthis program are now sixth graders, andthey wouldn't have their program any otherway, it's fun. they feel like they belong, andthey are getting something worthwhile outof it As these youngsters move through theschool system, maybe they'll influence highschool and college programs to try doingwithout officials too Could this be the startof something'?

Scheduling Student OfficialsMosby Turner

MOSBY TURNER is intramural coordinatorat Holliston Middle School, Holliston, Mas-sachusetts 01746

The Holliston Middle School intramuralprogram was fortunate from its beginningsten years ago to receive a modest budget of$3,000 by the school committee to run itsactivities The program began with five ofthe most porI.ar sports activities in thearea: flag football, kickball, basketball,gymnastics, and softball. Most of theteachers in the 600-pupil school were in-terested in the program and were willing toofficiate the activit:s offered at the nme. Atone time, there were as many as 45 teacherson our officials list who rotated through our


Increasing number of scheduled activitiesThis seemed to be an enviable situation, butproblems did ->czur Occasionally a forgot-hen assignment or an added teacher-relatedresponsibility caused a late arrival for agame commitmert Worst of all, a calledteachers meeting would require the lastminute cancellation of an entire schedule

Five years ago the number of activitiesoffered in our intramural program had in-creased sixfold and the number of studentsin the school had doubled Though ourbudget had increased somewhat, it was notpossible to provide paid officials for thenumber of games now played in our tour-naments We had no other choice but totake the problem to those affected most

7 0

the students The question was, 'Do we cutback on the number of activities in the pro-gram or do we try to continue at the presentlevel by organizing an officials' club andutilizing student officials'?"

The student body opted for student offi-cials The response was immediately overwhe' lung, despite t:ie fact that onginallyeligibility was limited to eighth graders

We created our officials club for severalreasons other than the fact that we could notmaintain the number of activities withoutthe help which this organization provides Itgave the students a sense of involvement inthe running of their own program and itbrought out leadership abilities in individu-als A few who never participated as players

In any activity have develop I into goodintramural ofifrials The officials club "dis-covered" these inclividucls and made theman integral pan of the total intramural pro-gram

We train our officials by holaing clinicspnor to the start of each tournament Thegame rules are explained and a battery ofsituation questions are administered to theprospective officials Officiating mechanicsare covered, and an actual game is playedto give the youngsters the opportunity to getthe "feel" of handling the real thing Theseclinics, coupled with the knowledge aheadygained by most of the club candidates fromparticipation on the fifti, and sixth gradelevels, provide them with enough knowl-edge to officiate a game Recently we havewelcomed seventh graders into our officials'

club Thp, gives us a nucleus of vaerarofficials tc start a new school year, enablingus to open the program a few days afterclasses begin

C .ng the first years of the club's exis-tence, the scheduling of game officals pre-sented prr,biems We would post officials'game a,signments for the week, asking thatif for an, reason an assignment could not befulfilled, the assigned official shoLld find areplacement to cover the game Thisworked some c f the time, but for the mostpart the intramual department had to lo-cate the replacement at the last minute Oc-zasionally there was only one or no gameofficial present at game time We :sub-sequently studied the scheduling methodutilized by the University of Maryland andadapted it to our situation An ezample of

Intramural Department

Flag Football Officials' Assignments

(For Week of October 1-51

Oct 1 Oct 2 Oct. 3 Oct 4 Oct 5FIELD MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY 1NURSPAY FRIDAY

Williams aKelley ':=0.5Bell Tucker -5Cordon

_Robbins ('Morton 22Coodall Nagel Jackson

2

Nagel apeltman 41Callagher IL Andrews (1_11:Houle

Horton

_Andrews

& chap!,

Cyr Houle

Jackson

Gordon-UL

i(liNeene

Bent

Turner

gOeltman3

_Sullivan _Stinson .ento ___C apin Z..",/,'Robbins

1,,21_41-__(111 WLkic.0,,,

C'n(

this scheduling system is shown belowMonday's listing indicates how each col-

umn looks when it is first posted on theintramural bulletin board The typed namesindicate those officials who have been as-signed for that day

In Tuesday's listing, the inditials to the lefto' each typed name indicate that the officialhas accepted his assignment Blank lines areprovided for officials who were rot as-signed, but who would be available that day

if needed They simply write their nameson the lines on a first come, first listed basis

If an official has accepted an assignment,but then finds that he cannot meet hiscommitment, he must contact the first per-son listed on the "if needed" list for thatday, then notify the intramural office thatthe assignment has been covered In themeantime, the official covering the assign-ment will initial the blank beside his nameon the schedule Wednesday through Fri-day schedules show exactly how the proc-ess works

We have been able 1. tretch our budgetto provide more activities through the use ofstudent game officials We are not lookingfor perfection on the court or field, but wedo get a reasonably good job of game man-agement The most important product ofthis endeavor is that the individual who hasleadership potential is provided with theopportunity to develop this potentialthrough the guidance of competent facultysupervisors. To end the year, the depart-ment sponsors an officials' bash at thenearby state park each spring This outing iscomplete with games, swimming, and all ofthe ingredients necessary to make the day acomplete success

Pass the word!

The 25% Intramural Director Who Works for10P% Student Participat;on

Chip Woodring

Chip Woodring is director of intramuralsports, Palm Beach Atlantic College,1101 South Olive Ave , West PalmBeach, FL ?3401

Athough a well-run intramural pro-gram at the small-college level war-

rants a full-time faculty position with sev-eral student assistants, few of the smaller

71

colleges have such positions. Many,such as Palm Beach Atlantic CollL ;en-rollment 500), have a faculty memberwhose intramural responsibility is a frac-


tion of his/her total work load The in-tramural director often has as little as25% of professional time designated forintramural administration. Such situa-tions result in different program concernsthan would be experienced in larger insti-tutions.

Since the campus is located in down-town West Palm Beach, Palm Beach At-lantic College faces problems resultingfrom the absence of playing fields, gym-nasium, and swimming pool. The schooldoes have two tennis courts, two rac-quetball courts, two volleyball courts anda game room on its campus. One facultyme fiber has 25% of his total work loadal cated for administering the in-tramural program and is assisted by oneundergraduate srndent. Economy of timeand ease of program implementation areof paramount importance.

4111""4"4"1"."'amailk-almula

ve «


At the beginning of each semester,dents may register for single elimina-

tion tournaments in (Ale tennis, bil-liards, bumper pool, racquetball, andtennis. Draw sheets are composed for amen's and women's tournament in eachevent. Match notifications are deliveredto each participant periodically, and theprogress of participants is charted on theintramural bulletin board If makhes arelagging, a match contract is negotiatedbetween each match 's competing partiesAll tournaments are scheduled for com-pletion by the end of each semester

In team sports, teams are organizedthrough a sign-up list procedure. In thisway, the program takes on A more recre-ational philosophy. For tliose who seekhigher-level competitive experiences,extramural competition is scheduled inthe sports of basketball and softball.

42.0441

4

7 2

nibNAV

A,

Extensie Will/Atkin th made of off-campus facilities Throughout the schoolyear, the nearby YWCA pool is con-tracted for weekday and weekend recre-ational swimming, and a local highschool gymnasium is rented for eight toten evenings per semester Students --ir-ticipate 3-on-3 basketball competitiondui-mg the tr.'1 semester and regulationbasketball and volleyball during thespring semester Open gym time for in-formal student recreation is alsoscheduled Through the community rec-reation department, playing fields arescheduled for evening softball and flagfootball competition Through coopera-tion with commercial agencies in thedowntown area, roller skating evenings,bike trail rides (via rental .es), golfafternoons and miniature golf eveningsare scheduled. Group rates or special

Air

*frlith 'IAJOON. .

student rates are attained for these ac-tivities Student trips to the Orange BowlStadium for college football games arealso scheduled at economical rates

Effective student communication isachieved through coverage in the schoolnewspaper, posters located in three popu-lar tudent areas and regular cafeteria an-nouncements during lunch and dinnerIn addition, each dormitory supervisor(5C% of the students live on campus) is

given upcoming event information to an-nounce and post. A great deal of attentionis devoted to proper scheduling tech-niques, as oversaturation of activities iseasily possible on the small college cam-pus

Toward the close of each semester,students who have won ind, iidualevents. as w..11 as those who have beenmembers of winning teams, are recog-nized during one of the weekly chapel

services, Each person receives a hand-some plexiglass key chain in recognitionof his or her intramural accomplishment.

Overcoming time and budget andfacility limitations is not an easy taskStudent benefits, however, more thanjustify the efforts involved. Even thouglintramural administration is only 25% ofthe director's total work load, dedicatedefforts can result in a 100% successstory.

Selecting Sport TournamentsFrancis Rokosz

Atournament is a structured systemfor determining the winner of a

competition, such that each contes-tant theoretically has an equal chanceof success. The more than ten specifictournaments that have been designedover the years, can be placed in one offour categories: elimination, consola-tion, placement, or round robin. Sincethe available tournaments lead to achampion in different ways, oneshould be aware of the relationshipsbetween the various tournamentstructures and the advantages anddisadvantages of their use. There aremany factors which influence theselection of a particular tournamentto fit a particular set of circumstances,and it is those factors which are dis-cussed here.

Three considerations significantlydetermine the use of a tournament: (1)the number of entries, (2) the numberof contests that can be conducted pertime period, and (3) the total numberof time periods available to conductthe tournament. For any tournamentdesign, variable numbers of entriesnecessarily result in correspondinglyvariable needs for time periods and/orcontests that can be conducted per

Francis M. Rckosz is an assistant pro-fessor of physical educaticn at WichitaState University, Wichita, KS 67208.

tine period. When each of the othertwo factors is varied, a similar situa-tion occurs.

Since, for any given number of en-tries, all tournaments require differ-ent numbers of time periods to com-plete, it is useful to be able to deter-mine in advance of tournament con->truction which tournaments can andcannot be employed under certainconditions. This can be done quicklythrough the use of mathematical cal-culations. The calculations are too in-volved to be discussed here, but asample thought process can be illus-trated.

As an example, if it is predeter-mined that eight games of football canbe played per day and, after the entrydeadline- it is found that 55 teamshave entered, then a tournament di-rector cal, calculate the number ofdays it will take to finish any of theavailable tournaments. Each tourna-ment structure, of course, has its ownformula in which to plug the knownfiries. The tournament selected mayvery well depend solely on the relativenumbers of days it takes to olay thevarious structures "rider the condi-tions cited above, a single eliminationtournament would require 9 days toplay, and a double elimination wou. Irequire 19 days to play. The tourna-ment director must decide if he/sheeven has 19 days available to play a

73

double elimination tournament Ifnot, the calculation has made thechoice between these tournaments.

Tournament selection also dependson the tournament director's specificobjectives in conducting the tourna-ment. Does he/she want entries to bescheduled for a nearly equal numberof contests? Is it important toschedule entries on the basis of com-petitive parity? Should the -hampionbe determined by the most validmeans possible9 Is it desirable toplace-rank some or all entries in thetournament? Are entries to be givenmaximal playing opportunities? Somedesigns can meet several objectives,whil-. others can satisfy only one ortwc, The type of sport to be playedand whether it is played with indi-viduals or teams also affects thedecision-making process. The age,sex, skill, and number of people play-ing might also be a consideration.

Single EliminationA tournament bracket is con-

structed (Figure 1) such that one hori-zontal :ine corresponds to each entry(eight in this case). The lines are verti-cally connected to designate that twoentries play each other (A vs B, C vsD, an.' so on), and subsequent linesindicate who won and who is to playwhom in following rounds of play. Forexample, in Figure 1, B defeated A.


and is placed on the appropi ate hori-zontal line. Entry C dcieated D, re-sulting in Cs placement, which alsoindicates a scheduled contest betweenB and C. Once a loss is incurred, anentry is eliminated from further play,so G is the winner because it is theonly entry remaining after every otherentry lost once.

Because of its simple tournamentstructure, sini. elimination of allthe other tournamentsrequires thefewest number of games to complete.Therefore, it places the lightest bur-den on time and facilities. However,since one loss eliminates an entryfrom play, participation is limited.Because of the sudden-death natureof the tournament, a premium is oftenplaced on winning so one can continueto participate, which in turn nny in-fluence people to play desperatelyand unfairly.

Single elimination is most oftenemployed for individual z nd dualsports such as badminton, handball,and tennis. Large numbers of entriesusually appear for individual/dim:sports, so tournament directors tendto use the structure which requires theminimum number of contests, espe-cially when facilities and time are lim-ited.

Forfeits are something a tourna-ment director wants to avoid like theplague. Participation, not winning byforfeit, is the goal. Theoretically,single elimination tournamentsprovide for the fewest chances of for-feit because they have the fewestnumber of contests which can be for-feited. In other tournaments, eachentry can accumulate more than oneforfeit, while in single eliminationonly one forfeit per entry is possible.Tournament directors observe thatindividuals forfeit more often than doteams. So, for the forfeit reason c.'one,it might be well to conouct individualsports in single elimination fasoion.

Double Elimination

The tournament involves two singleelimination brackets which are con-nected and which operate almost si-multaneously. Using the same se-quence of events as in Figure 1 Figure


A

B

C

D 1

E

F I

G G

H I--Figure 1. Single Elimination.

CC

F

G

G

2 illustrates the flow of a doubleeliminati:Nn structure.

All entries must start play in theupper bracket. Losers of games in theupper bracket are placed on appro-priate lines in the lower .racket. Oncean entry loses in the lower bracket,thereby attaining two losses in thetournament, it is eliminated fromplay. The winner (G) is that entrywhich is left after all other entrieshave incurred two losses.

Since an entry must lose twice to beeliminated from double eliminationplay, it is assured of playing at leasttwice. This is more favorable partici-pation than is found with single elimi-

nation. However, double elimination,as well as other multiple eliminationand consolation tournaments, cancreate more forfeits. If an entry for-feits a contest in the upper bracket,and then forfeits its scheduled contestin the lower bracket, one entry be-come_ responsible for two forfeits.That cannot happen in single elimina-tion. Furthermore, if a double forfeitwere to occur in the upper bracket,the eventual result would actually bethree forfeits (two in the upper brac-ket and one in the lower).

Although double elimination re-quires about twice as many contestsand time periods to complete as does

B

C

D

F

A

D1

G

DF

F

F

F

C

G

Figure 2. Double. Elimination.

74

single elimination, it does produce avalid champion. An entry can incurone loss from an unusually bad per-formance and still have a chance at thechampionship. Other advantages anddisadvantages of using double elimi-nation are similar to those for singleelimination.

Round Robin

This type of tournament involvesthe formation of leagues, which is acompletely different szt up from thebrackets of elimination tourna gents.The isml number of entries placed ina league range from five to nine, al-though any number above two is pos-sible. The concept of the structure isthat every entry in the league playsevery other entry in the league.

A sample league of eight entries isillustrated in Figure 3. Rounds of playmatch each entry in the league againstanother entry. For an eight-entryleague, there are seven rounds of play,and the first two rounds are estab-lished.

In almost all circumstances, -oundrobin tournaments guarantee eachentry the most contests. For an eight-entry league, each entry plays seventimes. This is a substantial advantagecompared to single or double elimina-tion. No matter how many entries arein those tournaments, they can onlyguarantee one or two contests, respec-tively. However, there is ane potentialdisadvantage of major proportions.Because so many contests are guaran-teed, there is a greater poisibility ofencountering forfeits than in single ordouble elimination. For eight entries,a round robin league has 28 contests,whereas a single elimination has only7 contests, and a double eliminationhas only 15. Since each team in roundrobin is scheduled for seven contests,there is the obvious possibility thatany one entry can be responsible forseven forfeits. Round robin is particu-larly susceptible to forfeits in the laterrounds of play, when it becomes ap-parent to many entrants that there isno chance of winning the champi-onship.

Forfeit potential in round robin canbe substantially reduced by manipu-lating league sizes. The smaller the

league, the fewer contests per entry,and the fewer opportunities eachentry has to forfeit. Th?.. eight-entryleague can be split into two leagues offour. Each entry now only plays threetimes instead of seven, and the totalnumber of games, for both leaguescombined is only 12 instead of 28.Furthermore, having two smallerleagues increases chances for an entryto contend for the championship.

Becausz of the frequent opportuni-tiec for participation, round robin playis usually employed for team sports.The large number of participants in-volved in each contest, as compared toindividual /dual sports, makes thefacility use commitment and the

number of games involved in a tour-nament more justifiable. Further,round robin is particularb, useful foroutdoor sports, because contestspostponed due to inc'ement weathercan be played at a later date withoutintern pting the flow of the scnedule.For any elimination or consolationtournament, postponed contests usu-ally most be rescheduled for the nextday of play; otherwise, the tourna-ment may not be able to progress as itmust.

It is interesting to note that roundrobin play is generally considered tobe the most valid means by which toarrive at a champion. since everyentry meets every other entry. But,

LEAGUE 1

1. A 5 E2. B 6. F3. C 7. G4. D 8. H

Figure 3. Round Robin

ROUND 1

A - HB - GC FD E

75

ROUND 2

A GH FB EC - D


that is not necessarily true. In roundrobin, one loss can actually deprive anentry of the league championship, ifthat loss is to an entry that goesthrough the schedule undefeE *ed. Indouble elimination, an enter must losetwice before being eliminated, so thepossibility exists that an entry can vin-dicate an upset or close loss by meet-

mg the same opponent twice, andmaybe even a third time.

Each tournament structure has ad-van tages and disadvantages. Thetournament director must weigh thefactors and select the structure thatbest fits the objectives and the condi-tions within which the tournament calbe played. Although ten tournament

structures exist, three are most com-monly used. Single elimination is em-ployed most ofter for individualsports such as tennis and badminton,while round robin is most often usedfor team sports. Double elimination isfrequently used for both individualand team sports.

Get Those Skeletons Out of the Closet... andUse Them in Intramurals

Lynn Stockman Imergoot

where are many different ways of.1 scheduling an intramural activ-ityinchAing round-robin, single-elimination, or double- iminationtournaments or a playday exerciseCoed badmintcn intramurals atWashington University have beenscheduled to provide a skeletonschedule of matches to be played. al-lowing the teams to schedule specificmatches.

Previously, specific matches at spe-cific times, on specific courts had beenscheduled. The intramural directorsupervised most of the matches tomake sure the opptnent playec' theassigned match. This limited the sporttimes available because there is amaximum number of hours an in-tramural director can be expected towork.

All matches were scheduled on oneevening which n eant that anyonewith outside commitments or classmeetings could not participate. It alsomeant that the intramural directorhad to sci.,dule matches to prevent allteams from playing simultaneouslyduring the three hours allocated tothis activity.

To allow everyone who wanted toplay the opportunity to do so, the

Lynn Stockman lmergoot is coor-dinator of women's sports at Wash-ingeon University, St. Lows, MO63130.


WASHINGTON UNIVERSITYDepartment of Sports and Recreation

Coed Badminton Intramurals

I. ENTRIES

1 Sandy Briggs 863-5887) & Ron Evens (721-5170)2 Kathy Green (889-6894-W, 721-7075-H) & Jeff Harper (889-6894-W,

725-0724-H)3 Laura Gordon (968-8926) & Chuck Gordon (889-5247-W, 968-8926-H)4. Betty Lobos (454- 304e -W, 727-7712-H) & Kiyo Fukui (454-2501-W,

361-4092-H)5 Bev Raab (454-3042-W, 618/277-0254-H) & Rich Levenson (535-0758)6 Farida Setiadi (863-9163) & Shuen Chi Lo (997-4983)

II. SCHEDULE

Round 1-Matches Must Be Played by November 2

1-6 Briggs & Evens vs Setiadi & 1 -02-5 Green & Harper vs Raab & Levenson3-4 Gordon & Gordon vs. Lobos & Fukui

ROUND 2Matches Must Be Played by November 91-5 Bnggs & Evens vs. Rab & Le non6-4 Setiadi & Lo vs. Lobos & Fukui2-3 Green & Harper ir,. Gordon & Gordon

ROUND 3Matches Must Be Played by November 91-4 Briggs & Evers vr,. Lobos & Fukui5-3 Raab & Levenson vs. Gordon & Gordon6-2 Setiadi & Lo vs. Green & Harper

ROUND 4Matches Must Be Played by November 161-3 Bnggs & Evens vs Gordon & Gordon4-2 Lobos & Fukui vs. Green & Harper5-6 Raab & Levenson vs. Setiadi & Lo

ROUND 5Matches Must Be Played by November 1 b

1-2 Briggs & Evens vs. Green & Harper3-6 Gordon & Gordon vs. Setiadi & Lo4-5 Lobos & Fukui vs. Raab & Levenson

76

manner of scheduling was changed.Instead of scheduling each match interms of day, time, and place, theskeleton schedule :isted the matchesto be played with the correspondingdeadline date. The opponents had oneweek to schedule assigned matches.The figure illustrates a completedleague schedule.

