During the past week and a half, many of you have probably trekked to The Park or the Aquatic & Fitness Center, where you more than likely ripped a single through a hole in the infield, caught a touchdown pass, intercepted a frisbee or drained a jump shot. You were out of breath after rounding first, had to take off your jewelry before the game and gave a referee grief for that blocking call. Add all of this up and it can only mean one thing; intramural sports are, once again, in full swing.
While engaged in fierce competition, however, you may not have noticed that the Department of Intramural-Recreation Sports is under the new leadership of Director Benjamin Smith and Assistant Director Lynde Dobson.
"For the most part, if you didn't realize there was a new director or assistant director, I don't think you would know because we are running the program a lot like it has been run," said Dobson, an Eastern Illinois graduate.
This relatively unnoticed and smooth transition was exactly what Smith and Dobson expected.
"We understand that with this program, there are not a lot of major overhauls that need to be done," explained Smith, a Virginia Tech graduate. "It's not like we are coming into a program that is struggling."
Virginia's IM department operates in an environment that promotes physical fitness, evidenced by the University being named "Hottest for Fitness" in 2005 by the Kaplan Newsweek College Guide.
While the department is in good shape, there are still tasks and goals for Smith and Dobson to accomplish.
"I want to make sure that we better our ability to be participant-friendly," Dobson said. "I feel like the more participant-friendly we are, the more people will keep coming back from year to year."
One step toward this goal has already been made: transforming the pool in Memorial Gymnasium into a sport court that can be reserved and used to play sports such as floor hockey or indoor soccer, both of which were in high demand last year, but were only available for a limited time.
Getting repeat business is definitely important, but Smith also wants to appeal to those who feel left out of intramural sports.
"We want to continue to provide [the students] with the opportunity to get out and do many different activities," Smith said. "Try to see if maybe there are some new activities that haven't been done in the past to get your non-traditional athlete out there, [and] maybe not the person who has always played football growing up."
The IM department has seemingly succeeded in establishing a reputation of providing students with a fun and organized way for students to compete in a vast array of activities. Under the new leadership of Smith and Dobson, things likely won't be changing anytime soon.
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