Campus Rec offers a chance for students to stay in touch with sport.

Physical activity may not be the main priority for some university students, but it is extremely important for student wellness. Students may feel unmotivated to exercise, but it could just be that they have not found a fun way to get their exercise in.

Luckily, the University of Saskatchewan offers intramural sports through the College of Kinesiology, providing an excellent way to have fun while you get moving. There are a variety of sports available to play including badminton, dodgeball, futsal, innertube water polo, ultimate Frisbee and many others. Each sport has both competitive and recreational leagues — so there is no pressure to compete.

The main focus of intramural sports is simply to have fun. Olivia Anderson, a third-year nursing student who plays in the futsal program, discusses why she participates in intramural sports.

“I think it’s awesome. I think it’s a really good way for everyone to come together and have fun and not really have to worry about being super competitive,” Anderson said. “It’s just a good way to keep active, especially when everyone’s busy with school.”

University can sometimes be draining, and it is important for students to step away from their studies to have fun and keep their stress levels down. Prince del Rosario, a third-year mechanical engineering student who works as an official for the program, explains why intramural sports help students get a break from school stress.

“Not often do you get a lot of opportunity to do something other than your studies. Most of the time, college students are swamped with work, pencil pushing and just stressing out about all that stuff, so I feel that having the chance to meet new people, get active and do something that you like is a great opportunity and is very important for university students,” del Rosario said.

Physical fitness is important for maintaining overall health, and the Student Wellness Centre recommends that people get 150 minutes of exercise every week for optimum health. Curtis Buchan, a third-year business student who works for the Campus Recreation office, recognizes that intramural sports help maintain overall health.

“I think it’s important in the sense that it keeps us active and being active is one of the major parts of having a healthy brain and having high cognitive ability,” Buchan said.

Students gather for some friendly competition.

Not only are intramurals good for staying fit and relieving stress, but they are also a good place for students to go to meet friends. By signing up for a sport, students will likely meet peers who share their interests. Buchan explains that intramural sports have been very important to his social life.

“I’ve met most of my friends through Campus Rec,” Buchan said. “It feels good being part of something big.”

To get involved with intramural sports, just visit the Campus Rec web page and pick a sport. Students can either sign up as an individual and join an assigned team or get a group of friends together and sign up as a team.

Getting involved is a great way to meet new friends, relieve some stress, stay physically fit and try something new. Anderson, who has been playing on intramural teams for two years, discusses the benefits further.

“It’s important to have a camaraderie with everyone — just people who get together and work towards something — and then you get an outlet for stress around finals and stress around everything,” Anderson said. “It’s a really good way to meet new people. I think it’s just a fun way for people to get together for just one hour a week and have fun and de-stress.”

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Lyndsay Afseth / Staff Writer

Photo: Heywood Yu