This alteration has brought aboutthree changes. First, it has increasedthe time available for Coed Badmin-ton Intramurals by 400%. Second,some supervision previously assumedby the intramural director has beenshifted to student proctors assigned tosupervise recreation and matches.This proctor has keys to the equip-ment. Third, forfeits have decreased

because players can play at their con-venience.

Players are given Intramural Report Cards at the start of the seasonStudents fill in the blanks to indicatethe sport, match played (opponents),winner, and score.

This skeleton schedule is adaptableto any sport usually officiated by op-ponents themselves, such as tennisand table tennis. For success, fourthings must be done. First, partici-pants must be motivated to play thesport. Second, the outline of theschedule and the players' phone num-bers must be provided. Third, a facil-ity to play (or a court reservation sys-tem) and equipment should be avail-able. Fourth, the director or in-

trainut di :Ad( person should pet iodi-cally check on the tournament prog-ress.

A rules interpretation meeting heldbefore the tournament begins tries tosolve scheduling problems before playactually starts. During the tourna-ment, phone calls to teams which havenot played their matches by the dead-lire often reveal that opponents haverearranged the schedule, but have ne-glected to tell the intramural office.Sometimes forLits must be declaredas a last resort.

The skeleton schedule concept hasallowed Washington University to in-crease the number of intramural ac-tivities provided, to decre: se schedul-ing time.

Eliminate Volleyball ForfeitsDave Sims and Lou Fabian

Ahigh forfeit rate detracts from thequality of an intramural vol-

leyball program. The alternativescheduling procedure outlined herealleviates this problem by guarantee-ing teams a game every time theyenter the court. The procedure is aflenible round robin; it uses two fac-tors inherent in volleyball which canbe modified to enhance participatiotiand not detract from the game.'

First, the short duration of a tylicllvolleyball game makes it possible foran intramural team to play five gamesduring the course of one hour. Thus, ateam can play one game against fivedifferent opponents instead of thebest two out of three games againstthe same opponent. A single super-visor can easily maintain order -ndkeep games moving during the simul-tanecIs play because of the secondfacto, the absence of body contactbetween the participants.'

In a -aditional intramural pro-gram, six teams are scheduled to playone three-game match on the same

day and at the same time every weekfor five weeks. This system is in-adequate to handle the everydayproblems of forfeiture and lateness. Ifteams are late or forfeit, gy.., time iswasted as only one team is present.

Simply, the flexible round robin isplaying with several different teamseach week. Each team plays a one-game round robin with five otherteams during the same hour (forexample, five 10-minute periods perhoar). This overscheduling allowseveryone to play. By the end of fivewee'-s, each team has played everyother team five times for a total of 25games. League results are based ontotal game won-loss records and tiesbroken by the head-to-head record.

The teams benefit by this systembecause it compensates for forfeitsand lateness (Table I) and they are

Lou Fabian is codirector of lntramur-als and Recreation at the University ofPittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261.Dave Sims is a printer in Pittsburgh

77

Table 1. The Flexible Round RobinUniversity of Pittsburgh

Volleyball Program

1973-74 1980-81Teams 53 141Contests 255 812Forfeits 20% 0

guaranteed several contests eachweek If a team doesn't show an 1 areplacement is unavailable, the le-mming people play the round rebi.iwith a bye. If one team is late, theothers begin; usually one te2rr, car,remain an extra 20 minutes i.., allowthe late team to play the missed game.In addition, matches between teamswith extreme ability differences usu-ally end quickly, allowing the weakerteam time to better prepare for thenext match. Finally, the flexible roundrobin format is a new experience fethe players, which helps to maintaintheir interest.'

A unique advantage of this method

Intraimital I fandbook WI

Is the flexibility of allowing one teamto compete in two leagues until a miss-ing team arrives. Five teams report at7:00, one team at 7:30 and five teamsat 8:00. The players are provided wit1a variety of competition, in addition toagain utilizing every available court.

In summary, the alternativescheduling procedure involves

scheduling more teams than tradi-tional available court space allows;playing modified-time limit games;and allowing teams to overlap intolac- leagues when tardiness does oc-cur. The system greatly reduces theforfeits in the intramural volleyballprogram, and the players enjoy happyand healthy intramural experiei.ces

References

'Fabian, Lou & Ross, Marilyn Schedulingfor the future of commuter colleges NIRSA,Vol 2, No 3. May 1978

'Fabian, Lou How a flexible round robin cimprove your racquetball teaching prograRacquetball, in print

'Fabian, Lou & Nichter, Don EnvironIts effect on two college intramural profNIRSA Proceedings, 1982, in print

n

m,

entrams,

Helter-Skelter Tournament

Tn many physical education activitylcourses, the class culminates in atournament which may run from twoto six weeks. This is an excellent op-portunity for students to practicallyapply skills and knowledge learned inthe course. However. the problem fac-ing the teacher is *he selection of themost appropriate tournament tomaximize participation. The typicaltournament structures of single elimi-nation, consolation, double elimina-tion, round robin, and ladder, all havedrawbacks when employed in theclassroom. These include lack of timefor round robin, ladd^r, double elimi-nation tournaments and lack of par-ticipation for single elimination andconsolation tournaments. In all of thetournaments mentioned, the studentsmust idly wait until their next oppi-nents have been determined or untiltheir next opponents win their previ-ous match, before they can play theirnext match.

The Helter-Skelter Tournamentwas designed for ciassroom use andhas been applied in various classes forthe past seven years. It is flexible indesign which has contributed to itssuccess. The tournament has a drawsheet with each student's lame listed

Edward T. Turner is a professor in theDepartment of Health, Physical Edu-cation, and Recreation at AppalachianState University, Boone, NC 28608.

70 intramural Handbook

Edwa_ d T. Turner

and a column for listing the number ofwins. The draw sheet can be used as ateaching aid by giving the students'nicknames employing knowledgetaught in the course (for example: intennisJane "Overhead" Brown; orin racquetball Barbara "Bend at theKnees" Dowell.) Thesc nicknamesadd a didactic, humorous touch to anytournament.

The Helter-Skelter tournamentpattern can be introduced during thefirst tournament class meeting. Thestudents must select an opponentand/or partner (if doubles) of theirchoosing. Generally a match is an ab-breviated version of a regulationmatch. The length of the match is dic-tated by the amount of time given toplay in one class period. Some exam-ples of shortened matches might be: 5games in a tennis set; one racquetballgame to 15 points; one badmintongame to 11 or 8 points. More than onegame may be played depending on thetime element of the class, but re-member that fewer games in a matcwill provide more matches in a classperiod.

Immediately after completion of amatch, the students quickly report thegame/match results to the instructor.The tournament is run most eff:ciently when the instructor knows thenames of the students; results can berecorded more quickly and the stu-dents can immediately return to play.Losses should not be rw,cded since

they are negativei-Ielter- Skelter waspositive tournamcorded directly intransferred to a dcluz.ion of each

Normally(matches1 arplavf4 whichmatches beminute orstructor rematchesin theelemenThis ccomagaialsTw

incentives; thedesigned to be a

nt. Wins are re-o the loll book and

raw sheet at the con-lass meeting.

six or more gamese simultaneously beingwill result in a number of

Lig completed within awo of ea, h other. The in-

cords the wins of completedand coordinates the playersest possible way so that an

t of keen competition exists.an be done by having winners

ete against winners, and losersnst losers. In this way, losers willbe winners. The Helter-Skelter

urnament provides many studentsith the opportunity to win. For

xample, if a student has not won, hecan be placed in a doubles situationwith one of the winning players. Theycan compete against a doubles team oftwo individuals who are not winningvery much. This gives the "born"loser a good chance to win. It maytake two trials to accomplish this, butit is usually successful. On the drawsheet, everybody will have some wins.The whole idea of the instructor hav-ing some control on the flexible struc-turing of the tournament makes thisan ideal tournament for teaching pur-poses.

In a doubles tournament the in-structor should have matches re-

ported the same way as in a singles:just wins. Doubles can make the tour-nament even simpler if, when as an-other match is complete, an instructorsplits the doubles team up with newpars ers or has them play singles. Nostudent should have to wait foranother match to be complete formore than a few minutes. The instruc-tor can check scores of matches inprogress and if none are near comple-tion, he/she should permit the stu-dents to play each other again. Thismatch would still count for tourna-ment play.

Another important rule is to con-stantly have students playing againstnew opponents and new partners.This gives everyone a chance to playwith most classmates. Their choice atthe beginning of each class must be topick someone new to play with and/oragainst. After the tournament has runfor a few days and after the initial

daily rounds are finished, the instruc-tor should always ask students if theyhave played together before. If at allpossible, avoid overlapping play orcompeting against the same individu-als. After the tournament has ran forabout six days, the instructor will havea pretty good spr2ad of wins and afairly accurate pi'ture of each stu-dent's playing abicty. It is certainlyfeasible and worthwhile to have indi-viduals play "grudge" matchesagainst those they have alreadyplayed or to have those with the high-est (or lowest) number of wins playwith each other even if they haveplayed each other earlier in the tour-nament. This will bring the Helter-Skelter to a crescendo at its comple-tion.

A rule should be established thattournament play begins only when theclass officially begins; any preclassplay will not be considered A rule

79

should also be estab'ished as towhether a match in progress will countwhen class time expires. A generalrule which works well is that in an 11point match, if one r erson (team) isahead by two points cr more and hasscored at least 7 points, they will re-ceive credit for the win. The purposebehind adhering to only class time isso that all students have equal time toplay.

The Helter-Skelter Tournamentprovides the student with maximumparticipation in tournament play as-veil as many opportunities to experi-ence success-failure situations.Helter- Ske!ter also provides the in-structor with some control of thetournament and for an instructionalclass, this certainly is an importantconcept. For a meaningful, flexible,enjoyable, and educationally soundtournament, Helter- Skelter is an ex-cellent choice.


An Effective Round Robin ScheduleBrian E. MacTaggart

D uring the past two years at theUniversity of Western Ontario,

an intramural scheduling problemarosethat of scheduling all teams .oplay twice on the same night, againstdifferent opponents and withoutundue delay between the games ofany one team. This problem resultedbecause the pa;tielpating teams de-sired to play twice per week, prefera-bly the same night. There was suffi-cient facility space and time availablefor two contests per team per week.The sports involved were such thatmore than one contest could beplayed on one night without sufferingundue physical fatigue.

Scheduling teams to play twice onthe sant.: night would have two bene-fits. (1) It would eliminate the need tocommute to the playing area twice aweek. This, in turn, might reducetimetable conflicts and default:. (2)This schedule would increase theamount of playing time per partici-pant per outing. Both results havebeen long-desired attributes of In-tramural programs.

One can schedule teams to playtwice a night by adding the next roundin a round robin to that night's play.Unfortunately, this method results inone team playing at the beginning ofthe night and then not again until theend of the night. One can avoid this bytediously manipuk:ing the numbersuntil one gets most of the teams play-ing back-to-back and against differentopponents for each night's play.However, it becomes frustrating to dothis for the many different sized roundrobins one might have. It's impossibleto have all teams play twice in thesame night back-to-back and againstdifferent opponents unless there arean even number of entries and halfthat number of playing areas. Thisrarely occurs. A review of related lit-erature yielded no information orexisting tournament schedules thatwould help alleviate this problem. So


to assist schedulers who may have thesame problem, the "Tag" RoundRobin Schedule was devised. Thetournament properties and rotationpatterns are outlined and completeschedules are established for up tceight entries. This schedule, used suc-cessfully in volleyball and squash, isalso app'icable to many other sports(for instance, softball, racquetball.badminton).

Rotation Patterns

Entries are represented by num-bers. For all rounds, two byes are heldfixed as the other numbers are ro-tated. Each pairing represents a game.The rotation here is conducted coun-terclockwise. When rotating, eachnumber in that particular round is ro-tated two places (as opposed to one in

a single round robin). Top seeded en-tries are always placed in the top twospots because the (1 2) pairing al-lows them to play last.

Tournament Properties

N = number of entries tfor exam-ple, N = 6)(1) Number of games to complete the

league schedule (a double roundrobin): N(N 1), ( 6(6 1) =30)

(2) Number of games for each entry:2N 2, (2 x 6 2 = 10)

(3) Number of rounds of play in"Tag" Round Robin Leagues: N

(4) Number of games in each round:N- 1, (6 1 = 5)

(5) Percentage of teams that play twogames per round

NN 2 ( 66

267%)\

Number of Entries Order of Rounds of Play

3 1, 2, 34 1, 3, 2, 45 1, 4, 2, 5, 36 1, 4, 2, 5, 3, 67 1, 5, 2, 6, 3, 7, 48 1, 5, 2, 6, 3, 7, 4, 8

Round 1Week 1Court 1



H- A H- A H-A5 00 1-6 4-3 6-56.00 1-5 4-2 6-47.00 2-5 5-2 1-48:00 2-4 5 1 1-39:00 3-4 6-1 2-3

Round 5 Round 3 Round 6Week 4 Week 5 Week 6Court 1 Court 1 Court 1

H- A H- A H-A5:00 3-2 5- 4 2-16:00 3-1 5-3 2-67.00 4 -1 6-3 3-68.00 4-6 6-2 3-9.00 5-6 1-2 4-5

30

The percentage of teams playingtwice per night increases as thenumber of entries increase. The estab-lished rounds provide an equalnumber of home and away games foreach team. However, fol any oneteam, all their home (or away) gamesare in the first half of the season a dtheir away (or home) games are in thesecond half. Alternating the homeand away games might be desirable.This can be done by changing the

order of the rounds of play. The num-bers below represent rounds of play(round 1, round 2, etc ).

By arranging the rounds in this or-der, the scheduler can alternate thehome and away games.

Practical Example

The following is a practical exampleof how pairings in the rotation patternwould actually be scheduled for the"ourts or fields for several days of

play The number of entries (N) is six.The established rounds for six entriesillustrates the proper pairings. The ac-tual schedule, including the properorder of rounds to alternate home andaway games, is presented below.

Brian E. Mac Taggart is director ofsports and fitness at the University ofWestern Ontario, London, Ontario,Canada.

Established Rounds for "Tag" Round Robin Tournament

Round 1 Round 2Home Away H A

Round 3H A

Round 4H A

Round 5H A

Round 6H A

Round 7H A

Round 8H A

Three Teams*

bye-3 b-2 b -11-3 2-11-2 J-1 2-3b-2 b-1 b-3

Four Tcams

b-4 b-3 b-2 h -11-4 4-3 3-2 2-11-3 4-2 3-1 2-42-3 1-2 4-1 3-4b-2 b-1 b-4 b-3

Five Teams

b-4 b-3 b-2 b -1b-51-5 5-4 4-3 3-2 2-11-4 5-3 4-2 3-1 2-52-4 1-3 5-2 4-1 3-52-3 1-2 5-1 4-5 3-4b-3 b-2 b -1 b -5 b-4

Six Teams

b -5 b-4 b-3 b-2 b -1b-61-6 6-5 5-4 4-3 3-2 2-11-5 6-4 5-3 4-2 3-1 2-62-5 1-4 6-3 5-2 4-1 3-62-4 1-3 6-2 5 -1 4-6 3-53-4 2-3 1-2 6-1 5-6 4-5b-3 b-2 b -1 b-6 b -5 b- 4

Seven Teams

b-6 b -5 b-4 b-3 b- 2 b -1b-71-7 7-6 6-5 5-4 4-3 3-2 2-11-6 7-5 6-4 5-3 4-2 3-1 2-72-t: 1- 5 7-4 6-3 5-2 4-1 3-72-5 1-4 7-3 6-2 5-1 4- / 3-63-5 2-4 1-3 7-2 6-1 5-7 4-63-4 2-3 1-2 7-1 6-7 5-6 4-5b-4 b-3 b-2 b -1 b-7 b- 6 b-5

Eight Teams

b-8 b-7 b-.., b -5 b-4 b- 3 b-2 b -11-8 8-7 7-6 6-5 5-4 4-3 3-2 2-11-7 8-6 7-5 1-4 5-3 4-2 3-1 2-82-7 1-6 8-5 7-4 6-3 5-2 4-1 3-82-6 1-5 8-4 7-3 6-2 5-1 4-8 3-73-6 2-5 1-4 8-3 7-2 6-1 5-8 4-73-5 2-4 1-3 8-2 7-1 6-8 5-7 4-64-5 3-4 2-3 1-2 8-1 7-8 6-7 5-6b-4 b-3 b-2 b -1 b-8 b- 7 b- 6 b- 5

With three teams, one may play the two 'bye' teams (for instance, 3 vs 2) on the same night so that all teams get twogamesandonly one of these teams will have to wait (one game).

Intramural Handtxx)k 73

1

A Modified Single Elimination 1 ournamentGeorge W. Rader

GEORGE W. RADER is director ofintramurals, Department of PhysicalEducation and Athletics for Men.Northern Illinois University, De Kalb.Illinois 60115.

When remodeling of the NorthernIllinois field house made severe cuts inthe amount of space and time availablefor our intramural badminton singlestournament last year, we had to makeseveral basic changes in the structure ofour single elimination tournament.Previously, ten badminton courts hadbeen available for the tournament,which usually took six or seven weeksfor 64 players to complete. Last yearwe used a gym with space for threecourts available four hours four nightsa week over a two-week period.

In previous tournaments, contestantssigned up for the tournament and wererandomly placed in a single elimina-tion bracket, w th all quarter finalistswho returned Lon, :rte previous tour-nam nt being seeded. All players re-ceived a copy of the tournament pair-

ings and were given a set amount oftimeusually a week to ten daysto complete each round. Each playerwas responsible for contacting his op-ponent and setting up a mutually agree-able date for their match

Last year, as each student registeredfor the tournament, he had to indicateon a card the times during cle two-week period when he could not play.The intramural office scheduled -11

matches according to the times .1k

the participants were available. Abracket was not drawn up because, aseach round progressed, different timesto play became available for the re-maining contestants. As each roundwas finished, the cards of the losingplayers were separated from the cardsof the winning players, and the nextround vas set up with the winningplayers having the same free time pe-riods scheduled to play each other.Seeded players who advanced in thetournament were p3t scheduled to playone another until they were the onlyremaining contestants.

All entries were informed on the gen-eral rule sheet that it was their re3pon-

sibility to contact the I-M Office themorning after their victory to reporttheir scores, check the time scheduledfor their next match, and confirmwhether they could play at that time.Because of jobs, night classes, and otherconflicts, some students had to playtwo matches in one night. However, atleast one hour rest period was sched-uled between matches, and this workedout satisfactorily.

It must be remembered that this isstill a single elimination tournament; ifthe number of entries is not a powerof two, byes must be given in the firstround so tha' in the second round thenumber of entries is a power of two(4, 8, 16, 32, 64, etc.).

We found this method of running atournament to be successful. The num-ber of forfeits v,, small and wasusually caused by a player's being in-jured or it Ind not being able to com-pete at any time during the two-weekperiod. In the past our badminton tour-naments were usually completed in asix to seven week period; this year wewere able to finish the tournament insix playing days.

Modifying Intramural RulesFrancis Rokosz

c tandard sports rules are often suc-a cessfully altered to make the gamebetter for participants. Thc changesmay affect players' attitudes and be-haviors, make a game more safe, orsimplify the rules for the officials

Francis M. Rokosz is director ofntramural-recreational play atWichita State University, Wichita, KS67208.


but the most important rule changesare those which improve the game forthe players.

The rules should be structured sothat each player can meaningfully par-ticipate in a game. No positionsshould be substantially less significantthan others. It is also important thatpeople oh a team receive reasonablyequal amounts of playing time duringa gam,. Established rules can force, orat least encourage, a relative equality

82

of positions and the free use of substi-tutes Since total playing time for agame may be limited to one hour, therules .hould be designed to get themost game action for all players,within the time available.

Her are some specific rules mod-ifications for N, olleyball, football,softball, for hockey, basketba:!, andsoccer. The essential ideas may betransferred to other actr'!::::s withmodifications.

If there are more than six people ona team, follow the rotation systemwhereby on each volley, point, orchange of service one person goes offthe court and ?mother comes on (seediagram).

)4

r

NET

Of course, more than six people couldbe pu' on a court, but certainly arcmore than nine (3 tows of 3). To ac-commodate more people, the length

`the court could be en..rged from 60feet to 80 or 90 feet. ne rc ,ation fornine people could look la. .his (.1eediagram)

NET

X

Y

X-4- X

ORX--10-X 0,-X

X .X --O.X

X .11--X X

NET

A maximum of thrre hits is legallyallowed playing tae ball, which canlimit the hitting opportunities fc. eachplayer. To improve teamwork and in-dividual playing opportunities, makea rule requiring that a ball can. of bereturned across the net until eachplayer hits it at least once, and give ateam unlimited hits.

