Intramural (IM) flag football on campus helps students build community, deepen existing connections and make friends while staying active. With both coed and men’s teams, IM flag football represents a fast-paced yet casual environment, and is perfect for anyone looking to learn a new sport, make friends or just have fun.
Unlike competitive leagues, IMs is open to anyone, whether you’ve played football for years or are just starting. Some students join with their friends or as part of clubs, fraternities or sororities, but the games are an opportunity to meet new people as well.
Zach Ott, a UCR student playing for Los Pi’s, an IM flag football team on campus, said he joined IM flag football with members of his fraternity during his first quarter at UCR and described how it’s given him a chance to connect with friends, socialize, and most importantly, have fun.
Like other students, he described how IM flag football is somewhat competitive, but “it’s not intense, it’s college intramurals. You can come here to mess around for a bit and still kind of want to win.” Overall, the atmosphere is casual and friendly, with teams having inside jokes amongst themselves and friendships that extend on and off the field.
After high school, many student athletes miss the experience of bonding over team sports and staying active. IM sports can fill that gap, especially by providing a low-pressure environment in which to do it. Zach describes how he “played in elementary school and middle school,” but he didn’t play in high school. However, since it’s flag football, and no-contact, he can play it now.
Pan Wai Yip, a senior education major, and Lauren Chu, a second-year computer science and business major, play for Guppies, a co-rec team, as part of the Chinese Student Association (CSA). Pan said they became friends through IM basketball, explaining since , “there’s a lot of teamwork involved in basketball, we just started talking a lot, and then we started becoming a friend group, and we started hanging out outside too.”
The two of them originally started playing IM basketball and volleyball with CSA, but this year expanded to join flag football and soccer as well. Many students from CSA and other on-campus organizations participate in IM sports with their clubs, including flag football.
The games are fully welcoming to beginners, and players like Pan and Lauren have had a great experience, even with little to no history with the sport. While a lot of players join as part of a club, you don’t need to be part of one to play, and you can make friends by joining a team.
In flag football, along with other IM sports, cooperating and communicating to score points gets people talking and opens the door to friendships forming on and off the field. Teams get lunch and dinner together and bond over trying to win and having a good time. Because of this, IM is a great way to form new connections and strengthen existing ones. There’s also lots of passion and emotion being displayed on the field because everyone wants to win an IM championship, which comes with a complimentary shirt.
The supervisors and referees are just as much a part of the community as the players, and help contribute to the friendly atmosphere. Some of them play IM sports as well, but no matter what, they foster connections among the IM staff and players, and help keep the games friendly and inviting.
Christopher Lin, a fourth-year psychology major, is currently in his first quarter as a supervisor for IM games. His favorite sport to supervise is flag football because of its intensity and fast pace. He said that when he joined the IM staff, he was met with a welcoming community of students and faculty.
“They were easy to talk to. They taught me well,” Lin said. He also explained how the staff works to extend that positive relationship to players as well. “You know, mutual respect, that goes a long way. Even though they see us only as referees, they still know we’re students. If we give them respect, we’re gonna get respect back.”
For students looking to find something new to do with their friends, stay active in a fun way or form new connections, IM flag football provides a great opportunity to do so. Flag football on campus is not only competitive, but it also provides students with a friendly, welcoming environment to bond with one another and form lasting connections.
