The intramural volleyball team “Mofongo” claimed its first victory Feb. 9. The team is one of the various student teams competing in the next few weeks.
“I didn’t play that much, but I had a really good time! There were a couple weird rules, but we got around it! Paula served and hit someone in the face by accident, it was funny,” Adriana Vazquez, a first-year in the College of Health Sciences, said.
They are composed of, as many other of these teams are, amateurs who want to play in an environment that isn’t very competitive. However, no specific experience is required. Any student on campus can make a team, from tried and true athletes to people that just want to pick up a sport.
“I hadn’t played volleyball in a minute, but it still felt great to get on the court and kind of show off my skills. It was a great experience,” Paula Pascual, a first-year in the College of Arts & Sciences and member of the team, said.
The only requirement to make a team is to have a specific number of participants. For volleyball, there need to be six people on the team.
“Basically, I wanted to play volleyball. So, I started talking about it a lot to a lot of people until I made a group chat. I ended up finding a pretty big group of people that wanted to play too. I made a group chat and kind of threw around the idea of forming a team. They ended up liking the idea, and we made a team,” Paola Velazquez, a first-year in the College of Arts & Sciences, said.
The team practiced and won their first game, starting off the intramural season on a great high note.
Velazquez said the sign-up process is relatively easy.
“There’s a website called IMLeagues, you basically just make an account. You create your team and just invite people to join your team,” Madeline Gordon, a staff member at the Office of Intramural Sports, said.
Volleyball is just one of the sports that students can play recreationally. This year, there are a proposed 17 leagues that people can participate in, ranging from basketball and volleyball, to ultimate frisbee and dodgeball.
“We have tennis, indoor volleyball. The most popular one right now is five-on-five basketball. We even have an inner tube water polo. There are a lot of sports we offer,” Gordon said.
Although the number of sports offered fluctuates every year, there seems to be a common theme as years go by.
“It’s very popular for friend groups to make teams. Friends just come in and convince each other to play every year. It’s a good bonding activity,” Gordon said.
The participants of the team also seem to think intramurals are a good way to bond.
“I’ve played volleyball since I was 7 years old. This is the first year since then I haven’t played on an actual team. Playing volleyball makes me feel at home, and helps me feel at home with my team,” Pascual said.
The team is continuing to prepare for their next game, getting ready to face off against Hotel Orange.
“I’m pumped! I’m sure we can pull another victory this week!” Vazquez said.
This story was written by Clara Lebrón. She can be reached at [email protected]