Regular volleyball ruks don't allowfor unlimited substitution, for the rea-sca that a team could then take out astrong server on serve recei tions andput him in for the serve. A person maylegally enter a game only three times.

Thus, the participation of substitutesis limited To eliminate that concern,establish an unlimited substitutionrule such that any substitute ulustenter at the center back posnuth (fly,places away f.rom serving position)and engage in the rotation as previ-ously described.

Football

Blocking restrictions are commonin touch and flag football programs.Linemen often are relegated toscreen-type blocking, aesigned to re-duce violent body contact. However,these players don't get the feeling ofplaying a bignificant role in the game.It's no fun to passively imp( an op-posing player's progress. It seems besteither to allow sigma ficant contact onblocks or . l!ow no blocking at all, anddesignai, :hese players receivers.Certain rules should obtain when in-tense contact is allowed: (a) no leav-ing one's feet during the block, (b) noblocking below the waist, (c) noHocking beyond line of scrimmage,(d) no spearing with the head, and(e) no forearms bent more than 90derrees from the upper arm. If block-ing is eliminated, establish a rule giv-ing the quarterback time to throw theball, ny delaying the pass rush or notallowing one at all. Delay the passrush by setting the defensive line ofsc-immage five yards from the ball,and letting the defense rush at thetime of the snap. If no pass rush isallowed, set a time limit of five sec-

33

onds on the ottensive team to get theball across t line of scrimmage,either on a run or a pass.

Allow any formatio plays fromscrimmage, and make ers on theteam eligible receiver. Phis giveseach player a greater potential formeaningful participation in a game by

...

increasing chances for handling theball

Softball

The game of softball has several in-herent problems, whether fast or slowpitch. A good pitcher dominates thefast pitch game and the batters can'thit the ball, resulting in little offense,low scores, and little satisfaction. Inslow pitch, the I igh arc of the pitchdiscourages the batter's taking a levelswing a the bail. Both fast and slowpitch softball rules e..o not allow forfree substitutiou; once t. player comesout of the game, he is out for good.Finally, game action can become tedi-ously slow when the pitcher throwstoo many unhit pitches. Solve thesemajor problems by instituting one,

o, or three pitch softball. The rulesfollow

The batting team supplies its ownpitcher, and the fielding team thecatcher. If two pitch softball isplayed, the batter must hit a fairball on either the first or secondpitch. Since the pitcher is ateammate of the batter, he tries tofeed the batter good pitches to

itrarnural Handbook 75

hit. Any pitch not swung at,fouled off, or swung at and missedcot; its as one of the two allowedpitches. If, on the second pitch, afair ball is not hit. the batter isautomatically out. The ball can-not be bunted or chopped down-ward, as defensing these hits re-quires the cooperation of thepitcher. This rule stimulates 'norgame action and excitementwithin the allowed playing time,and allows the batter to take anormal swing at a pitch. It alsoallows the poorer players to hitthe ball more often and more sol-'dly.An inning for the hitting teamconsists of the whole team goingLo bat (as determined by thenumber of players in the field).The number of outs made is ir-relevant to ti.c length of the in-ning, except that, when the lastplayer has come to bat, the offen-sive team continues to bat in rota-tion until an out is made. This isso that the last batter ne?dn't hit ahome run to score. Battingthrough the whole order fosters amore even participation by teamsthat may be unequal; players onpoor teams bat approximately thesame number of times as those ongood teams.The batting order can be changedfrom inning to inning. Combinedwith the way an inning is con-ducted, this makes for very freesubstitution. A team may con-stantly change its Elding line-upwithout permanently removingplayers from the game, and thosewho field are not required to batThis ::lows for maximum flexibil-

Sty in shuttling players in and outof a game, it allows a team to playits poorer players without per-manently removing the betterplayers from the game andjeopardizing a team victory In aword, total team participation isenhanced.

Floor Hockey

Six players on a side is ideal tominimize congestion on the court, es-pecially around the puck. To do that,establish restrictions on team align-ments Designate players to halves ofthe cow'. In essence, a team is al-lowed a goalie and two delmders inthe defensive zone, three forwards inthe offensive zone. Three offensiveplayers attack against two defenders,the goalie usually staying in thecrease. That gives offensive players areasonable opportunity to control thepuck in the offensive zone and setup a play. Otherwise, so many playerscongregate around the puck and goalarea that passing and scoring occurmore from luck than skilled perfor-mance Player safety is also improvedby spreading people out

Basketball

Eliminate dead ball situations thatrequire the stopping of the clock andbreak up the continuity of the game.

Ei minate halftimes and eventimes out (except for injury).Teams switch ends of the playingarea at the midway point in thegame. This rule Increases playingtime and fosters the liberal use ofsubstitutes.

Eliminate one-and one foul


shots Shoot only techru,:al foulsand two-shot touls For all otherfouls, the ball is taken out-of-bounds by the offended team. Ifthe clock is stopped during thelast two minutes, shoot all fouls,consider making these all two-shot fouls to penalize players w.hofoul deliberate!y late in the game,attempting to make the infractionlook inadvertent. Another possi-bility is to eliminate foul shootingentirely, simply awarding a teamtwo points for a two-shot foul.Substitutions can be made on thefly, while play is still on. Incomingand outgoing players must touchhands at the scorer's table beforea substitution is legal.Eliminate jump balls, givingteams the ball out-of-bounds al-ternately.

Soccer

Reduc the nt.. fiber of pla,,ery on ateam to about seven, allowing low-skilled players more time and space inwhich to handle the ball comfortatly.Also, follow the suggestion for floorhockey: divide teams into offense anddefense, rest' ling players' move-ments to their espective halves of thefield. Again, the slight favoring of theoffense makes it easier for the offenseto control the ball and set up plays.

In summary, there are many mod-ifications of sports activities which in-crease participation, simplify officiat-ing, and make games more fun. Themodifications presented are not anall-inclusive list, but are supplied as"food for thought." The best modifi-cations are yet to comethey're wait-ing for you to discover them.

J,1

7

Improving Response and Participation inIntramural Programs

Donald E. Baren

Kids are different today! "They don'twant to participate in the intra-

mural program." "Our programs are notstimulating interest in today's youths!"These comments are hear:I frequently indiscussions regarding whether the intra-mural programs of today should be con-tinued. Does this have to be the onlyanswer?

Perhaps, instead of expecting today'sse dents to change to our ways of think-ing, we should be the ones to change ourways of promoting and providing excit-in, activities. The intramural programsch. yesterday must be in constant changejust like everything in life, if they areto meet changing societal needs.

The middle school level is ideal foran active and exciting program that willgain the acceptance of today's youths.The young people are just as active,idealistic, and fun loving as children frompast generations. What may make themappear different is that hey need .tewmethods and reasons for ...ecoming in-volved. Instead cf just offering an ac-tivity, today we have to continuouslysell and promote new and exciting rea-sons to participate.

The program described here has beenchanged many times during the past 12years. Our program has not only sur-vived but has improved its popularw,with the studem.

Administrators and teachers had to beflexible and compromising in develop-ing new alternatives so that the intra-mural program could continue as schooland society conditions changed.

Our e- tire program is eased ontendance. In order to receive an award.a student must have regularly partici-pated in that event. Points are awardedfor each activity, and also recorded for

Donald E. Bann is chair of the physicaleducation department an mi.raldirector at Steuben Middle Scnocl, Mil-waukee, WI 53201.

yearly totals These porn,., help studentsearn an athletic letter, receive an invi-tation to the year end awards party, andbe eligible for the Top Athlete of theYear Award. Extra points may also beawarded for being named to the All Starteam, for being a member -f a cham-pionship team, or for winning i st, 2nd,or 3rd in individ 11 events. Spec:al tour-naments such as wrestling, table tennis,and volleyball are available to earn extrapoints.

Each year at least one gimmick or ideahas been introduced to stimulate interestor to promote a new activity. It is im-portant to remember that these ideas,once introduced, must be continued sothat they become an integral part of theprc gram.

One of our best publicity gimmickshas been the acquisition of a polaroidcamera. Although the film is a bit moreexpensive, the immediate reward is worthit. These pictures are marked with thestudents' names ar'' saved for displayMany former students eturn to see theold pi-tures and to keep contact with ourstaff. The publicity also works with newstudents to enter school and begin askingabout the programs pictured.

Here are examples of gimmicks usedin various activities:

Flag Football League IdeasI Paint i panel of a football with white paint

and letter the names of the championshipteam members on it

2 The championship teams play against tneAil Stars selected from the other teamsin the league Certificates and polaroidpictures are used for the championshipteam (Similar awards are given in bas-ketball and softball )

3 8th grade All Stars play against the menst,:i with pictures of both teams

Basketbc11 League IdeasI. "One on One" Tournament only for those

boys in the league Each grade level win-ner receives a trophy

2. F ulty vs the entire 8th grade league7 his activity gives all students in theleague a chance to play against staff

85

Games are only 20 minutes long and aresplit into tw. halves The staff continuesto play until it has played all the teamsin :Fie league

3. e..n grade All Stars vs men staff. Eachstaff member is charged $ :5 to play inthe game The money collected is usedto buy a trophy for the most valuableplayer" 8th grade student in the gameEach staff member is given one vote inthe 4th quarter to determine the winningpla:, cr. A large school trophy also has theboy's name inscribed on it

4. A field trip to a Milwaukee Bucks profes-sional basketball game is available forselected 8th rade players The students

pay for a bonus night ticket and then aregiven a free meal at the home of one ofthe staff members plus free transportationto and from the game Other staff mem-bers and their children are also invited toattend this big eve .. Thirty tickets havebeen purchased for this year's game andthis includes some foi,ner staff memberswho are now at other schools

5 Offer a basketball scholarship to an 8thgrade student for the city summer bas-ketball camps

Wrestling Tournament Ideas1 Points are awarded Just for entering the

tournament2. Points are awarded for placing 1st. 2nd.

of 3rd3. Trophies are awarded to the champion of

each w tight class Certificates are gwento th, canner -ups

4 Polaroid pictures are taken of the finalistsbefore their mach

5 Videotape the finals for later viewing bystaff and students.

6 Publicize the boys in the finals by makinga program that is distributed to teach-ers

Gymnastics Tournament andSchool Program *deas1 Ribbons are aw'irded for 1st, 2nd, and

3rd place in all events In addition, thereare two levels of compulsory competitionand a third optional level for a Soy fromeither compulsory level

2 Trophies are given for the most valuableplayer in each of the two compulsorylevels

intramural Handbook 77

3 A tiophy is given to the best all aroundgymnast of the year In addition, the stu-dent's name is placed on a large schooltrophy

4 The tournament is open to staff, students.and parents for their enjoyment Partici-pants are encouraged to ask anyone theydei,re to attend the event

5 Points are awarded not only for partici-pating in the gymnastic Practice sessions15 weeks) but also for winning 1st. 2nd.or 3rd in the meet

6 Students who have demonstrated skill invarious events and who have attended ona regular basis are eligible to be selected


for the school program This event is fea-tured as part of the spring evening openhouse

7 A colorful program is designed for thisopen house and each team member plusall staff are given copies

Bowling League Ide LsI Lasts 10 weeks in both the fall and spring

semesters2 C:rtificates and trophies are awarded at

the end of the school year3 Student/Staff Bowling Night Teachers

are paired with a team for a one day tour-nament.

t

86

4 Party for all participants of the league

Track Meei IdeasI One port is given for entering any event

in the incv:!2 Points are awarded for winning 1st. 2nd.

and 3rd place3 Ribbons are awarded to the first three

winners in each event4 Certain events on the school record board

may only be broken during this track meet(This increases participation at all gradelevels )

5 Students who set new records receive acertificate for their accomplishment.

Mixed MuralsBob Thompson, Kent Bunker, and Ada Van Whitley

BOB THOMPSON, KENT BUNKER,and ADA VAN WhITLEY are in thePhysical Education Department, Col-vin Physical Education Center, Okla-homa State University, Sti Ilw-ter, Ok-lahoma 74074.

All over the country, co-recreationalactivities featuring modificationswhich allow men and women to playon the same teamsare growing fasterthan any other type of intramural orrecreation activity. Many are attractedby the opportunity for husband-wifeteams, dating couples, and fraternityand sorority combinations to partici-pate in physical activity together. Thesocial attraction of co-rec activities em-phasizes their recreational aspects. Co-ed groupings enhance personal inter-action in strategy, prttice, team play,celebration, 2nd consolation. The keenedge of competition is generally morecontrollable in mixed cc mpany.Grouped competition in co-rec pro-grams allows the accommodation of awider range of skill levels. Partici-pants and coaches must cooperatec:usely to meet the modified playingconuOons.

Increasing student interest in theseprograms offers program, directors anopportunity to meet more of the par-ticipants' needs and interests. Co-recintramurals at Oklahoma State havefollowed the nationwide trvid, with300-400% increases in participation inmost activities.

The key to successful co-rec pro-grams is in the effecti: :ness of rulesmodifications. Rules must be kept sim-ple while equalizing play among menand women by avoiding male domina-tion of any actiity. Change for its ownsake is unwarranted, but the effects ofestablished physical differences must beminimized.

Co-rec basketball, as played at OSU,illustrates an appropriate style of rulesmodifications. Although some have pre-ferred to restrict men's offensive actionthrough complicated arrangements, it isreally unnecessary. Simple organizationfor two simultaneous three on threegames provides equal activity oppor-

tunities. Six players, three men and threewomen, make up each team. The menof both teams are restricted to ene halfof the court, the women to the other.Offensive play is alternated each quar-ter between each team's men and wom-en. The ball is passed across court bythe defensive trio to their own offen-sive representatives, male or female.The ten-second rule is enforced to pre-vent stalling in the backcourt. Thuseach team must depend on botl- menand women to score, requiring totalteam participation and cooperation.Fouls committed on the defensive endduring bonus situations are shot by adesignated free throw shooter on eachteam's respective offensive end. Thetip-off may involve either two men ortwo women in opening a fun-filledbasketball game.

81

Several other activities ha,e poten-tial for the co-rec combination. Forexample, restricting men from advanc-ing the football across the line ofscrimmage in flag football enables menand womer to compete reasonably inan active outdoor come.' Eliminatingspiking in volleyball an_ using innertubes for water polo (see JOHPER,Sept. 1974, p. 90) are other examples.Many activities normally played indoubles combinations such as tennis,table tennis, and racquetball requireonly a scheduled time. Bowling isanotl 'r natural for co-rec programs.

Administration of co-rec programsis relatively simple and very produc-tive in terms of satisfied participants.All of these activities and many moreare available to imagin tive directorswho are willing to adapt hem.

Or


Intramural Gymnastics CompetitionWilliam L. Cornelius

An intramural gymnastic competi-tion, if properly organized, can

cultivate student and community in-terest in gymnastic.. When meetprocedures have been developedcarefully and incorporated into thecompetition, an atmosphere evolvesconducive to both enjoyment and theacquisition of knowledge. The organi-zation of such an event is no easy mat-ter. Demands placed on administra-tors, recreation supervisors, andteachers are varied and often discon-certing. Such demands, coupled withthose of their regular jobs, create con-flict and confusion, and often discour-age individual initiative in the plan-ning and organization of the eventThere is, therefore, a need for organi-zational ideas and direction, so thatschool personnel will waste the leasttime in these efforts.

Meet OrganizationPre-planning is essential. The

smooth operation of a gymnastic meetis deceptively difficult, and plannedsteps must be taken to assure efficientorganization. The initial step in deriv-ing a functional framework is the de-velopn 'nt of a checklist, i eluding allimportant functions to be dealt withbefore, during, and following thegymnastic competition. The checklistassists the meet director in handlingdetails and delegating responsibilities.

Before the Meet. A checklist usedbefore the meet should address thefollowing duties:

Schedule the facility and contactgymnastic judgesSchedule a workshop for meetpersonnelContact, secure, and train meetpersonnelPublicize the competition

William L. Cornelius is an assatantprofessor of physical educatio atNorth Texas State University, DentonTX 76203.

80 intramural Handbook

Ch.ck apparatus safety andMaloney's' mat dimensionsDesign the .neet floor plan . -.prepare announcer's materialPrepare the scoring formsRequest entries to finalize formsand announcer's sheetObtain all needed supplies

Day o f the Meet. The cooperation ofmeet personnel and the use of achecklist minimize mistakes and mis-management. Checklist a^tivities theday of the meet are oriented towardsetting up the gymnasium, an follow.

Place equipment on the floor(crash pads are encouraged) andconduct a safety checkExamine apparatus specificationsby Gander' for senior compe-titions and age levels by Maloney'Post the order for events andcompetitors

= PI ov:de scoring personnel withforn.s and pencilsProvide each judge with formsand pencilsSet up public address system forthe announcer and update 'heannouncer's presentation sheet

During the Meet. Fe Ner errors, apleasant atmosphere and less timewaste are all made possible by properorganization pi ior to the competition.But be sure to attend to these con-cerns during the meet.

Prepare for the opening and clos-ing ceremoniesMake provisions for the activitiesthat occur while individuals areperforming routines (refer to thesection belc..7 on personnel)Ciear the area of participants atthe - mpletion of the final per-formancePost results and distribute awardsfrom the office following themeet; presentations can accom-pany the announcing of final in-dividual, all-around, and teamscores during the closing cepmony

88

Following the Meet. Subsequent tothe closing ceremonies personnelshould be assigned to the followingareas of concern.

Provide team representatives andthe campus press with duplicatesof the final resultsCheck gymnastic apparatus to as-^ure its proper conditionReturn all equipment andsupplies to the proper locationsHave the facility cleanedFollow with a thank you note toindividuals who had a positive in-fluence

Personnel

Personnel without a gymnasticbackground can still function con-structively in rur.ning an intramuralgymnastics competition, so long as acooperative atmosphere is created.Each Individual should understand hisduties and how they fit into the totaleffort. There are six categories inwhich meet personnel serve: direct-ing, announcing, judging, managing,scoring, and supporting. Each of thesesix has its own personnel and its owndemands, as described below.

Directing

The meet director is responsible fortie total functioning of the gymnasticcompetition and must stand account-able for setting an atmosphere en-couraging a variety of pleasurable ex-periences The personnel chosen b)the director to work in the meet mustbe reliable.

An assistant ,:eet director is an ef-fective means of improUng essentialcontact with people working in themeet. It is 'Juan)/ difficult for themeet director to personally make allthe necessary contacts. Take care,however, to maintain enough contactto preserve functional integrity be-tween the directc : and basic meetproceedings. If the assistam meet di-rector has a competitive gymnasticbackground and understands meet

procedure -s, he should personallycoordinate the training of personnel.He should describe duties, and articu-late how each position fits into thetotal picture. A check'ast of the dutiesof each pa- ition allows the meet direc-tor to monitor job completion.

Judging

Capable judges establish credibi'ityand a pleasant atmosphere. Tr to ob-tain certified judges through t.'ie localjudges association. One of the fourjudges serves as the superior judge,supervise the scot.; tg process. Wheyusing the closed ystem of sco-ing,judges place a scone on an intramt.ra'gymnastic meet judge's form and senathe score to the superior judge.

Each judge determines the compe-titor's score at the ct. mpletion of agymnastic performance based on amaximum of 10.0 points. A judgeshould derive a score within 10 to 20seconds, record the score on thejudge's form, and give the form to arunner who takes it to the superiorjudge. According to the Internatior alGymnastic Federation (FIG) Techni-cal Committee for Men3 and Wonlen4there is a standard range allowed be-tween the two middle scores given by.he four judges. A conference takesplace between the superior judge andthe judges involved when the twomiddle scores do not fall within thepre,cribed range.

Individuals with a knowledge andinterest in studying gymnastic per-formance may serve as judges if cer-tified officials are 1.--ailable. Judg-ing workshops should be scheduled toallow these individuals to achievecompetency in jlidging procedures.

Scoring

Some exposure to scoring proce-dures prior to the competitionsimpl'fies the work if scoring person-nel. Again, a workshop provides aworking familiarity with the formsand general procedures used in scor-ing.

The substatior scorer sits by thesuperior judge in order to quickly re-ceive a competitor's scores via i, n-ners. He averages the two middlescores and directs the flasher to show

the averaged score to the head scoringtable, then the audience. As the aver-aged core is flashed, a runner takesthe four scores given each competitorto the scoring table to be placed onone of the Individual Event ScoringForms (IESFs).

