The equipment is ready, the ice is smooth and the players are cut and bruised, but for the 1,500 participants in intramural ice broomball, only one thing is important – fun.
Broomball, one of 11 sports offered through Boston University’s intramural program, reached full capacity this year with 110 teams of about 15 players each, said Assistant Coordinator of Intramural and Club Sports Chris Daigle.
“It is one of the less competitive intramural sports because not a lot of skill is involved,” he said. “You basically run around on the ice and try not to fall. It is the most comical for that reason – because everyone falls.”
Hundreds of players pass through Walter Brown Arena every year, hoping to win the tournament, a game or a personal victory of standing on the ice.
“It’s not like soccer or football where someone who is really athletic will go out there and dominate,” said Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences freshman Katie Philippi. “Everyone falls.”
Although Broomball is the most popular sport, it is not the only sport offered by the intramural program. Each year, intramural organizers Daigle, Tracey Dultz and Tom Duval organize teams for the 6,000 participants who want to play.
“We are booming in terms of the number of teams that we get,” said Duval, the coordinator of intramural and club sports.
Although some teams are formed by RAs as a community building activity, Daigle said most are formed by friends and classmates.
“It is hard to join a team if you don’t know anyone else that is doing it,” said College of Engineering freshman Dave Mabius.
High interest in the program, coupled with limited facilities, means not everyone is able to participate, Daigle said.
Fortunately, these limitations may be reduced in the future thanks to Agganis Arena. However, he added that the new facility will only help indoor sports.
“We look forward to new opportunities that moving to the new facility is going to give us,” Duval said.
The program runs in both the fall and spring, and includes such sports as flag football, soccer, basketball, tennis, hockey, volleyball, broomball and softball. Intramurals share playing space with both club sports and BU’s varsity teams.
Though the main purpose of the intramural program is to provide students with a fun, active outlet to relieve stress, the teams do get competitive at times, Daigle said.
“[Fall basketball] was a lot more competitive than I though it would be – and I like that,” Mabius said.
Daigle said the competitiveness “varies on the sport and it varies on the point in the season.” He added that students are most competitive during the playoffs and that soccer and football tend to be the most competitive sports.
Students are not the only participants feeling the heat in the games – but student referees are often challenged when they make calls.
“A lot of our officials don’t like to officiate basketball because they get a lot of grief sometimes,” Duval said.
With or without competition, intramural sports are making a big splash at BU. Daigle said students play to have a good time with their friends while being physically active, and most return year after year, sometimes playing in as many as three leagues at a time.
“I decide to play broomball because I wanted to do something active,” Philippi said. “I participated in intramural sports last semester and it was a lot of fun so I wanted to do another sport.”
Whatever the reason, intramural sports have gained popularity at BU over the years. They have, as Daigle said, “helped build community.”
