For students looking for a way to meet new friends, exercise and have fun, intramural sports might be the activity for you. From bowling to basketball, the Student Wellness and Recreation Center will be offering 14 sports to students, faculty and staff this fall semester.
“I enjoy playing team sports, especially with my friends. Intramurals provide an easy way to do that against other groups of people,” said senior Jett Brandes, who has participated in intramural softball, indoor volleyball, sand volleyball, bowling, dodgeball and pickleball over the course of his college career.
Leagues are often split into men’s, women’s and “CoRec” (mixed gender) divisions. Depending on the sport, tournaments can occur in one day or can be spread across two to four weeks.
“It’s a great way to find people with the same interests as you and the leagues are always a couple weeks…so you don’t have to put all your time and effort into it,” said junior Becca Green, who captained an intramural soccer team last spring.
According to Assistant Director of Intramural and Club Sports Adam Bergschneider, students form teams through fraternities, sororities, friend groups, residence hall units, clubs and social media. Students can also enter themselves as a “free agent” on IMLeagues.com, the platform used by the University of Central Missouri to organize intramurals. Teams that need more teammates can see the list of free agents and invite them to join their team.
“I made a post on my social media asking people from campus to let me know if they wanted to be on a team…it worked! I also started a Sunday Night Soccer group and almost everyone from that group joined the team,” said Green.
In the 2024-25 academic year, 368 teams and 930 people participated in intramural sports. The skill level of participants varies widely. Some players have extensive past experience in athletics, while some have no past experience.
“Per sport, there are usually two or three teams who are really good and care a lot, and then a bunch more who are competitive but are definitely playing more for fun,” said Brandes.
To see a list of all sports offered and to register for intramurals, go to IMLeagues.com and use your UCM email to log in. From there, one person must create a team and send invitations to their teammates via IMLeagues. Once everyone has accepted the invitations, signed a waiver and taken a short quiz about the rules of the game, you will be allowed to participate.
“Ads are everywhere, and it’s hard to maneuver between pages and find the information you need,” said Brendes on IMLeagues. “Definitely causes issues a couple times per sport with schedule times and waivers.”
There is a small fee for creating a team, which must be paid at the front desk of the Student Recreation and Wellness Center. When split between teammates, the cost of registration is often less than $5 per person, but can range up to $10 per person, depending on the sport.
Along with playing, students have the opportunity to work as referees by applying through the UCM website’s intramural page. Many students recommend joining intramural sports to incoming freshmen.
“Ask around your dorm floor or whatever clubs they join. It’s an easy way to get or stay active and make friends,” said Brandes.