The IESF for Men and Women en-ables head scoring table personnel tomaintain a full record of performanceIncluded on this form are the fourjudges' score-., average, and placegiven an individual for a performanceon one event. The IESFs also informthe scorers of each gymnast's teamaffiliation, which furnishes a quickreference in tabulating team points.Each judge is assign0 a number onthe form, which allows a complete re-cord of judging patterns.

Official team score forms for menand women pris"ide for a cumulativetotal for each team entered in thecompetition. If rules are unavailablefor determining team points, scoresgiven to the top three individuals ineach event per team can be used.

An official all-around score formfor men and women provides space forboth the ave_age score fc* each eventand a running total. . according tothe FIG Ted_ ical Committee forWomen.° the female al.-around gym-nast enters four women's events. TheFIG Technical Clmmittee for Men3noted that the nr.le all-around gym-nast enters the six men's events. Byhaving access to tie total all-aroundscore for each gymnast It is also possi-ble to provide places in the all aroundevent on these forms.

Scorers should share space with theannouncer. This gives the announcerimmediate access to running eventscores for teams, all-around gym-nasts, and individuals entered in eachevent. The assistant scorer can be as-signed to scoring d ities and can assistthe announcer.

Because team representatives andpress menthe's must receive copies ofthe final results, duplication proce-dures should begin prior to the closingceremonies. Copies should beprovided within minutes following tt emeet. An individual aysigned to du-plicating can complete most of theforms dealing with individual eventsbefore the closing ceremonies. If all

8,9

scoring forms are accurate and up-to-date, the remaining tabulations,Ind duplication can be completed inthe short time allotted.

Announcing

An announcing agenda should b.;developed in advance of the competi-tion. Items can be corrected or addedprior to opening ceremonie,. Whenwell-known people are in attendance,they should be added to the an-nouncer's sheet, and intrcduced dur-ing the opening ceremonies. The an-nouncer must set the atmosphere inan efficient, subtle manner. H. beginswith the opening ceremony, assists inmaintaining the tempo of the compe-titior., and conducts the closing cere-mony.

Managing

A floor manager is responsible forall equipment and supplies used be-fore. during, and after the competi-tion The following sc.iedule dealswith duties to be accomplished by thefloor manage and the ...quipmentetc.."

Locate equipment and suppliesprior to the day of the meetPlace all equipment and suppliesin the proper location two hour:before the meet beginsRealign equipment subsequent towarmups and set up chairs forjudges, flasners. ?nd substationscorers on: z..,e,tt ahe'dClose the gymnastic o*ea im-mediately following the competi-tionReturn all equipment andsupplies following the closingceremony

Support Personnel

Support personnel are used by themeet director to assist major person-nel. The expeditor assists the headscore* and announcer in maintainingthe proper order of competitors, andassures that the competitors are readyto ccmpete wit hopt delay. He distrib-utes the order of competitors and isresponsible for updating the order fol-lowing a scratch session He thcr;places copies by each team benchRunners and flashers work directly

Intramural I lanclIxtok NI

1111=Mk.....f

with the superior judge and scoringpersonnel, as described in the sectionon scoring. An athletic trainer shouldbe present to prevent and care forgymnastic Injuries.

Summary

Care should be taken t'., provide in-dividuals participating in al in-tramural meet with a positive experi-ence. A properly organized gymnastic

1

meet is exciting. cohesive. and pleas-ant. Competitive gymnastic perfor-mance and superb organization willculminate in the perfect meet atmo-sphere.

Notes

'Maloney. C Rides for United States gs mnas-tics federation competition In L Ch-ncinski(ed ). Rules and policies governing competitors

Tucson, Arizona The United States GymnasticFederation, no date

=Gander, A Measurements, dimensions andforms Chi.sso, Switzerland Ececutiye Techni-cal Commissions of the International Gymnas-tic Federation. 1965

'Men's Technical Committee FIG code ofpoints Zuricn INeue Zurcher Zeitung. 1975

'Women s Technical Committee FIG codeof points Zurich ue Zurcher Zeitung, 1975

One of Michigan Technological Uni-versity's traditional, and most pop-

ular fall quarter Intramural programs hasbeen a double-elimination softball tour-nament. Despite the outward popularityof the program, a solicitation of -'iidentcomment throiigh a sur'ey conductedprior to the organization of the fall 1980program indicated a high level of frus-tration with the arguments created by thecalling of balls and strikes and the short-ness of games (a one hour and fifteenmint time limit). In response to theseconcerns the writer implemented a ThreePitch Softball program u ir.g the samerules he had developed while at Noi.th-eastern University in Boston.

The underlying pnnciple of the threepitch game is to increase the opportun-ities in the more enjoyable participativeaspects of the game: hitting, fielding,running, and scoring. Replacing ballsanu strikes with the requirement that thebatter hit one of three pitches in fair ter-itory means that most ganie time is spent

on hitting, fielding, and scoring, ratherthan on pitching.

Those tte..o are unfamiliar with threepitch softball are likely to argue that all

Dennis M. Carey is Director of Campus/Community Recrt anon Services, Stud; .itDevelopment Complex, Michigan Tech-nological University, Houghton. MI4993 I .


MIMINIIMMIIITI

Three Pitch SoftballDenni M. Carey

the pitcher has to do is throw three badpitches 5-nd the batter is robbed of theopportunity to hit. To eliminate this pos-sibility, the batting team provides its ownpitcher (with no requirements for arc onthe ball), and the defensive team no longerhas a player in the pitcher's position.Any batted hall that hits the pitcher isimmediately e A and is ruled no pitch.On ail other plays the pitcher may notbecome involved 'n or interfere with thedefensive team's playing of the ball.

What about umpires? At Michigan Techand at Northeastern the program hadumpires, but the game also fits well intoa situation where budgetary restrictionsmay make employing umpires impossi-ble. In the no umpire situation, teamcaptain- may decide disputes and on closeplays on the bases, runners may be calledsafe if the ball is bobbled by the fielderor called out if the ball is fielded clean /:'

The three pitch game may also helpwhen availaoility of facilities is a prob-lem. Michigan Tech h& only two soft-ball fields available, so placing a onehour or eight inning limit on games hassqueezed more out of our facilities . ith-out detracting from the fun of dle game.

The best way to understand how thegame emphasizes participation is to re-view the rules.

I. There will be a one hour or eightinning limit on each contest, which-ever occurs first. If the score is tied

90

2

3.

4.

5

6.

7.

at the end of one hour or eight in-nings, the game will continue untila winner is determined.The batting . -im will provide its ownpit' her who may or may not be listedin the batting order. There will notbe a defensive player in the pitcher'sposition. The pitcher is not to uec'meinvolved in any defensive play f abatted ball in fair territory hit. thepitcher, play is immediately dead andno pitch !F. ,:.!it:dEach better will get three pitches. Thebatter must hit one of the three pitches.n fair territory If a fair ball is nothit, the batter is out. Balls and strikeswill not be called.If the defensive team desires to walka batter intentionally, they must no-tify the umpire prior to the time thebatter they desirt to walk comes tothe plate anu receives a pitch. Thebatter will then go automatically tofirst base.Official American Softball ssoc,a-non Slow Pitch Softball kules willapply except where differences arenoted. Lead-offs, stealing, bunting,and chopping chwn on the ball willnot be permitted.The defensive team will consist ofnine, players. four outfielders, fourinfielders, and a catchet.reams will have the option of usinga designated hitter (10th batter). Teamswishing to ha, e a DH must list that

.41!Or 1111111111

person on the line-up sheet prior tothe start of ..e game

8. Once a player leaves the game, hemay not re-enter u ss a player be-comes Injured and is unable to con-tinue to play, and all other playerspresent at the game have played

9. In cases where the pitcher is listed

in the batting order, a substitute maybe used to enable the pitcher to batIn such cases, the pitcher listed in thebatting order may not return to themound until he has been officiallyretired or has score a run

Three pitch softball has been s"ccess-fully adapted to a variety of situations,

1 especially where facilities and officiatingmonies are limited The reader shouldnot assume that the game is designed toeliminate the need to train umpiresRather, it is hoped that the reader willview three pitch softball as another wayto make an already great game a littlemore fun for those we serve.

Innertube Water FootballRod Phillips

American football is tremendouslypopular with our yo-ang. Partici-

pation and spectatorship at highschool, college, and professionallevels is tremendous. Modifications ofthe game such as "touch" footballhave made it available to the masses atlow cost. Try giving the game a reallydifferent twist by play.ag it in inner-tubes in the swimming pool. 1 hisgame first developed as intramuralparticipants in East High School inCh-yenne were looking for anotherpool activity besides innertube watzr-polo and water basketball. The gamecaught on beautifully among in-tramural participants. It can be playedcoed or with boys' and girls' leaguesTh,; siliiple rules are presented below.

Playing Area, Players and Equipment

The pool is divided into three areas.Towels are placed as markers over theside of the pool 15 feet from each end,and at the middle of the pool. Do thison both sides of the pool so thatplayers can orient themselves easily(Figure 1, see facing page).

Each player sits in a tube. There aresix players on the teams, which aredifferentiated by "hats" (pool caps)vs. "hair." Everyone on the team is aneligible receiver, but four offens'A

Rod Phillips is intramurals and physi-cal education coordimuor at East HighSchool in Cheyenne, WY 82001.

players must begin on the line ofscrimmage. The hall is not the stan-dard leather art 1:. but a wiffle orrubber football (a wiffle football pre-ferred for coed games).

Playing Rules

Games are 2-10 minute halves.On kickoffs, kicking and receiv-behind their respective 15 footareas. Throwing replaces kickingand puntingIf the ball is kicked (passed) outof the pool on a kickoff or punt.possession goes to the teemingteam at mid-pc I.

Excepting the kickoff. the ball istossed to the designated quarter-back by the referee from the sideof the pool to begin each play.This takes :le place of the centersnap.A team has four downs to make atouchdown, or may elect to punt(pass) on fourth down. When ateam punts, the Aiense cannotcross the line of scrimmage untilthe ball is puntedThe quarterback may run or pass.To run, the player pit s the ball inhis lap and kick-padch his tubeA team may lateral (over orunderhand) any number of timeswhile moving down the pool, butthe ball is "dead" if it touches thewater.

91

To score a touchdown. the ballmuch touch the top edge of thedeck while in the hands of theoffensive player.To tackle a player, one must tip

him out of his tube. Note: the de-fensive player must make contactwin he ball carrier before he canleave his own tube on a tackle If adefensive player makes a tacklewhile out of his tube, the offensegets the down over; possession isresumed at the point of the infrac-tion or at the line of scrimmage,whichever is further advancedNeither team may use the side ofthe po )1 (gutter) to pull them-selves downpoolPlayers may not put their handsor feet on another's tube in thesecondary A player may onlyblock progress by his tubeA player leap'ng from his tube tointercept a pass is legal, so long ashe obtains control of the ball be-fore hitting the waterInfraction of rules is punished byN F L. rules, but is marked off infeet instead of yards.

Since the referee controls the snapof the ball, it is easy to have bothteams onside If someone is of atube and has tro -ble getting k in,give him time to regain a seat. Vhensnapping the ball (tcssing the ball tothe quarterback), blow your whistle toalert both teams


Getting a "Bang" Out of IntramuralsRobert Calloway

Several years ago at Walker-GrantMiddle School, we decided to ex-

pand our physical education offerings toinclude activities relevant to the middleschool students and their environmentWe also wanted to incorforate more car-ryover activities and chose to add ashooting program. Our main objectivewas to provide ihstruction on safe han-dling of firearms, while offering a funactivity that also provided a test of skilland marksmanship. Because most of ourstudents, although living in the Litt',owned or used B-B rifles, we centeredour instructional unit around the Na-tional Rifle Association Approved DaisyProgram.

The intramural pros. ram, which in-cludes as many activitie, used in instruc-tion as possible, then added riflery to itsofferings. Intramurals at Vv alker-Grantare offered in the morning before classesbegin. Th. time has proven best for ourcity school because many students hadother activities or responsibilities afterschool.

Adding Rilery tothe Program

When the riflery segment of the in-tramural program began B-B rifles wereborrowed from the Jaycees in town, andfaculty members and students were will-ing to allow others to use their rifle,(whether just their class period or allday). Since !..;! initial trial, two or threeB-B rifles have been purchased a year.and presently there are 10 rifles for useThe program provides both fie B-Bs andtargets (hand drawn on duplicating mas-ters) foi e,..:11 student participating. Thetarget is the same size as the NRA of-ficial Single Bull Target. Rifles and B-Bs are purchased as part of the physical

Robert Calloway was a physical edu-cation instructor and intramural direc-tor at Walker-Grant Middle School,Fredericksburg, Virginia, and nowteaches at James Monroe High Schoolin Fredericksburg.


education budget Paper and duplicatingma:,:ers used for targets are obtained fromthe supply used by all teachers

The firing range Lan be set up insideor outside depending upon the time ofthe year It is used Since our physicaleducation field is across a street and downa hillside, we find the indoor range isbest for us, it is quicker to set up. yetstill provides a safe atmosphere Theactual distance of the range, as recom-mended by the NRA Approved DaisyProgr..m, should measure 15 feet fromthe end of the muzz to the face of thetarget. The backdrop is located three orfour feet behind the target An additionalten feet or so should be provided behindthe shooter as well as a similar butlerzone around the entire rangt. The num-ber of shooting positions will dependupon available space (a four-foot widearea is recommended for each shooter)

For the backstop, cardboard boxes canbe used These Loxes should be largeenough for any student to hit (a minimumof a two-foot square front surface is rec-ommended) Although these boxes canbe filled with crumpled newspaper or a

piece of Lamas hung freely from :nsidethe center of the box. we have found thatseveral towels in each box works as wellA blanket backdrop is used for an addedprecaution, though it is optional Targetboxes are placed on a row of mats toreduce the hard floor surface around theboxes The shooters shoot from a rowof mats. from a prone position because

of its ease and familiarity by most stu-dents

The same procedures are used for in-tramural riflery as those used for :reg-ular class instruction Each shooter hasa student coach who loads the rifle andcounts the number of shots Each targetshould have no more than five holes orit is nullified Atter all shooters havecompleted five shots, each one retrieveshis target and places another on the boxA total of 20 shots is counted for eachshooter, and the one with the highesttotal is declared the winner In the eventof a tie, a shoot-off consisting of fiveshcis is employed Not only is this ac-tivity coed. be . both seventh and eighthgraders compete together it his phaseof our program

I--- optional canvas back-drop

15 ft

target back stops

Mr

444f t

Moab

firing 1 ine--shooter's area

MI= =mem ml,M =1. a MI=

mim gm. Sims moo ma=

OM. .11I WPM .110.- =N.

"ready" a rea--sea t ng

92

Between 40 and 60 students parti,1-pate in intramural riflery We allow eightto ten mornings for the activity with amaximum of eight students shooting permornirv. During this time span. moststudents are ablo to find a time whichIts into their schedule there is ad-

equate time tot this number ot student,to participate Boys and girls' storesarc counted together tor the top threefinishers These top three are announcedalong with the morning announcements.and their names and pictures are placedin the Intramural Showcase, where all

intramural news and intormation iti

maintainedIntramural riflery at Walker-Grant

Middle School has become one of ourmost popular activities It has the highestparticipation rate for a non-team activity

Coeducational Recreational Activities

This collection o! articles was coniributed

by AAHPER's National Intramural Sports

Council (NISC). Coordinator for ±:iis feature

was Paul Guns;en, director of Recreational

Service Activity Programs at Virginia

PrAytechnic Institute and State University.

waterjoust

A water joust is an ideal once-a-year intramural activity that drawslarge participation Sy both men's andwomen's teams on the Cha&on StateCollege campus, according toThomas P. Colgate, HPER DivisionChairman. A number of spectatorsalso enjoy an evening of enjoyablecontests.

The equipment for the jousts con-sists of the jousting platform or craftand the jousting poles. The platformsare constr2cted from large inflatedtractor fnnertubes with 3A" marineplywooa disks (4 ft. in diameter) tiedto the tube tops by five web belts. Thedisks are smoothed. painted, andstriped with safety tape. The joustingpoles are eight feet by two inch handrails with two inflated wheelbarrowinner tubes taped on the ends of eachpole.

The joust begins with one memberof each three-member team standing

on the j sting craft prepared to boutuntil one of oe two combatants isforced off the craft and into the water.The other two members of each teamare in the water controlling and mov-ing the jousting crafts. When the firstmember of a team is knocked into thewater, one of the two remainingmembers climbs onto the raft to com-pete and the dislodge _ member leavesthe voter. When the second memberis disl'Aged and leaves the water,the thing person takes his tutu on thecraft. Whea he is knocked off thematch is over. The winning team isthe one that knocks the three oppos-ing members into the water. Thereis a time limit of five minutes foreach jousting match and the teamwith the most members remaining atthe end of the five minutes is de-clared the winner. If both teams havethe same number at the end of thetime limit, there is a one minute restperiod and a "sudden death" peis held between the members remain-ing. The winning team is the onewho first dislodges a member of .eother team

93

A single e'imination tournament isusually used due to the large numberof team entries. First, second, andthird place awards are given. Thirdplace is decided between the last twolosers the bouts which determinedthe teams who will be in the kinals.The tournaments may be coed or runwith a men's and women's bracket.

The contests use one referee, whocalls illegal hits and rules when a com-batant is off the tube. Only pokingwith the stick is allowed. Striking withthe stick is illegal and the guilty com-batant is warned.

The third time it happens the violatoris declared fallen and must leave thewater. Intentionally jousting athead, is ruled on in the same fashion.A jr ister knocked off with an illegalhit is allowed to climb back onto thecraft. A jouster who does not fallcompletely into the water is declaredfallen when one limb enters the waterup to the crotch or armpit, or thehead enters the water up to theshoulders. Two assistant referees areplaced on each side of the pool andblow a whistle to stop action whenthe jousting crafts come near theedges. The jousts are held in the deepend of the pool to keep those in thewater from standing on the bottomand contiuiling the crafts.

Single jousting is also done. Insingles there is only one jouster 'neach craft and the tubes are joinodtogether with a five foot long piece of1/2 inch sur;ical tubing. The rules forsingle jousting are the same as forteam jousts.

Intramural Han fok 85

modifiedbasketball,

softball,and volleyball

The Christiansburg High SchoolIntramural Director, Norma r7ox, hasdevised modified games of basketball,softball, and volleyball for coed! a-tional spot ts.

Basketball teams are made up ofthree boys and three girls who playfor two ten-minute halves. Substitutescan enter only on a dead ball. Boysmay not shoot from inside the key,but girls may shoot from anywhere.Slow break rules are used; that is,when the ball is controlled by thedefensive team, everyone must ad-vance. The ball cannot be moveduntil everyone is down court. Whenthe ball is in the forecourt, the teammust alternate 1. asses between boysand girls. One set of passes must becompleted before a shot can be taken.If a foul occurs the fouled teamtakes the ball out of bounds, unlessit was a deliberate or technical foul.All other rules are the standard oaes.

The modified softball team con-sists of ten players with its ownpitcher who throws one pitch per

batter. A game is seven innings longor if it cannot be completed, the teamahead in the last full inning is thewinner. There are three outs perteam and foul balls count ai outs.The positions and batting line-upmust be alternated t'etween boys andgirls. Boys may not play all the basesand stealing is not allowed.

Coed modified volleyball teamsconsist of eight members with sixstarting. Four people can start if nec-essary. The game ends after one sidegets 15 points or after eight minutes.The winner must be ahead by twopoints at the end. Positions and hitsare alternated between boys and girls,but all other power volleyball _alesare followed,

joggingmeet

James Chodl, a graduate assistantin recreational sports at Indiana Uni-versity, says filet of the numeroustypes of jogging meets offered therein the past three years, the most suc-cessful type has been the co-intra-mural jogging meet. The idea L toaccumulate as much yardage as pos-sible as a team within a one hourtime limit. The key is how well therunners pace themselves. They can


jog, skip, hop, crawl, or walk if theywant to; it all adds up in the end.

Teams of one female and one malereport to the track about 30 minutesbefore the start of the meet. At thescorer's table they receive a teamnumber which is pinned on to theback of their shirts. Just before thestart, teams are given last minuteinstructions, safety tips, and answersto their questlms.

The meet runs for one hour, withpartners alternating laps. After eachlap, the jogger reports to the scorer'stable to have the lap recorded by thetwo scorers. Joggers are allowed towall:, hop, skip, run, crawl, etc., butthose who are not actually jogging areasked move to the outside lanes.No bare feet or spikes are permitted.

