Let the kids play

It's back to normal for intramural sports at McMaster University this year

By Miguel Sibal, Sports Staff Writer 

As the school year begins, McMaster University students can look forward to getting involved in a variety of intramural sports. This year the department of athletics and recreation will provide students with a wide assortment of intramurals, including indoor sports, outdoor sports and e-sports. 

Peter McComie, intramural sports coordinator for McMaster’s athletics and recreations department, is expecting a full return to normality, barring any last-minute government announcements. Any occurring changes to health and safety restrictions set by the province will in turn be followed and enforced by the department.  

“I know it comes pretty last minute and everybody does not agree . . . It’s catching us off-guard as well and whenever things have to change, we need to take our time to get things into place,” explained McComie. 

Back in the fall semester of 2021, the department of athletics and recreation instituted a set of COVID-19 policies for McMaster intramurals following both provincial health guidelines and health and safety policies outlined by the university. Such procedures included the adherence to the university’s COVID-19 vaccination policy and the limiting of intramural leagues to current McMaster students.  

Presently, these mandates are paused for the upcoming term and should have no impact on intramurals for the fall.  

“As we go along, if things do change, we will update as necessary,” explained McComie. 

Per McComie, the department also plans to reintroduce previously offered sports which were unavailable in recent years, such as cricket and flag football, in the fall intramural lineup. 

Registration will begin on Sept. 7, and will run until Sept. 14 for all outdoor sports, such as soccer and ultimate frisbee. Registration will begin on Sept. 18 for indoor sports, including water polo, floorball and volleyball.  

Intramural sign-up is done through the IMLeagues website. On the site students can sign-up in pre-organized teams or register as free agents to make and receive requests to join teams still in need of members. Based on their interests, participants can select several different leagues and play styles for their intramurals. 

The league options require a team to meet specific gender-based requirements when fulfilling their roster. Students can take part in a men’s league, a women’s league, an open league for students of all genders or a co-rec league with sport-specific gender-based roster requirements. It is however important to note that students will only be able to participate in one gendered league (either the men’s or women’s league) and one other league per sport they are involved with. 

On top of these league options, students can play under a PlayFun or PlayCompetitive style. While both options allow for players of varying degrees of skill, PlayFun allows for a more casual dynamic of gameplay while PlayCompetitive play is typically a choice for more sport specific experienced athletics.  

Continual updates through the year will be provided through the McMaster intramural website, as well as on their social media pages: Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.