The team score at the end is thetotal number of laps and yardagecompleted within one hour. If a jog-ger is within one of the four 110-yardincrements of the track but does notcross the finish line before time is up,the team is given credit for that yard-age. The scorers also keep track ofthe time. Cards are shown to thejoggers at intervals to indicate theamount of time left.

Participants are _eked tc dress ac-cording to the weather, but they mustwear a shirt so the entry numbercard can be pinned on. Each studentis responsible for knowing his or herown physiological limitations. All in-juries must be reported to the intra-mural activity director on duty. Atrainer with water and towels is avail-able to joggers at Indiana University.

tubingdown the

riverAs the 85 tubers paddle, kick, and

splash down the river, bystanderscheer, trout fishermen curse, and thelocal recapper recovers from anotherrun on his innertube supply. Anotherco-recreational innertube river race isunder way!

What began as a modest 29 personevent in the summer of 1972 has

developed into one of the mostpopular and highly publicized co-recreational activities in the Appa-lachian State University intramuralprogram. The 1975 spring race at-tracted a record 104 entries, with analmost identical female-male ratio.

R. Wayne Edwards, Director ofIntramurals at East Carolina Univer-sity describes co-recreational tubingas an event featuring a large numberof students deftly maneuvering theirtubes around rocks, down rapids, andthrough the underbrush. The ASUraces have received coverage incampus, local, and statewide news-papers, as well as on television; it isa real attention-getter.

Tubing is inexpensive, too. Inner-tubes constitute the only major ex-penditure, at about three dollarseach. When the number of partici-pants exceeds the number of tubes,the race can be conducted in timedheats, using the same tubes for eachheat. A gold-painted innertube makesan excellent first-place award. The"gold initertube" award can becomea tradition!

Tubing is easy to conduct. Bustransportation to the river is needed,along with several certified lifeguards,but the race requires little else. Thecourse for the Appalachian State raceis 1.2 miles, but distance may varyaccording to local conditions. Thereare few rules, and those which arenecessary can be easily understoodand enforced. Rules in the ASU pro-gram include: (1) all entrants mustbe able to swim; (2) only one personper tube; (3) tennis shoes must beworn; (4) no propelling devicespoles, paddles, swim fins, etc.areallowed; (5: interfering with anothertube for the purpose of hinderingits progress results in disqualification;(6) propelling with hands, arms,legs, and feet is allowed; (7) walkingis permitted in areas too shallow forfloating; and (8) the first man andfirst woman to cross the finish line intheir tubes are declared winners ofthe "gold innertube" awards.

Tubing is an enjoyable activity forall age groups. Skill is not really afactor and winning is incidental. Par-ticipating is the most important thing,

and the absence of the usual fiercecompetition is refreshing. After all,what other intramural activity affordsthe possibility of a sprint to the finishline with a water snake!

fencingThe success of the University of

Texas Fencing Club, a unit of recrea-tional sports, is the direct result ofthe many opportunities for studentsoffered by the sport of fencing. RandiShoham and Gary Whalen, fencingclub sponsors, think its reliance onskill and mental ability rather thanon brute strength makes fencing eas-ily adaptable to a coeducational situ-ation. With no physical contact, thestudents can fence each other on anequal imsis in practice. Therefore,all club members participate in thewarm-up drills, workouts, and prac-tice bouts that take place three timesa week during club sessions. Theenthusiasm and comradeship vene-rated at these sessions are partlyresponsible for the current popularityof the fencing club.

Leadership, guidance, and instruc-tion are provided voluntarily by theU.T. fencing club sponsors Empha-sizing the coeducational nature of theclub, both a male and a female coachgive tournament quality instruction intheir respective weapons to those whowish to fence for personal pleasureand/or tournament competition. Withmany tournaments in the Austin area,the.e are numerous opportunities forclub members to compete. Althoughtournament competition is gererallysegregated by sex, intercollegiatecompetition has been designed sothat the results of individual men'sand women's scores are compiled forthe total team .,core. This organiza-tion maintains the esprit de corpsbuilt in club meetings.

Plagued by a limited budget, theclub members voted to supplementtheir treasury through such money-making projects as cleaning up thefootball stadium after home games.Money earned by the fencers is usedfor the purchase of electrical equip-ment and entry fees at team tourna-

95

ments. The club members also, ontheir own initiative, designed andpurchased a club insignia to wear ontheir shirts for tournament competi-tion and personal use.

If current trends are any indica-tion, the future of the U.T. FencingClub is bright. This year's tourna-ment results are most favorable andwill provide a winning tradition onwhich future club members can build.

fun foreveryoneat the universityof tennessee-knoxville

The Intramural Office of the Uni-t'ersity of TennesseeKnoxville of-fers thirteen coed activities that rangefrom badminton to flotation waterpolo. Hat old Denton, director of thecoed program, reports that the mostenthusiasm is exhibited by individualsparticipating in the spring and sum-mer coed softball leaguo. Over 600individuals participated in the activitylast year.

Several softball rules are modifiedto make the play more fun for allparticipants. A team must be ar-ranged so that men and women arestaggered by playing position andb aing order. Players use a slightl,different strike counttwo strikesand you are out; three balls and youwalk. This accelerates the game somore people get to bat more often.The rules are further modified in anattempt to keep some of the menfrom dominating play. Men must batusing their non-dominant stance.Everyone gets a good laugh out ofseeing the "coordinated" swing thatmost often occurs.

The activity in the cued programwith a slightly different twist is flota-tion water polo. Water ski belts ai.eused instead of the usual inner tubeswhich offers several benefits. Notonly does the game more closely re-semble actual water polo, but theproblems with tube storage, repair,


and injuries are all b.it eliminated.The water polo rules are slightlymodified to help _dapt the activity tothe University of Tennessee parti-cipants and facility. A team is madeup of five playersthree min andtwo women. Due to the participants'physical condition, games are playedin four periods of five minutes each.No other major rules modification aremade, othe- than liberally interpret-ing the NCA,-. polo rules.

Another highly enjoyable coedactivity is beach volleyball. Universityof Tennessee games are played in asand volleyball court at the StudentAquatic Center. Two hundred parti-cipants enjoyed the recreational ori-ented play last spring and summer. Afew rule modifications are establishedin the sport: each team's player align-ment is staggered so that a team isthoroughly mixed; at least one girlmust hit the ball on her team's sideof the net if there is more than onehit by her team; and no team .mayspike the ball. Rules on such thingsas carrying the ball are forgotten.Our motto is "Fun for Everyone."

coed intramuralsat the university

of coloradoThe University of Colorado has an

extensive and successful coed intra-mural program that includes two ontwo basketball, ice broomball, flagfootball, innertube water polo, soft-ball, volleyball, water carnival, andseveral coed doubles games such asbadminton, table tennis, and tennis.

Leagues are set up according toability so students can participate a,whatever level they wish. The volley-ball games are both officiated and un-officiated for more diversity. Modifi-cations have been made in the rulesto prevent men from dominating thegames.

Colorado finhnces its intramuralsby student fees and entry fees whichvary according to the extent of the'activity and whether or not it is of-


ficiated. They even give awards to thefirst and second place teamsT shirtsfor members of the first place teamand a plaque for the second placeteam.

The coed sport with the greatestjump in interest is ice broomball.Games are played on weekends, dur-ing the day, and late at night du,' .6the week. Tennis shoes are used in-stead of skates, which opens up thesport for the unsiled and non-skater. One person tried applyingcross country ski wax to his tennis

=-

shoes, but discovered they onlypicked up more ice and became muchmore slippery. The only equipmentprovided by the Recreation Depart-ment is helmets and shin guards.Teams provide their own brooms.

Two on two basketball is playedon half a court with a man and awoman on each team. Males mustguard males and females guard fe-males except in special circum-stances. A basket by a woman countfour points but a man's counts two.

Innertube water polo is anotherinexpensive fun activity. Old tubescan usually be gotten from tire deal-ers, then patched and taped.

The flag football program at theUniversity of Colorado does notallow blocking. The .,all may oepassed from anywhere on the fieldany number of times. All players areeligible receivers.

A coed water carnival is held at theUniversity of Colorado each fall.Teams of three men and three wo-men compete in several events suchas penny give, clothes relay, sit on theballoon relay, coed dual races,cracker-whistle relay, and innertuberelays.

96

Nom

Carol Thieme, assistant intramuralcoordinator, will send copies of theirintramural rules to inter 'd people.Write to her at Recreation Center,Room 136, University of Colorado,Boulder, CO 80302.

flagfootball

The coed intramural program atthe University of Texas at Austin,where Thomas raison is assistant di-rector, complements the men's and

women's Intramural programs witha variety of activities which allowmen and wom--n to compete together.At the present time, competition isoffered in 16 coed activities, open toall members of the campus commu-nity, and involving various types oftournaments and one-day evens.

Although the coed program at UThas only recently begun to expand itsschedule of activities and activelyrecruit participants, flag football isone sport that has received wide-spread interest throughout the camp-us. As in many coed activities, certainrule modifications are employed toequalize ;ompetition between menand women and make for a moreenjo}able time for all participants.Initially coed football was playedwith eight members on a team, fourmen and four women. Games seemedto progress slowly, with the vastmajority of teams able to generatelittle or no offense. The next year,teams were cut to three men andthree women, under the assumptionthat four fewer players on the fieldwould open up the opportunity formore scoring. Since it is more fun toplay when your team is scoringpoints, this development produced anenthusiastic atmosphere that wasabsent during the initial year of thesport.

The other major modification inthe game is the limitation placedupon men in advancing the ball.Running the ball across the scrim-mage line is limited to women. How-ever, after receiving a pass across thisline, men may advance as far aspossible. Men are limited to passingonly to women. Women, however,are allowed forward passes to eithersex.

With these simple alterations, flagfootball has proved to be a success-ful coed activity at University ofTexas, that involves all team mem-bers in every aspect of the game.Participants have discovered that dif-ferent strategies are required to havea successful coed football season. Inaddition, the game has become a fast-paced, enthusiastic oneas interest-ing to watch as participate in.

motivationIf you want to master the art of motivating

students, you must develop techniques thatare right for your particular school andcom munity

The first step in motivating others is tomotivate yourself You must l-,ave a goalthat you really want to achieve and youmust believe in yourself and in yourphilosophy Be prepared to make the sac-nfices required of a successful intramuraldirector Get involved in the lives of theyoung people you're working with Yourfamily should also be dedicated to whatyou're trying to achieve, often you'll spendmore time with other people's children thanwith your own family and fnends

You must be able to communicate withyoung people and with the school board,faculty, and parents Keep your participantswell informed so they know what is ex-pected of them A 24-hour open door policyis a good idea Make it clear that you. theintramural director. are in charge, kids wantdiscipline Team captains often maketougher rules than the director Talk to theparticipants in your program and to facultymembers to get ideas of ways to improvethe program

Stress the importance of the individualTry to talk to every intramural participantevery day Congratulate and encourageevery player, the poor ones as much as thechampions

Goals are an important part of motiva-tion Set immediate goals that can bereached soon and set future or seasonalgoals so that there is always something tostrive for Use the previous year's results asa standard Set goi.ls for the team, for indi-viduals, and for the director

Following are some of the specific ac-tivities and techniques we use to motivateour intramural participants, you may wantto try them in your school Participate withthe ycung people in the program Talk to

9?

the students in the hallway and in classInvite individual students to your houseSpeak at meetings of civic and service clubsto tell them about the intramurals programSchool boards, administrators, and facultyare always fnenalier when they know some-thing about your program. send them book-lets and other information regularly Usenewspapers. radio, and television to keepthe community informed about your pro-gram Wnte letters to parents Talk at pep-fests Stress pnde in academic achievement

Become active in regional, state, and na-tional intramural movements Vary yourprogram, including new activities everyyear Be sure that every player plays inevery game and event Post results on theintramural bullet.-, board See that the li-brary has books on intramurals andDOPER, read them yourself and encourageyour students to read them Hold miniclinics Use film loops Encourage seniorleaders to recruit their friends Encourageinterest in interscholastic sports as well Givemotivational talks to your students Holdwatermelon feeds and other get-togethersSell buttons to raise money Our slogan is"intramurals can be fun and sociable We

try to get the words "Pacelli Intramurals- inas many place- possible, including coloredT-shirts We develop a pre-season booklet,a post-season booklet, schedules and pic-tures. and programs for all events We bnngsigns to our events We use individual andteam awards and Pacelli Cup Points tomotivate our participants

Intramural participants thnve in an at-mosphere of genuine love undergirded byreasonable, consistent discipline and en-thusiastic motivation

PETER ,:,' SCHMIDT is at Pace! HighSchool, Austin, Minnesota 55912

Intratnilial Handbook Fi,9

Participation for the HandicappedFred V. Perez and Tim Gutierrez

Beingpart of the adalt world of fun

and recreation is the hope of allyoung people, including those withphysical, mental, and emotional hand-icaps. These individuals have the nght toplay and to be successful in physicalrecreation activities.

During the past decade, several federaland state laws have been enacted whichinclude provisions for the developmentof recreation and physical education pro-grams for the handicapped. All educationprograms as set forth in the variouspieces of legislation are to be directedtoward helping handicapped individualsbecome as independent as possible.

A com-nitment to this concept was thebasis for the establishment of the in-tramural campus recreation program forthe handicapped at the University of NewMexico during the 1978 fall semester. Inorganizing and developing this program,one of the first steps in planning was aneeds assessment of the target popula-tion. This assessment took much of theguess work out of the program develop-ment process and provided a basis forestablishing goals and objectives. Asystematic cycle of planning and evalua-tion is an ongoing function of the pro-gram.

One of the aims of the UNM -ogramis to provide a vanety of recreationalactivities for the handicapped populationon campus. The principal objectiv - ,s

participation by the handicappeL In-volvement in sports related a. tiviti..:smay help the participant, whatever his orher handicap, to realize the value andenjo:'ment of meeting those basic humanneeds such as relaxation, proper use ofleisure, and the maintenance of goodphysical and mental health

Fred V Perez is director and Tun FGutierrez. is assistah: «...rdinator ofintramurals1campus recr«ition, De-partment of Health Ph,.a:.al Edv«h.on,and Recreation, liniv'er.litl of ArmMexico, Albuquerque, NM 8713i


One step in starting the program was tosecure facilities which need not bespecialized for the handicapped as longas activities are adapted to meet partici-pant needs. The key to this is rule m )di-fication It is important to keep rulessimple and yet structured so that the en-joyment of play is not hindered. Forinstance, wheelchair tennis is played asdoubles in the singles coup and the bathsallowed to bounce twice before having tobe returned These are but a few modifi-cations that can occur to ensure enjoy-ment and self-achievement.

The University of New Mexico's pro-gram consists of a schedule of intramuralactivities, instructional programs. andrecreational clinics. The sport activitiesfor the handicapped include swimmingmeets. tennis, archery, table tennis.badminton, bowling, and chess Theseactivities are run in conjunct:on with theexisting intramural program for all uni-versity students. By providing this typeof arrangement, handicapped studentsbecome part of the larger social environ-ment and thus an awareness is created fornonhandicapped students

The instructional program consists ofswimming, weight training, tennis, andyoga These activities offer disabled stu-dents an opportunity to learn recreationaland leisure skills and provide a great dealof pleasure and self-satisri.:ction.

Accessibility is a major concern forthose with handicaps The p--vision oframps, doors, hallways, and appropriateroom arrangements should facilitate allhandicapped conditions. This means afundamental change in the way nublicfacilities are planned. The disabledpopulation needs to be consulted re-garding architectural barriers wheneverany planning and remodeling of physicaleducation or recreation fucilities arebeing considered. (The 1975 revised ver-Aor. of A mertcan Standard Speci-ticatic;.5 for M.,,:ing Buildings and Fa-c:lines ,I.co3sible to and Usahli by thePhvsically Handicapped is available

98

from the American National StandardsAssociation. 10 E 40 Street, New York,NY 10016.) Though required structuralchanges in facilities were to have beencompleted by June 1978, this has not yetbeen totally accomplished. Program-ming in part, however, can be initiatedeven before such renovation is finalized.

Another important segment of the pro-gram is public relations, which involvesmaking contact with handicapped indi-viduals and appropnate administrativeofficials Publicity and public relationsare more than papef contact. A personaland individualized approach is used.

One of the current UNM staff em-ployees is a quadripl4c who providesinsight and expertise in planning pro-grams for the handicapped. The em-ployment of qualified handicapped indi-viduals for staff positions pertaining toprogram development should be givenstrong consideration. Such persons haveexpenenced the problems of the handi-capped and, therefore, can better articu-lAte the needs of this population

Funding for programs is a basic con-sideration in the planning process. Fundscan be generated from various agencies.but should, if possible, be part of thedepartmental budget In some cases. theaddition of such programs will necessi-tate budget increases Because most in-tramural programs are funded. at least inpart, by student fees. recreational experi-ences should he provided for all studentsregardless of their abil.ties or physicalcom.itions

No program can be self-initiated Ittakes people and planning to address thegenuine neeos of the handicapped Theconcept of recreational programs forhandicapped students, encompassingrecreation and leisure services. is gainingacceptance at the federal, state, and localievels. Be an .nnovator in terms of yourprogramming, allocation of funds andconcern fot equal right, In so doing, youwill be providing recrzationd enjoymentfor every program participant on yourcampu ..

Team Sports for Exceptional StudentsSarah A. Whalen

An Intramural Program for the ex-ceptional student is one of the

best educational tools available toteachers today. Grouping students ac-cording to ability, setting up rules sothat they challenge the studer at hislevel, and allotting time within theschool day for competition, are theprimary factors for success. Physicaldevelopment and increased social in-teraction are two obvious rewards ofsports participation in the school.However, in the cases of many in-terscholastic teams, winning has re-placed participation and fun as theprimary motivation. This allows thehighly skilled to improve through in-tense competition; but to a majorityof exceptional students in the Al-legheny Intermediate Unit, winning is

iiilli&a

..61.7.......:wIMINsr

d

only a factor in competition Socialacceptance, and belonging to a teamare of equal importance and havebeen stressed in our intramural pro-gram.

Physical development and sorialacceptance of athletes have visiblyimproved since team sports have beenincluded in the physical educationprogram at Sunrise. Boys and girlswho participate have become moreconfident. Many have gone back totheir community programs and be-come involved in sports activities,whereas in the past few dared to try.Participants appear to feel betterabout themselves and their abilities.

The program at Sunrise includesteam sports within the physical educa-tion program during school time, and

t

All

99

a few Interschool activities in selectedsports. The school has 250 to 300 spe-cial students, from seven school dis-tricts. All students have two physicaleducation periods per week. For thosein team sport competition, an addi-tional one or two periods a week areset aside. Eight to 15 students com-prise a team; according to strict rule,everyone must play some time duringevery game. Two periods at the end ofthree weekdays are set aside forcompetition. Techniques and rules aretaught during the regular physicaleducation period, and the actual gamesituation and competition take placeduring the team sport period at theend of the day.

Competition is Avided into threelevels: the experienced, the inexperi-

111ahrakAik4


enced, and the physically handi-capped. The experienced group con-sists of those students who easily fol-low game rules and nave sufficientskill to participate with little supervi-sion. Rules are rarely modified for thisadvanced group.

The inexperienced group consistsof students needing skill develop-ment. Rules are modified to structurea competitive game that is still withinplayers' limited capabilities. Muchphysical, visual and verbal help isgiven even during actual competition.Participation and enjoyment arestressed more than winning. Natu-rally, as players' competence im-proves, help is reduced, until theplayer feels able to compete with theexperienced group.

The physically handicapped groupconsist of athletes who are confined towheelchairs, or whose level of physi-cal ability prohibits their Lompetingwith the other groups. Physical help,such as pushers for chairs, is given tothose who need it, but competition iskeen. These athletes want to do asmuch as they can for themselves. Theyask for what help they need, but re-main as self-reliant as possible Rulesare also modified.

Activities for the experiencedgroup include tag fo. tball, indoor

soccer, volleyball, basketball, andsoftball. Wrestling is optional. Sincethese activities are part of the physicaleducation program, all students areencouraged to participate. Sunrisedoes not have a varsity wrestlingteam, so weight class champions of theteam sport program wrestle weightclass champions from other schoolsAny one of these sport activities canbe modified for an interscholastichome-and-home competition or aonce a year game. All-star teams orthe winning school teams representthe school

The activities for the inexperiencedgroup are indoor soccer, wiffleball,kickball, floor hockey, beachball orregulation volleyball, and bowling.Also incladed, optionally, is a novicewrestling tournament. Rules are mod-ified, allowing coaches on the field orflex to direct and instruct players.Modification lessens as players im-prove.

Activities for physically handi-capped teams are wheelchair basket-ball, modified tag football, balloonvolleyball, ramp bowling, andwiffleball. Rules are rewritten andmodified each year to meet theabilities of students. All-star teamsalso compete interscholastically. Agood deal of physical help is necessary

for these athletes; nonetheless, help-ers allow these athletes to do asmuch aF. possible by themselves, evenif it slows the game.

We have found It very difficult tohave after-school activities. The cen-ttrs are fed by students from six orseven school districts and activitybuses cannot be provided for all whowish to participate. Therefore. thetime is scheduled into the physicaleducation program and all studentshave access to the program. Physicaleducation teachers are allowed extratime periods in which to schedulegames.

Interschool activities are alsoplayed during these periods. Thehome school often invites students noton the interscholastic teams to attend.

Intramurals can be effectively ac-commodated within the physical edu-cation schedule when this programcannot be provided in another setting.The main requisites are cooperationin grouping the students according totheir ability, modification of ruleswhere necessary, and providing timeto implement a program.

Saiah A. Whalen is a physical educa-tion teacher at the Sunrise School, Al-legheny Intermediate Unit 3, 550 Aura')rive, Monroeville, PA 15146.

Intramr----As for Handicapped Studentsa tent State University

Winona Vannoy

KState University has taken11 many actions to help the handi-capped college student, includingmodifying buildings and walks,providing van service, organizing as-sistance, advising, and providing rec-

Winona Vannoy is director of in-tramurals and campus recreation atKent State University, Kent, OH44242.


reational activities. The Division ofIntramurals and Campus Recreationinitiated a recreation program in 1978as an outgrowth of a student project.One of the school's recreation majorshad chosen to co:nplete an individualstudy for course credit, organizing arecreational swim program for handi-capped students on campus. The in-tramural director agreed to supervisethe study, and provide lifeguard help

100

and equipment. Volunteer studentswere trained as aides, and participantswere lifted Into and out of the pool.The program met with such successthat the school conducted a survey todetermine other interest areas and tosuggest follow-up activities.

Plans were being drawn for a newgymnasium annex and pool, and thedirector of services for handicappedstudents suggested specific building

adaptations to provide accessibilityand convenience for handicappedstudents. A Hoyer lift was installed tomove students in and o'it of the pool,and ramps provided access to allareas.

As the intramural and campus rec-reation programs moved into the newfacilities, a block of time was reservedin the pool and in one gymnasiumeach Saturday afternoon for the adap-tive program. The intramural directorchose this time to avoid conflict dur-ing more heavily used times, to assurethat van service would be available,and to avoid class conflicts amongstudent volunteers. A graduate assis-tant experienced in working withhandicapped students organized andsupervised the program, and ex-panded it into many new areas. Shecontacted various intramural clubmanagers and scheduled clinics in ka-rate, tennis, table tennis, archery,bowling, weight lifting, and squaredancing. Prior to 1978, the Wheel-chair Flashes, a wheelchair basketballteam, had advertised and played oneor two basketball games annually.This group became a part of the in-tramural program and was able topractice every Saturday.

The Saturday afternoon programhas now operated for two years, and aThursuay evening swim program hasbeen added. The swim program andthe wheelchair basketball programhave been most successful. Individualachievers in the swim program includethose students entering the water forthe first time, and those making theirfirst descent from a diving board sincetheir confinement to a wheelchair orbraces. A few particit lints feel suc-cessful when they learn to enter thewater and move independently in thismedium; others experience a tremen-dous amount of freedom throughaquatic activities. Other participantsestablish a practice regimen for them-selves to build strength and enduranceand to enter competitive events. Aspecial wheelchair was purchased bythe division of intramurals and cam-pus recreation to transport studentsfrom the pool to the shower to avoidgetting their own chairs wet. Male andfemale lifeguards accompany partici-

pants to the locker rooms for neededhelp in showering and drest;ag.

Duang the first fall semester of in-tramurals, the Wheelchair Flashesbasketball team received r,umerouschallenges from on-campus and off-campus groups. They won nearlyevery game played and received ex-tensive news coverage in the DailyKent Stater. As intramural basketballtournaments were in process of or-ganization, the director and tourna-molt coordinator decided to offer awheelchair league, with the restrictionthat all other teams in the league berequired to have their players inwheelchairs when playing against theWheelchair Flashes. The league filled,and the games were played simulta-neously with other tournamentgames. This was an excellent experi-encz for the entire student body.Handicapped students enjoyed in-volvement in the regular tournamentschedule, and participants and obser-vers experienced an added dimensionto the basketball season. At the end ofthe round robin tournament a specialplayoff bracket was provided, and theWheelchair Flashes progressed as faras the semifinals before losing. Thisyear. at the suggestion of playersthemselves, handicapped studentswere given the opportunity to jointeams with able-bodied players. Allplayers in this league were required to

be in wheelchairs while playing. Thisallowed the highly skilled players tojoin others with similar skills. An endof the season evaluation included sug-gestions to continue this practice andrequire at least one handicapped stu-dent to be on the court for each teamat all times.

Another step forward during thebasketball season occurred whenMark Terry, a recreation major con-fined to a wheelchair, decided to tryhis skill at basketball officiating. Hehad completed the intramural admin-istration course and was attending theintramural officiating course regu-larly. Mark is a highly skilled playerwith a thorough knowledge of therules, and was well accepted a. a co-official for basketball games. Markamazes able-bodied students workingwith him by his ability to control the

101

game and stay in position to make theimportant calls. Blessed with uncom-mon energy, he often plays a game,then officiates a game in anotherleague during the same evening. Hecontinued to officiate regularlythroughout the basketball season, thenofficiated intramural volleyball andintramural softball. Mark is consid-ered one of Kent's best intramural of-ficials and has just been hired to of-ficiate summer softball games for twocity leagues. Mark serves as the im-portant link between the handicappedstudent services, the intramuralgraduate assistant and the intramuraltournament director, and sets an out-standing example of leadership forboth handicapped and able-bodiedstudents.

The intramural director and tour-nament coordinator are presentlyconsidering new ways to include hand-icapped students in the regular in-tramural programs and to encourageother handicapped students to takeleadership roles in recreational ac-tivities. Long range plans includebuilding a par course with an asphalttrack, and exercise stations to be usedby handicapped as well as able-bodiedstudents. Handicapped student ser-vices has secured donations from cityservice clubs and individuals to pur-chase additional wheelchairs, and tt etherapeutic recreation professor hasstrongly supported the program byscheduling class members as volun-teers and encouraging them to gainexperience through involvement. In-tramural student employees aretrained to ,pork with blind and deafstudents and those in wheelchairs.

The handicapped student is an inte-gral part of the total student body withrecognized needs for physical growthand development while attendingKent State University. It is an objec-tive of the division of intramurals andcampus recreation to meet theseneeds adequately.

intrarnurd Handbook 93

I

Special EventsThe Ultimate RxCharlie Boulware

Q pecial events can meet the needs ofa today's students. "Special" indi-cates something out of the ordinary.We are talking about something thatmust be new, unusual or unique.

An intramural special event shouldembody all of the best qualities ofprogramming. These events will serveas a showcase or forerunner for theintramural program.

The oft-used intramural slogan of"Something for Everyone" should bethe foundation of a special event. Ifthis criterion, is met, the event will beenjoyable and successful.

A special event lasts for a relativelyshort time. Students can arrange theirschedules so they can attend. This is avery positive feature.

A successful special event must 5eskillfully promoted and advertised. Itmust be carefully and professionallyplanned. Once you convince the stu-dents that these everts are worth theirtime, they will be your best adver-tisement.

Best Feature: AdaptabilityThe real beauty of a special event

lies in its infinite adaptability to anyschool setting. These programs can betailored for elementary schools, mid-die schools, junior high, high schools.and colleges.

A budget for these programs can bevery modest. By using the expertisewithin the student body, faculty andstaff, you can produce a quality eventfor nothing. Effort can overcomemoney problems.

Don't let a lack of facilities preventyou from scheduling special events.Assess the available facilities and

Charlie Boulware is director of studentunion and intramuro' sports at theUniversity of South Carolina at Sum-ter, Sumter, SC 29150.


adapt your program to fi, an openfield, a vacant lot, or school hallway.

In many school districts, there areno intramural programs. Our physicaleducation programs teach skills formovement, sports and recreation.Varsity sports provide opportunitiesfor better athletes. What happens tothe less skilled individuals? Wherecan they go to participate? Intramuralsports can provide activities foreveryone. Intramural and recre-ational sports should be available atevery elementary, middle school,junior high and college.

Revitalize an Intramural Program

If you want to start an intramuralprogram at your school, what do youdo? If you have intramurals, what canyou do to revitalize your program?The answer to both of these questionsis special events.

Special events can be the perfectlead-in to getting intramurals at anyschool. The secret to selling any prod-uct or service is to analyze your cus-tomer. Once this is accomplished, allyou have to do is to meet the cus-tomer's needs.

Let's evaluate the characteristics ofour potential "customers." First,there are more recognized specialpopulations or interest groups withinthe school., than ever before Studentsof all ages are involved in a wide rangeof recreational activities, and we mtaddress their needs.

Secondly, the characteristics of in-dividual students have changed mar-kedly. Involvement in many differentareas minimize the free tim availableto a student. This is especially true ofthe student who has a job.

Finally, student expectations havechanged. They are more sophisticatedand demand a quality product. Ourprogramming must be good, or it willnot be successful.

Scheduling is no problem either

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You can literally schedule a special!vent for any time of the day or night.You may need to try different timeslots to find one for your situation.Through innovation, you can find suc-cess.

Traditional Activity In New Setting

Now let's examine some specialevents that might really turn them outat your place. Remember, the onlylimitation is your own imagination. Asthe following descriptions stir up cra-nial storm fronts, free associate anddon't restrict yourself. Obviouslythough, you must tailor any specialevent to vagaries of your kingdom.

These events might involve amarathon game in activities such asvolleyball or basketball that are keptgoing an entire school day orweekend. They involve activitiescorn only programmed but with adifferent twist such as DonkeyBaseball. Innel tube Waterpolo, Inner-tube Basketball, or Water Volleyballare other possible ideas.

These programs can provide oppor-tunities for students to watch and par-ticipate in a wide variety of eventsSport clubs such as karate, gymnasticsand fencing might provide programsfor the entire school during an activityperiod or a particular evening. Paidprofessionals in activities such as bil-liards, golf, or frisbee might bebrought in for an entertaining show.

Sport movies are accessible in mosttowns. College and pro highlight filmscan ' e most enjoyable. The varsityball gam, films could he shared withthe stud nt body, and you could evenvideo tape some of your intramuralevents so that the participants couldsee themselves on it.. levision. Another"crazy cavorite' might be dive inmovies in which students check outinnertubes and sit in them in the poolwhile watching the movie Jaws Thiscan be a fun spine tingler.

The Outrageous

This category is one in which themind must think openly to programcreatively. Plug-a-bu r cram-a-van!See how many students you can getinto a particular vehicle. Iced musicalwater tubs, a new mcdification to theold musical chairs game, might beplayed. Outhouse racing is a popularactivity in which cardboard re-frigerator boxes are procured for each`racer." They are painted and

mounted on wheels. They can beraced in a suitable parking lot onabout a 40 yard :ourse. In a sleepingbag exchange contest, a male and afemale inhabit one sleeping bag, toeto face and toe to face. In this timedevent, they switch positions while stillin the bag. A popular activity at theUniversity of South Carolina at Sum-ter is the annual Hug-A-Thon. Eachstudent is given a "Hug-in- buttonand an official Hugee Sheet. Partici-pants explain the event and hug asmany people as they can in a day.Each hugee signs the participant'ssheet and the individual or team withthe most hugs for a day wins. Thisprog-am can be a HUGe success(NOTE: Don't let your mind wandertoo far without thinking safety firstPlease be sure to make all the out-rageous activities as safe as all otherprograms.)

Nonintramural Associated Activity

Most of the programs in intramur-als are concerned with sports. How-ever, if providing an entire leisuretime program is a goal, other activitiescan be tried. A school dance called a"Jock Hop" could admit any in-tramural participant free. An "In-tramural Juice Bar" set up at a schoolevent might serve nonalcoholic fruitdrinks, using mixed drink recipeswithout the alcohol. Another favoriteis an air band contest in which stu-dents form a band and act out playingthe instruments to music. Those in at-tendance judge the winner by theirapplause. The Bong Show conceptmight also fit into this category.

Co-op Enterprises

To ;each a broader campus popula-tion, the intramural office could teamup with the student government,newspaper staff, dance or socialcommittee, or athletic department tojointly sponsor a program. Try an allmghter or sport nighter. An outdoorspring sportsfest might tie a dance(with a band) to a day of sport activity.The athletic department might inviteintramurals to have the finals of thepunt, pass and kick or one-on-onecontest at the half-time of a varsitygame.

Traps and ExpeditionsThe great outdoors could serve as a

special special event setting. Snowand water skiing, canoeing, whitewa-ter rafting, backpacking, ice skating,roller skating, hang gliding, or sailingexcursions might be possible pro-grams. If these activities are clone byother departments at your school, youcould possibly cosponsor these pro-grams.

Special Population AppealersIt's important that programs for all

campus populations be provided. Aluncheon or picnic for faculty, staffand graduate students, and an Easteregg hunt or hayride for their childrencould be tried. A HandicappedAwareness Day is another popularprogram in which demonstrations andparticipation can bring the entire stu-dent body closer together.

Special events can infuse new life invirtually any situation. Additionally,special events can be the catalyst fordeveloping across-the-board supportfor the ultimate intramural program.And what's the ultimate intramuralprogram? It's programs for kindergar-ten through college seniors and onthrough grad school and continuingeducationincluding all faculty andstaff along the way. Why not?

Spezia' events are too much fun tomiss. That's the real plus.

Developing a junior high in-tramural program to fire the en-

thusiasm of the student body was thegoal in initiating the Sierra VistaJunior High program. There is pres-ently no interscholastic competition inour school district for the junior highschools. The community-run youthsports are very popul; wever, andwe wanted to offer ities otherthan those being offeieu by the com-

Intramural SuperstarsGary B. Spindt

munity leagues to allow student expo-sure to a large variety of activities.There are over 20 different sports of-fered now, including arm wrestling,weight lifting, ping pong, two-on-twobasketball, frisbee throw, and basket-ball free throws.

The Superstar Competition wasmodeled after the television show ofthe same name Basically, the compe-tition was comprised of eight different

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events. 100 yard dash, shot put, 12foot rope climb, golf shoot, basketballshoot. bench press. one mile run, andobstacle course. Each event wasworth a maximum of 100 points. Pointvalue scales are shown in Figure I.and give a good idea of how to balanceskills ,A, 'hat they count nearlyequally.

The students then were competingfor points TI it running point total


was always kept up-to-date and pub-licized to maintain student InterestThere were two divisions, girls andboys.

The competition was designed toavoid favoring the "big kid For thisreason such events as the basketballshoot, golf shoot, rope climb and ob-stacle course were added. The winnerof the competition had to averagehigh on all of the events in order to bethe Superstar.

With a few modifications, the bas-ketball shoot was modeled after thePepsi Hot Shot competition. Thecompetitor could not take any twoshots in a row from any single spot onthe floor. The first shot was takenfrom the free throw line and competi-tion continued for one minute percontestant.

The golf shot was simple to score.The pin was placed 100 feet from theshooting area. Basically, each foo:from the shooting area to the pin wasworth one point. Measuring consistedof determining the distance from thepin and subtracting from 100. Thebest of two tries was recorded. Therope climb, 100 yard dash and onemile run were all timed events.Maximum weight for one lift was usedin the bench press, while the shot putwas recorded using an eight poundshot.

The final event in Superstars wasthe obstacle course. Water was in-cluded to build spectator interest. Theevent was held in a grass rectangularquad area in the middle of the schoolThe course started with a six andone-half foot wall constructed of mat

100 yd. DashTime Pts

Figure 1: Point Value Scales

Shot PutDistance Pts.

Rope ClimbTime Pts.

10 5 100 40' 100 4.0 10010.6 93.5 39'6" 98 4.1 9910.7 97 39' 96 4.2 9810.8 95.5 38'6" 94 4 3 97168 55 17' 8 18.6 216.9 4 16'G" 6 18.8 1

17 25 16' 4 190 0

Bench Press

Weight Pts

Mile Run

Time Pts.

Obstacle Course

Time Pts.200 100 5.00 100 25 100195 97 5:10 98 25 3 99190 94 520 95 25 6 98185 91 5:30 92 25 9 9760 19 10:10 24 55.8 455 16 1020 21 56.1 350 13 10:30 18 56.4 2

racks with the mats draped over them.The next obstacle was a 15 foot tunnelconstructed of tables set side by side.The tunnel was watered down thor-oughly. Next came three hurtlesplaced directly in front of wadingpools. Another wall and another tun-nel had to be negotiated before thefinish, which was a 20 foot slip-and-slide. The contestant had to finish insome position other than on his feet.

Maximum publicity was given theentire competition through the schoolnewspaper, daily bulletin, and localnewspaper. This ensured a crowd ofover 600 people for the final event,which was videotaped for future pub-licity and r, blic relations.

At the end of the obstacle course,all points were immediately tabulatedand an awards ceremony held. The

top three boys and girls won trophies;the top ten participants earned corn-memorative medals.

The Superstars competition was themost popular event of the entire in-tramural program at Sierra Vista. Thewinning score of 675 points Set an ex-cellent record for future Superstars totry to break. Student enthusiasmmade the event a complete success.Community support was positive also,as there was good coverage in thelocal newspaper Superstars should bean even b'gger success in subsequentschool years

Gary B Spin& 1,8 a leather and 1112director of physical education and in-tramural department, Sierra VistaJunior High School, ( anvon Country,CA 91351


Elementary SuperstarsDan Blackwell

J efferson Elementary School inRiverton, Wyoming conducts a

unique intramural program for gradestwo through five. Taken from thepopular Tv show, the program iscalled "Superstars." Points areearned for participation in the variousactivities and additional points forfinishing first, second, third, and forjogging. Jefferson's point system fol-lows.

2 points for participating in anactivity3 points additional for finishing infirst place2 points additional for finishing insecond place1 point additional for finishing inthird place1 point for each mile jogged

Eight Superstars medals are pre-sented at the awards program eachyear, to one boy and one girl fromeach grade. Boys and girls perform inthe same activities, but boys competeonly against othe_ boys and girlsagainst girls, and only against studentsof the same grade. The boy and girlfrom each grade with the highest ac-cumulation of points at the end of theyear is named Superstar.

All individual and dual activitiestake place during the morning play-ground time, as the buses arrive be-fore school, or after lunch. Only teamsports are played after school, when apermission slip is required to practiceand play. Each grade is assigned a dayto participate.

The Events

Activities offered at Jeffersonrange from simple games for the sec-ond grade to more difficult activitiesfor the fifth grade participants. The

Dan Blackwell, a teacher of physicaleducation at Jefferson ElementarySchool, Riverton, WY 82501, is alsovice-president of the elementary sec-tion of the Wyoming Alliance forHealth, Physical Education, Recrea-tion, and Dance.

I

student has a choice of ten individ-ual/dual activities throughout theyear. Two weeks are allowed for eachactivity, which really only amounts totwo days, since each grade is given oneday per week. Some of the activitiesare the tire race (with more tires andchanging patterns each year), legwrestling, balance beam wrestling,turkey run, basketball dribble (mar-athon, shuttle run, cones), Har-vard step, cageball push-o-war, swot-er race (sitting, stomach), jump rope(marathon, one foot, one minute, longrope), hoppity hop race, sock toss,and the pillow fight, which is a particular favorite. Other popular events arethe tug-o-war (Tingles, with tire tube,5+5), soccer kick, throwing gallery,arm wrestling, tetherball, obstaclecourse, peg boards, baseball throw,team shoe racing, freeshot contest,sportsbuoys, softball hit, and threeperson sled races.

Activities in each school depend onstudents' needs and desires as well asavailable staff, equipment, and space.

Jogging. In the mornings only, stu-dents may jog one lap around thefenced school, about a quarter mile.The distance is not great, but it en-courages students to exercise daily.Students may jog any day of the week,even if it is not actually their day forintramurals. Jogging is limited to onelap because some buses arrive early,others later. The limitation giveseveryone a fair chance for a daily lap.Four laps (a mile) earn one additionalSuperstar point. During the first yearof jogging, students totalled 989'/2miles; the second year, 20021/4 miles.This year's goal is 2200 miles.

Team Sports Boys and girls mayplay after school from 3:30 to 5:30p.m. provided they return parentpermission slips. Sports offered areflag football, basketball, volleyball,deck tennis, and gym hockey.

In all school track meet is held forevery student in Jefferson, K-5. Eachstudent may participate in one run-ning event and one field event to par-

1 0 5

ticipate in, and competes only againstother students of the same grade level.Ribbons are given for first, second,and third place finishers of each heatin every race.

Publicity and Awards

The majority of publicity for theprogram originates in he physicaleducation classes. The intramural bul-letin board, posters, the school news-letter, and the public address speakerannounce and promote activities.

Very simply, we believe a studentshould receive credit for effort putforth, and at the same time respond tos'me motivation other than fun.Every student participating in an ac-tiNity, regardless of finish, receives acertificate. Provided by a localprinter, they cost only 1.9 cents eachin quantities of 2000 or more. In addi-tion all first, second, and third placefinishers receive ribbons, which cost10 cents each. Superstar Medals with30 inch Olympic ribbons for the boyand girl in each grade accumulatingthe most points throughout the yearcost $3.65. The champion jogger ofthe year receives a jogging necklacewith a pair of track shoes welded to-gether, which costs $2.50. "Run forYour Life" is inscribed on the back ofthe shoes. Each person jogging 25miles or more receives a "numberone" necklace with the inscription"Jefferson Jogger--25 Miles" on thefront. These cost the school $1.65each.

This program, like any other involv-ing rewards and incentives, requiresmuch paper work to keep records oneach person's points and jogging re-sults, typing names on certificates andribbons, and extensive planning. Lastyear the school awarded 1654 certifi-cates, 879 ribbons, and recorded over2000 miles of jogging (at 1/4 mile perday per student). The work is re-warded by students' delight and en-thusiasm. For more informationabout the Superstars program, feelfree to contact the author.


Increasing demands on our phycical edu-cation plant threatened to reduce our intramurals program Instead, we consoli-dated several activitiqs into one evening offun and games.

All Sports Night features 20 different rec-reational activities during one evening ses-sion, held in the gym from 645 to 10 00p m Activity stations are shown on the ac-companying diagram

We have modified the rules of severalgames, primarily to keep them more com-petitive and reduce court time For instance,we use table tennis scoring for the "one-wall" games, the'server serves until 5-pointshave been scored between two players Thevolleyball court is reduced in ae to ac-commodate two 3-person teams In four-square we use the Vass tennis scoringmethod

To play bocce in the lobby of the gym, wehave improvised hall floor runners for grassWe use a 60-second clock for chess At thewrestling station we use a section of wres-

tling mat for safer footage and mat mark-ings The sticks for cane wrestling are batblanks of ash

Intramural captains are assigned tosupervise two tournaments each They mayalso participate in their tourney To increasetotal participation and expedite tournamentmanagement, all participants are limited totwo tournaments

The team positions for each tournamentare assigned by a blind drawing prior to AllSports Night Team captains then assignmembers of their squads to each tourna-ment Participants advance to either thewinners or losers bracket following the re-sults of their initial contest All results areposted immediately at the centralscoreboard Points are awarded for allgames and places

The supervising captains assign advanceswithin their tournaments and announce thenext game and contestants over the P Asystem Participants must report within fiveminutes in case a contestant is playing inanother tourney when called, the supervis-ing captain moves that tournament up onegame However, the previously announcedplayer must report to the new station im-


L

All Sports NightRichard H. Tucker

13

scoreboard

15 (lobby)

Activity Stations for MI Sports Night1 Four square2 i- 1- O -R -S -E followed by a free throw contest (best of 25)3 Volleyball4 Arm wrestling5 Checkers (three boards)6 Badminton-doubles7 Table tennis-mixed doubles8 Tetherball9 Racketballgirls singles, then mixed doubles*

10 Cane wrestbng followed by leg wrestling11 Handballboys singles, then doubles*12 Shuffleboarddoubles13 Chess (three boards)14 Table tennisgirls singles, then boys singles*15 Bocce-mixed doubles

* The first tournaments at stations 9, 11, and 14 must be completed before starting thesecond tournaments

106

mediately upon completion of the gameThe "missed" game is played immediatelyupon completion of the game on the floor

There is a copy of the rules governing thesport at each station If a dispute or rulingcannot be resolved by the supervising cap-tain it is referred to an arbitration board ofthree intramural members

The All Sports activity has evolved into athree-week co-recreational physical educa-tion unit We use the same floor stations and

can theoretically handle two classes dunngone class period It is possible to assign fivestudents to each statio.1 (four participantsand one scorer rotat.ng) The students ro-tate stations counter-clockwise every 10minutes (55-minute periods with 32 min-utes allotted for activities)

It is our goal to invc lye as many studentsas possible in our physical education ac-tivities All Sports Night has worked wellwith our objectives for intramurals and

physical education This type of programcan be suited to fit other systems A fewsimple adjustments to accommodate yourfacilities and a sport substitution plan thatserves your needs will move you in the di-rection of an All Sports activity

RICHARD H TUCKER is intrarzur I andphysical education director for GreenfieldCommunity Unit Schools, District No 10,Greenfield, Illinois 62044

Almost Anything Goes at ECURose Mary Adkins

It is or should be the objective of everyintramural program to provide "a activityfor all and for all an activity Since partici-pation is the main objective of any in-tramural program, then meeting the needsand interests of all students should beequally Important For this reason the EastCarolina University Intramural Departmenthas incorporated several unusual activitiesto add vanety to its program

Almost Anything Goes ECU Style pro-vides an interesting coed sport Teams arecomposed of three men and three womenwho compete in a number of unusualevents Events include various activitiessuch as egg toss, skin the snake, water bal-loon toss, and blind football in which thecenter, holder, and kicker are all blindfoldedto add an amusing effect for everyoneTeams are placed in groups and are rotatedfrom event to event so that the entire activityis completed in a short length of time Placesare determined by a cumulative point sys-te,n and pnzes are donated by vanous busi-nesses in the community

What would you expect with a title lire

ROSE MARY ADKINS is assistant intramural director at East Carolina Universi-ty, Greenville, North Carolina 27834

Toilet Bowl Competition? You've got it Inbasketball ill teams that have been "fortu-nate" enough to lose all of their regularseason games are placed in a single elimina-tion tournament, and there's a fight to thefinish In order to stay in the tournament,teams must continue to lose and the ulti-mate loser is the winner An annual goldenplunger award is presented to the "un-lucky" loser and another team is flusheddown!

Several slow-pitch softball rules are mod-ified to r -Ike coed play more fun Restnc-tions are aot placed on the arrangement ofpositions, but an alternate male/female bat-ting order is required To add a differenteffect a 16-inch softball is used to helpequalize strength differences With slightmodifications in the rules, we've attempteato decrease monopolizing of play by themen and keep competition morn enjoyable

Splishing and splashing with thrills oflaughter can be head during the noveltyswim meet This coed activity is fun for bothparticipant and spectator Unusual relaysinclude the feet-first swim and swimmingwhile blowing a ping pong ball or pushing aballoon Better yet, there is swimming onone's back while reading a comic bookaloud or while holding a lighted candle' Our

students have learned to expect the unex-pected

Our frisbee pentathloi, is another highlyenjoyai:le activity Participants are tested onaccuracy flights through a hoola hoop, leftand nght curve patterns, backhand throwsinto a 12-foot diameter target circle, a dis-tance throw, and a skip flight in which thefnsbee must skip off the ground and travel15 yards to land in a target circle Gold,silver, and bronze frisbees serve as first, sec-ond, and third place awards

Another coed activity which arousescuriosity in many c; our fun-loving partici-pants is our popular iceball program A localice skating nnk is utilized and floor hockeyrules are adapted with slight modificationsPlayers must wear tennis shoes and hockeyhelmets for safety Plastic hockey sticks areused, and in place of the puck we use aneight-inch rubbed ball To add to the "un-coordinated efforts," the :cc is watereddown, thus making it extremely difficult tostay on one's feet Needless to say, thegame is packed with excitment

The East Carolina University IntramuralDepartment is constantly looking for in-novative ways to involve the total studentpopulation Our motto is "Participate,don't spectate, play intraniuralsi"

107In tramur al Handbook 99

Sports Clubs: Their Place Within the TotalIntramural-Recreational Sports Program

Larry Cooney

Larry Cooney is coordinator, UniversityRecreation Services, Iowa State Uni-versity, Ames, /A 50011.

Sports clubs are rapidly developingacross many school campuses in the

United States. Although sports clubs inthis country began developing during theearly twentieth century, the major sportsclub impetus has occurred during the lasttwenty years This coincides with a trendwhich emphasizes participation and in-volvement in all levels of sports and rec-reation The role of sports club program,.has changed from providing the founda-tion and development for varsity athleticprograms to becoming an important rec-reation program alternative.

The populanty of sports clubs may bedue to a desire for outside competitionnot offered in intramural prcgrams, dis-satisfaction with existing intramural pro-grams, more students with high schoolathletic backgrounds who are notselected for college/university varsityathletic teams or who choose not to par-ticipate in varsity athletic programs,foreign exchange programs in whichforeign assistance for students imple-ment their club sports on our campuses,and more financial assistance for stu-dents giving them more free time) Ad-vantages of sports clubs which possiblyrelate to this growing popularity are: (1)sports clubs offer a special variety toexisting programs; (2) they are usuallycoeducational in nature; (3) clubs crosstraditional school barriers by permittingfaculty and students to participate in ac-tivities of mutual interest and concern;(4) excellent opportunities for students toreceive professional services are avail-able; (5) clubs are usually studentoriented and initiated and present a tre-mendous opportunity for direct studentinvolvement in program planning, thusallowing the student to feel a part thetotal program; and (6) sport clubs con-tribute to an overall learning process oforganization and administration,whereby members plan and carry out


their own initiatives.Stated quite simply, a sports club is a

collection of students who want to par-ticipate in a particular sport Most sportsclubs today have a social, instructional,competitive, recreational, and servicefunction. It must be kept in mind that thenature of sports clubs is to include theseelements while resisting stringent or-ganization and limitations placed uponthem. However, since sports clubs areusually part of an educatio .al insti-tution 's recreational program, somepolicies must be established regardingtheir activity. Although there should besome controls, a minimum of rules andregulations should suffice for sportsclubs. The spontaneity and pure fun ofparticipation in a sports club shouldnever be lost or dimmed by excessive"red tape" and regulations. An inter-view response by the president of theIowa State University Boxing Club helpsto illustrate these points: The sport isnew to most of the members when theyfirst join, but all are learning quickly. Wemaintain an informal atmosphere whichencourages members to help each other

4,0 40SIMMilso...

in learning the necessary skills.The following sports clubs are com-

mon today at many educational insti-tutions: archery, badminton, bowling,boxing, canoeing, cricket, cycling_ fenc-ing, flying, handball, hockey, judo, lac-rosse, mountaineering, parachuting, rifleand pistol, rodeo, rugby, sailing, scuba,

soc_er, table tennis, tae-kwon-dokarate, trap and skeet, tennis, volleyball,weightlifting, and whitewater rafting.

As budget dollars come under tighterscrutiny, many physical education de-partments, athletic departments, and rec-reation service departments mustundergo vigorous self-evaluation Theymust seek ways to create alternative sportprograms which cost less, but which in-crease participation. Sports clubs may besuch an alternativt_ not only for uni-versities and colleges but also for secon-dary and elementary schools

'Fehnng, William P , "Club Sports," Twen-tieth Annual Conference Proceedings of the Na-'ional Intramural Association, pp 49-52, 1969

=Am, le pnnted in the Iowa State Daily News-paper, October 1978

A ha

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108

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I

Extramural Sports Clubs and Varsity AthleticsJames M. Jeter

Sports clubs have played a historicaland important role in the develop-

ment of our present sports conscious so-ciety. There were sports clubs long be-fore there were intramurals, varsity, orprofessional athletics as indicated by theexistence of sports clubs on many cam-puses as early as 1860) Originally,sports clubs were organized by groups ofstudents whose common interest was -

ticipating in a given sport. For instance,the first college football game was actu-ally a game between two club teams fromRutgers and Princeton in 1869 As sportsclubs evolved, their values were seen bycampus administrators, and therefore,varsity sports and physical educationprograms were developed to encompasssome of the club sports.'

Sports clubs underwent a "dying-off"during the early 1900s. But due to thediversity of student interest, an increasein women's athletics, and the lack offunding on the varsity level, extramuralsports clubs have become once again alarge part of the sports experience oncampuses all across the nation Someuniversities recognize as n- any us 75sports clubs.

The question asked on most car rises

is: Who should administer this colupli-cated rainbow of sports activities'' Thedifferences in institutions and theirphilosophies he caused this question tobe answered in many ways. On somecampuses club sports are administered byvarsity at 'et'cs, on others by the De-paztment of Health, Physical Education,and Recreation, but on most (and rightlyso) by the Office of Intramural and Rec-reational Sports.

What then should be the scope of ex-tramural sports clubs? Should it he purelyrecreational or should it be highly compet-iti A? Should it be aimed at offering ex-

James M. Jeter is associate director ofintramurals, Texas A& M University,College Station, TX 77843.

periences for students already on campusor should it attract highly skilled athletesto a university simply because of sportsavailability? These questions still remainpartially unanswered, but for the mostpart they have been solved by recogniz-ing these student-organized clubs andsupervising them through the Office ofRecreational Sports.

Many institutions have sports clubscategorized into two divisions. recre-ational sports clubs and extramural sportsclubs. Recreational sports clubs are de-signed to offer more of an instructionaland noncompetitive experience. Forexample, if a 100-member club werefunded with $100, on dollar would betheoretically spent on each member (wa-ter skiing, bike riding, parachuting,etc.) Extramural sports clubs are aimedmore specifically at filling th cid be-tween intramural and varsity athleticsClub members would be highly skiledand :evolved 1 regular workouts and in-tercollegiate competition In the ex-tramural area, all funding is used primar-ily to support the .,umber one team. Thecomparisons L- be made in this articlewill be between varsity athletic and ex-tramural sports club administration

In comparing the administration ofvarsity athletics with that of extramuralsports clubs, there are as many dif-ferences as here are similarities Therewould seem to be seven common areas ofresponsibility: (I) eligibilityteam andindividual, (2) transportation, (3) safety,medical care, and insurance, (4) equip-ment purchase and maintenance, (5)scheduling and facility reservation, (6)coaching, and (7) financing.

Financing Sports ClubsSince financing has such an impact on

the other six categories, let us consider itfirst. College and university varsity ath-letic programs are regulated by theNCAA; therefore, all funding must be inalignment with NCAA rules and regula-tions. For the most part, all varsity sportssponsored h' -in institution are "totally"

109

funded Resources for these funds arebasically gate receipts, student fees, anddonations In using the word "totally,"it is meant that all basic requirements forparticipation are funded (equipment,travel, fees, insurance, etc. ). In co mpari-son, sports clubs are seldom totallyfunded due to the lack of a permanent andsubstantial fmanciP: source. Institutionalclubs have 1,1 large group of stadium-filling followers, so immcdiately a mainsource of income is elimin.lted.

How then are most clubs financed?Funding is usually from one or all of thefollowing sources. dues, recreationalfees or appropriations, work projects,and donations. For example, at TexasA&M University all recognized sportsclubs are required to charge dues. Thesemay vary from $1 00 for archery to $40for polo, and are usually based upon theexpense of each activity The ExtramuralSports Club Association. in which thereare 30 clubs, is also allocated about$25,000 from student service fees to bedistributed among the clubs The Officeof Intramural and Recreational Sportsdistributes this money based on club sizeand activity. Also, the Alumni Associa-ticn donates approximately $4,000,which is held in reserve for national trips.

Many clubs sponsor tournaments orinitiate work projects to raise funds Forexample, the water polo club contractswith the Athletic Department to clean thefootball stadium after each home game,making roughly $800 to $1,000 a game.Most university fundings are similar tothat of Texas A&M, with the source ofrecreational funds varying in amountsfrom zero to $50,000, and the sourcei'arying from student service fees, tostudent center profits, to permanent uni-versity funds 3 Though sources mayvary, control does not These funds arenormally in state accounts and must bevouchered in one of three basic areas:equipment, fees, and travel. Therefore,the comparison here is one of total ad-ministrative control and funding to one of"catch as catch can.


1

Eligibility

It has already been pointed out that inorder to represent an institution, a sportsclub must become officially recognized.Eligibility of sports club participants isbasically uncontrolled, unlike varsitysports in which participants must bescreened as to age, residence, classifica-tion, scholarship awarding, and recruit-ing as is required by bodies such as theNCAA and AIAW. Club teams are madeup of undergraduates, graduates, facultymembers, scholastic ineligibles, andsometimes even non-institutional per-sonnel. Recently, however, state and re-gional conferences have been initiatedand other governing bodies have beenformed in an effort to put controls onsports club eligibility. Many of thesebodies have adopted rules and regula-tions similar to those of the NCAA orAAU, as evidenced by the Texas Inter-collegiate Bowling Association or theTexas Intercollegiate Wrestling Associa-tion. In this way league tournament typeplay has a semblance of varsity competi-tion. Some of these associations are soclosely aligned with NCAA rules andregulations that a sports club could be-come a varsity sport and not a singleparticipant would become ineligible. Onthe other hand, some clubs do not wantcontrols They want things open so thatany and all of the institution's studentsand personnel can participate Many

rugby leagues are often of this nature andare frequently composed of college, city,and independent teams.

Many clubs function independent-ly, while others belong to state or localassociat;ons with relatively strict require-mots Some teams even strive to par-ticipate on a varsity level .4 At TexasA&M, an extramural dub was grantedtemporary varsity status because of itspotential to compere on a national levelthat year Subsequent'y, the team wasinvited to the NCAA finals For the mostpart however, team and individual c:igi-bility for 5,ports clubs is lightly structuredand is not as highly controlled and ad-ministered as varsity athletics.

Transportation

Transportation is haniled in a mul-titude of ways. Some institutions requireclub teams to travel in institutional vehi-cles and be accompanied by a university

102 Intramural H, ndbook

44.1

official. Other institutions allow studentsto travel in private vehicles driven bylicensed and insured drivers.

Transportation, like most things, is

dictated by funding Normally clubs donot have funds to pay for a universityvehicle for every trip, and private vehicletravel becomes a necessity Varsityteams, on the other hand, often travelcommercially and are accompanied bysalaried coaching staffs. It is often dif-ficult for a sports club to obtain a sponsor

110

or advisor who is willing to accompanythe group on ten or more trips each year

Sports club transport...! ^^ is usuallyhandled in the cheapest possible manner,but safety is a major concern Most insti-tutions 111111t travel to a reasonablenumber of trips yearly They also requiretrip insurance and licensed, insured ori,ers Clubs are normally required to filepretrip and posttrip reports Drivers areusually reimbursed on a mileage bays orby gas receipts

Safety, Medical Care, and InsuranceThis is an area which is handled care-

fully by both extramural clubs andvarsity programs. The health of the par-ticipants is a major concern. Varsityprograms have team doctors, trainers,individual health insurance policies,emergency medical care, training pro-grams, etc. All of these are funded by theathletic budget.

Extramural sports clubs handle theseconcerns on more of an individual basis.Even though extramural sports club par-ticipation is voluntary, most institutionsrequire participants to sign releaseforms.6 Insurance is the total responsi-bility of the participant. Most medicalcare, emergency or otherwise, is ad-ministered by an institution's health carecenter.

Extramt.i al training programs varyfrom two-a-day workouts to mere gameparticipation. For thi. reason, injuryproblems can be severe, especially insome of the high risk sports such asrugby, soccer, rodeo, or karate. Studenthealth insurance, required by most uni-versities, covers most injuries whichmight occur Once again, the financialsituation dictates procedures The varsityprogram generally secures maximumcoverage, while health care for ex-tramural clubs is arranged almost entirelyon individual bases

Scheduling of Competition andFacilities

Here the problem is one of ownership,with varsity athletics generally having its

own facilities and thus carrying a highpriority Sports clubs are forced to shareathletic or health, physical education,and recreation facilities and thus havelow priority, somewhere behind varsityathletics, health and physical education,intramurals, and often freeplay recrea-tion

Most varsity schedules are set by aconference or league several years in ad-vance with minimal input from insti-tutional representatives. Extramuralsports clubs, on the other hand, usuallyschedule on a short-term basis, and aredependent upon the availability of facili-ties, funding, and suitable opposition.

Coaching and InstructionCoaching on the extramural level is

entirely a team effort with an occasionalteam having a sponsor or advisor with theexpertise to furnish good coaching Var-sity teams have fulltime coaches whowork year-round to improve team per-formance. Most sports clubs do not havetrained coaches and this often results in alack of continuity from year to year. Thesuccess of a club team solely depends onthe student members and their willing-nes: to work in this area.

Equipment Purchase andMaintenance

This is an area of high expense in mostactivities. Varsity athletic programs usu-ally provide both team and individualequipment items for its participants.Most athletic programs have one or morefulltime employees who are responsible

for monitoring and maintaining practiceand game equipment.

Because of problems associated withmaintenance and loss of equipment, mostschools have discontinued purchasingpersonal equipment for extramural clubmembers. Funds set aside for equipmentare usually spent on such items as gameand practice balls and large pieces ofteam equipment such as soccer goals orwrestling mats Any equipment pur-chased with state or university fundsmust normally be acquired through thesame purchase procedures used by anyother university department. At TexasA&M clubs such as lacrosse, field hock-ey, and archery do purchase personalequipment items with university funds,but are required to maintain accurateequipment inventories.

IGrambeau, Rodney J Encouraging the devel-opmer t of intramural sports clubs, Seventeenth an-nual conference proceedings of the NationalIntramural Association, Norman, Okla , 1966,University of Oklahoma Press, pp 115-117

2Haniford, George W Pros and cons of sportsclubs, Proceedings of the annual meeting of theNational College Physical Education Associationfor Men, 1959, pp 49-54

'Hyatt, Ronald W Sports clubs organizationand administration In Peterson, James A editorIntramural administration theory and practice, En-glewood Cliffs, N 1 , 1976, Prentice Hall, Inc , pp226-244

'Deter, James M A possible solution to NCAArecognition for Extramural Sports Clubs, Proceed-ings of the National Intramural Recreational SportsAssociation, 1977, pp 252-253

`Mueller, Pat Intramur9ts programming andadministration, ed 4, Nev York, 1971, TheRonald Press Co , pp 246-247

'Hyatt, op cit

The Sports Club President and AdvisorJames Teague

Sports clubs are composed primarilyof individuals who possess high

interest and/or skill levels in sports orrecreational activities. The purposes ofmost clubs are to offer instruction forskill development and to offer an avenuefor intercollegiate competition within theactivity area.

The organizational structure of mod-ern day sports clubs is similar to clubswhich were formed near the end of thenineteenth century. During that era, anavenue was not available for the organi-zation and administration of sports pro-grams within the great majority of insti-tutions, and students formed clubs on

111

their own because of an immense desirefor cohesiveness and competition.

Today sports clubs are orientedstrongly toward the concept of an inter-nally governed club. Within the club,members have as unlimited number ofopportunities to become directly in-volved in administering, organizing, and


supervising the club's activity. Memberscollectively have respisibilities forwriting the club constitution and by-laws, determining their membership re-quirements, establishing their duesschedule, selecting their club advisor, es-tablishing the duties of officers, selectinga coach, and developing and administer-ing a financial base or budget

One of the most important positionswithin a governing structure as describedhere is the club president. Being theleader of a member governed group,which is organized within and accordingto guidelines of the partici!, 2r institutionitself, the duties of the president are ofutmost importance. At Texas Tech Uni-versity, the duties of the riesident aresimilar to many other collegec and uni-versities in that the club president is re-sponsible for:

I Serving as the liaison between the club andthe Sports Chtb Office

2 The operation of the club in compliance withthe content of the Sports Club Handbook

3 Informing the dub member, of the content ofthe Sports Club Handbook

4 Informing the next dub president of theroutines and guidelines for Liu', operation pnor tothe next president 's assumptio . of duties This in-cludes transfernng the Sports Club Handbook tothe new president and arranging a meeting betweenthe new president and the director of Sports Clubs

5 Taking appropnate action to obtain a dubadvisor

6 Keeping the following information current inthe Sports Club Office release forms for Lech clubmemSer, list of club officers and club advisor, and acopy ,f the club constitution

7 Registermg the club in the Sports Club Officeeach semester on a semester report form

8 Meeting financial obligations incurred as aclub

9 Making a regular check of the club mailtx,x inthe Recreation Office

10 Completing the Accident Injury Reportform for any injury requiring some form of medicalattention that occurs dunng an on-campus or off-campus related activity

I I Reporting the results of all club associationcompetition

12 At the beginning of each competitive clubsport season, the presidents of the sports clubs arcto furnish copies of the club's saedule to the direc-tor of Sports Clubs

Another important posi:ion within thesports club structure is club advisor Thesports club a 'visor is chosen by the

members of the group, and in all in-stances the advisor must be accepted bythe club members The advisor should bea faculty or staff member who carriesstatus within the student group andshould attend the meetings of the club inolder to better understand and assist thegroup Other important responsibilitiesof the advisor include approving theclub's annual budget, giving general ap-proval of the program for the organiza-tion, signing request forms for travel,serving as a source of information, andcounseling individual members

A capable advisor participates withoutdomination, always serves and advises,and does not sit in judgment. The advisoris most helpful when using mature judg-ment and experience to help the clubmembers plan and refhie their programsto a point where they are effective andrealistic.

James Teague is associate director forrecreational sports, Te.tas Tech Uni-versity, Lubbock, TX 79409.

The Sports Club Council A VitalAdministrative Tool

The administration of a sports clubprogram can be a tedious, time con-

suming, and most difficult task if theclubs are not united to formulate an or-ganized body. Attempting to coordinatethe sports club program 1.:-, interactingwith each club individually leads to aredundancy problem cf the nth power.This system also makes student input inoperating the program difficult and com-plicates basic administrative tasks. Thisis further confounded by the wide varietyof activities which are included in thedefinition of sport which places the

Gerald M. Maas is director of intra-murals-recreation, University ofWisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI51706.


Gerald M. Mass

sports club director in a precarious posi-tion when trying to develop one set ofguidelines for the program

The establishment of a Sports ClubCouncil (SCC) can put the needed struc-ture into the sports club administrativepattern while allowing the objective ofseit-management of individual clubs tocarry over to the overall coordination ofthe club program The SCC consists ofrepresentatives of all recognized sportsclubs on campus and functions in a directadvisory capacity to the sports club direc-tor. Student government and studentaffairs/services representation might alsobe appropriate for the council. The sportsclub director should be an integral part ofthe council, which provides the neces-sary link to the administrative structureof the university in terms of responsi-

112

bility and authority However, the ad-ministration of the sports club programshould be participant centered as that isone of the values of individual club in-volvement The SCC can provide thestructure for this to occur

The most obvious and important bene-fit of SCC is communicationboth be-tween the director and the clubs and be-tween the clubs themselves Group meet-ings of club representatives provideregular interaction between all club rep-resentatives which leads to a sense ofunity and esprit de corps. The councilstructure allows the director to obtaincrucial club input on topics which aregermane to the club program. These in-clude club recognition, eligibility forclub membership, financial support,facility coordination and reservation,

travel, legal liability, and records of clubactivities as major discussion/de-cis:onmaking points. The SCC shoulddiscuss these matters of importance andcome up with recommendations to thedirector. If this procedure is not fol-lowed, the director is left to make thesedecisions without club member guid-ance. SCC allows the clubs to have inputinto the actual implementation of the clubprogram while also providing a structurefor the process.

The SCC should have formally stated

written procedures to follow or a con-stitution with by-laws. The constitutionshould specifically cover the followingpoints.1. the purpose of the council in state-

ment form2. requirements for membership on the

council3. voting privileges for council mem-

bers4. role of sports club dilector on the

councilvoting-nonvoting, ex-officio

113

5. student government representation6 student affairs/services representa-

tion7 elected officers for the council should

be listedpresident, vice president,secretary, treasurerwith specificduties for each officer clearly stated

8 amendments or changes in the con-stitution and by-lawsproceduresfor these changes should be listed.

Other poirs to consider covering inthe constitution could be listed as by-laws and include more specific itemssuch as procedures to follow for recogni-tion of a club, club registration, rosters ofclub members, dropping club recogni-tion; facility reservation, use, coordina-tion with other programs using same fa-cilities; financial support of clubs includ-ing budget preparation, approval ofbudgets and financial reports; participa-tion summaries of club activities; SCCmeeting attendance rules, numberneeded for a quorum, rules for meeting(Roberts Rules of Order); and election ofSCC officers including timing of elec-tion, nomination procedures, voting pro-cedures, terms of office.

In summary, the SCC can be a mosteffective administrative mot in the opera-tion of a sports club program. It allowsfor maximum club member input into theoverall coordination of the program,especially on difficult items such as clubrecognition, eligibility rules, budgeting,and facility reservation/use. These func-tions are difficult for a director to sum-manly decide without advice from theclubs. The SCC organization providesthe structure which expedites this clubinput and which should result in a sportsclub program which will be relevant tothe students and will have the flexibilityto remain that way. Stated another way,SCC results in a program which is essen-tially "of students, by students, and forstudents."


Sports Club FundingThe Dollarsand Sense Approach

Donald Palmateer

In these days of ever-keener competi-tion for program dollars, adnunis-

trators are attempting to make eachshrinking dollar stretch further andfurther It is vital therefore, to have avalid justification strategy with respect toone's initial budget request as well assound policies concerning the allocationprocedures for appropriated funds Thisarticle will focus on a general approach tohow funds already received may be dis-tributed or appropriated to programssponsored by the administering agency

It is absolutely imperative that clubs berequired to submit a well :Nought -out andproperly prepared budget request AtColgate University we have a meeting ofall club presidents and treasurers well inadvance of the budget submission dead-line At this meeting. clubs are first givena ballpark inflationary factor to use whenpreparing their budget drafts This is apercentage figure which, when multi-plied by the preceding year's actual allo-cation, would produce a maximal bottomline figure. This serves to keep the over-all budgetary package within some kindof reasonable bounds and makes the re-view process much less cumbersome Ineffect, this forces the individual clubs tomake the sometimes difficult choicesconcerning priorities

The second item covered at this meet-ing is budget format A preparationguidelines sheet is handed out as well as asample budget which ensures that sub-mitted budgets are similar in formatAgain, this contributes to an abundanceof time saved during the review processFurther, we ask that all anticipated in-come be figured against anticipated ex-penditures prior to coming up with a finalneed figure. The primary item here isindividual membership dues. Addition-ally, each club is asked to make a state-

Donald Palmateer is director, In-tramurals and Club Sports, ColgateUniversity, Hamilton, NY /3346


ment regarding the anticipated level otperson ' expense (beyond dues) to beborne ,y each member throughout thesport season This is an important con-sideration to be weighed wren looking ata club's final request

Once budgets are submitted, 'hey arcadjusted by the program administrator toensure that the overall request is withinlimits as dictated by the inflationaryindex figure These adjustments gener-ally are based upon how active the clubhas been, the number of active members,and spending patterns of the precedingyear Although clubs are not absolutelyrequired to spend strictly act:el-ding tobudget projections, it is expe.eted that it abudget is thoughtfully planned, a club'sactual expenditures snould mirror thebudget fairly closely

The Club Counc:l is reconveneu oncethe final appropriation figures areknown At this meeting clubs are given asummary sheet contrasting the previousyear's allocation, the club's actual re-quest, and the new adjusted figure assubmitted by the program administratorThis is a "give and take typetype of meetingin which clubs are asked whether theycan operate effectively at the suggestedlevels of funding The whole issue isapproached as a "family problem. to bedealt with by attempting to keepeveryone's best interests at heart Theultimate goal is to reach the most equita-ble solution with regard to each club'santicipated needs

Some clubs. even after much groupinteraction, do not receive the level offunding which they feel is needed to op-erate even at a minimal level This ishandled as a result of a continuation ofthis cooperative atmosphere into the ac-tual fiscal spending year We have beenable to educate the club officers so thatthey are not attempting to spend everylast budget dollar for fear of having nextyear's budget request reduced As a re-sult of this "cooperative versus competi-tive spending approach," we have yet to

114

experience a year in which numerousdubs have lot shown a favorable finan-cial balance at the end of their sport sea-son These funds are then used to helpother clubs which did not receive theinitial level of funding which they feltminimally necessary This approach ischeerfully adopted by the clubs since it isrealized that in another year they may bethe ones asking for a sistance. Clubs areencouraged in this respect by not beingpenalized for showing a favorable bal-ance at the enJ of a given fiscal year,provided they can demonstrate that thesurplus is not the result of an unrealisti-cally high initial budget request Thiswhole process seems to allow for maxi-mal input and involvement throughoutthe whole decision-making processTrue, it may be a bit more time consum-ing, however, the ber efits far outweighthe slight inconveniences

A club at Colgate University reallydoes not find itself in the budgetarymainstream until its second year of offi-cially sanctioned operation All first-yearclubs (although still required to submit atentative operating budget) are limited toan allocation of not more than twohundred dollars (first year clubs arefunded from a new club expansion line inthe overall Sports Club budget) Con-sequently. a first year club is largelyself-supporting This is desirable, in thatit allows for a year's time in which toevaluate the real commitment level ofthis new interest groupa year in whichthe club can be asked to operate at con-siderable sacrifice Furthermore, the riskto the administering agency in terms ofcommitted dollars is minimal Upon thesecond year of operation, a club may askfor increased allocations (Second-yearclubs are not required to adhere to theInflationary index figure that applies tothe budget preparation ot the otherclubs )

Conversely, at the opposite end of thebudget spectrum, we have established abudget ceiling, setting a maximum figure

beyond which no club will be funded Atthe present time this figure is $2,500This pot; v, in effect prevents the richfrom getting richer at the expense ofnewer clubs, in light of the limited forth-coming increases anticipated in overallprogram funding. With this policy, anolder established club which is receivingthe maxima: allocation must resort to in-creased self-supportive practices in muchthe same manner as does the first yearclub. As is the case with the first yearclub, the post popular method employedto generate additional funds is through aninct'cased dues assessment A few of owclubs at the maximal funding level actu-ally double their overall operating reve-nue as a result of dues income.

If still additional support is needed,outside fundraising may be a solution AtColgate, we assist clubs on an individualbasis in this respect and a few of our moreestablished clubs have been quite suc-cessful in this regard. In any fundraisingeffort, a sense of the market is absolutelynecessary. One needs to closely scru-

tinize and be selective with respect topotential prospects For instance. par-ents, former members, or individuals inthe local community who could benefitfrom the activity, etc , could all be con-sidered prime potential prospects Once asense of the market is attained, a realattempt must be made to market the ideaof gift support. Grass-roots support isnecessary. "Word-o:'-mouth" is proba-bly the best method, and the participantsare their own beet salespersons The or-ganization attempting to raise funds canincrease its chances for success by cen-tering the fundraising activity aroundsome specific event or goal This per-sonalization of the purpose of the clubcan be tied in with a Parents' Weekendactivity, wine and cheese party, etc. Fi-nally, no matter how well a club plans aninitial fundraising campaign, withoutgood record keeping, future efforts willnot come close to realizing their full po-tential.

We require a club which may be con-sidering a fundraising effort to have all

phases coordinated through the Of ilLe ofClub Sports and the University Devel-opment Office Clubs are permitted tosolicit directly from immediate familymembers, friends, and non-Colgatepeople; however, clubs may not contactColgate alumni without clearance fromthe Development Office. Once clearanceis approved (usually on a limited basis),

additional help may be requested throughthe Alumni Office.

It should be remembered that a varietyof approaches can be effective Thatwhich is effective and successful in onesetting, given a certain set of circum-stances, may not necessarily be effectivesomewhere else. What is required how-ever, in al, instances, is to first have awell-concei red plan and then a set ofpolicies designed to successfully imple-ment that plan. As in any decision-making process, if one can maximize theopportunity for inputs, not only will thefinal outcome be more universally ac-ceptable, but due to a wider support base,more workable as well

Regulations for Travel and CompetitionR. Wayne Edwards

Even though sports clubs operate ona more flexible and informal basis

than do their intercollegiate or in-terscholastic counterparts, certain regu-lations governing travel and competitionare necessary for an effective programoperation. The sports club program atEast Carolina University is a part of theintramural and recreational sports pro-gram, located within the Department ofHealth, Physical Education, Recreation,and Safety. Both recreational and com-petitive clubs are included within thesports club program. Sports clubs areadministered in accordance with de-

R. Wayne Edwards is director of in-tramural and recreational sports, EastCarolina University, Greenville, NC27834.

partmental and university policies andregulations which are emphatic in someareas and flexible in others. Eleven clubsare currently operational, with severalothers expected to be approved within thenear future Those clubs which are moreactively involved in competitive activityinclude rugby, lacrosse, karate, teamhandball, volleyball, snow skiing, andracquetball Recreational clubs includehiking and outing, bicycling, surfing,and fencing.

CompetitionParticipation within the East Carolina

sports club program is limited to stu-dents, faculty, and staff of the university.Active involvement by alumni and mem-bers of the local community is not per-mitted Each club is required to have an

115

advisor, who must be a 'acuity or staffmember from within the tvverc;, Theadvisor works with the club 's officers inthe coordination and supervision ofclub-related activities, and accompaniesthe club on all off-campus trips

Prior to participation, each competi-tive club member must pass an annualphysical examination which is adminis-tered on a no charge" basis through theuniversity 's infirmary The examinationincludes a urinalysis, blood studies, andother items which are parts of the infir-mary's standard examination for inter-collegiate athletic teams. While accidentinsurance is not provided by the uni-versity, each student is required to fur-nish proof of a personal insurance policyprior to his/her active participation inclub practices or games A trainer is pro-


vided for practices and game competitionin the "high -risk" (rugby, lacrosse, andteam handball ) club activities Eachcompetitive club member is required tosign an assumption of risk form prior toparticipation

Scheduling is the responsibility ofeach sports club, and is generally ar-ranged by the club's officers. Schedulesare usually made three to four months inadvance, but occasionally are sup-plemented or altered on short-term basesDue to travel and academic complica-tions, competition is normally requiredto be scheduled for weekends (FridaySunday), although weekday competitionis approved when extenuating circum-stances render it necessary Clubs areencouraged to schedule games with otherclubs of similar composition and experi-ence Occasionally, however, competi-tion is scheduled with clubs which are notcollege or university affiliated The ka-rate, volleyball, team handball, snowskiing. and racquetball clubs participatealmost exclusively in tournament compe-tition, while schedules for the lacrosseand rugby clubs reflect both dual andtournament play

Facility scheduling for practices andgames is arranged throt h the director ofsports clubs but preparation of these fa-cilities is the individual club's responsi-bility. Each club is also responsible forprocurement of officials, coaching, pub-licity, and management of internal af-fairs. The budgetary process is a coordi-nated effort between the club's officers

and advisor and the director of sportsclubs

Travel

In most s.tuations, travel by any club islimited to a round trip distance of 200miles on weekdays and 600 miles onweekends. Extended trips are permittedduring vacation periods (The rugby clubparticipated in a tournament in Freeport,Grand Bahamas, during the 1978 springvacation.) Exceptions are occasionallymade to this policy when special circum-stances, such as national-level compel-

At East Carolina, it is usually impossi-ble to attain university vehicles for sportsclub travel Buses owned by the StudentGovernment Association are sometimesleased by the rugby and lacrosse clubs,but most travel is done v:it privately-owned vehicles. Vehicle owners arereimbursed for their automobile ex-penses on a "per ge" hasis. When theclub 's budget permits, funds may beutilized for lodging expenses, but reim-bursement for meals is not provided

The advisor for each sports club ac-companies his/her organization on eachtrip and is responsible for the following.

I representing the University duringthe period of time the club is away fromthe East Carolina campus

2 determining that each driver of aprivate vehicle being used to convey clubmembers has a current driver's licenseand has third party liability insurancecoverage in effect on his/her vehicle

3. determining that all club partici-

pants are East Carolina students, faculty,or staff members and are authorized bythe director of sports clubs to participate.

4 coordinating travel arrangements5 ensuring that club members' con-

duct during travel and during participa-tion in the competition is in accordancewith the rules and regulations of EastCarolina University and the Office of :II-trainural and Recreational Sports, andwith the laws of the St .rte of NorthCarolina

A great deal of responsibility restswith the club's advisor and officers in-sofar as travel and competition is con-cerned Individual club members mustalso assume personal i ponsibilities innumerous areas Unlike intercollegiateor interscholastic athletic teams, whosepaid coaches or athletic directors assumemost administrative responsibilities,each sports club is basically autonomousIt must operate within general guide-lines, but there is flexibility within mostof these guidelines.

Regulations for travel and competitionwithin the East Carolina sports club pro-gram are designed for the safety andwell -1 eing of club members They areintended to promote, rather than restrict,the development of the total sports clubprogram and to enhance participationopportunities for the East Carolina stu-dent body.


Documents

DOCUMENT RESUME ED 289 878 Intramurals and Club Sports. A ... · American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, Reston, VA. ISBN-0-88314-330-5 86 ... Coed