Rec-Sports season four came to an end last Thursday (April 20), but now it is time for the playoffs. This season consisted of softball, roller hockey, 4v4 volleyball, 3v3 basketball, dodgeball, racquetball, and cricket. This was a competitive season and it is going to be very interesting to see which teams come out wearing the highly-coveted Rec-Sports Champions T-Shirt. Playoffs start Monday, April 24 and run through May 2, so it is highly recommended that students come out to watch their fellow classmates compete on the highest level of intramural sports.

With season four ending, it also signals the end of the Charger Cup competition. Throughout the year there have been three teams that have been fighting for the prestigious banner in the Rec Center. Those three teams are Swat Team, Dawg Pound, and The Banding Bandits. Swat Team is made up of a group of alumni’s, current, and graduate students who dominate the ranks due to their countless years of experience playing Rec-Sports. It seems no matter how old they get, they will always get satisfaction out of beating up on undergraduate students in intramural sports.

The Banding Bandits are made up of both band members and Rec Sports referees and supervisors. You can say that they are the ones that know all the rules when they play, but there always seems to be some biases when the members are out there refereeing. Dawg Pound mostly consist of a group of feisty sophomores who always seem to have the ball bounce in their opponent’s favor. They have had their fair share of arguments with the referees, and it always seems to come back and bite them. When you boil it down Swat Team has basically won a title in every sport, so they are leading the pack in both the Men’s and Co-Rec divisions. The real competition comes between Dawg Pound and the Banding Bandits to see who will come in second in the Men’s and Co-Rec divisions, and that will be determined in the playoffs. If everything holds and the teams win the games they’re supposed to win, Dawg Pound should come in second in Men’s and the Bandits should come in second in Co-Rec. Next season both the Banding Bandits and Dawg Pound will look to overthrow Swat Team and their reign of terror.       

Overall, this year Rec Sports has had its ups and downs, and it has signaled a need for improvement. Throughout the year there have been complaints about the competency of the student referees, and the fairness of competition during the games. Hopefully, next year the people in charge at the Rec Center can fix these problems and make it a much more enjoyable experience next season. On a positive note, Rec-Sports really helps to bring out the competitive nature of students who are not able to play these sports at the college level.

It also helps to establish relationships outside the classroom, which is important for the college experience. Rec-Sports also helps to establish friendly rivalries between students, which really gets them involved in the action. There are a lot of students that participate and enjoy it, and hopefully they can recruit even more to participate next season and in the future. Hopefully, Rec-Sports can fix its flaws and capitalize on its strengths so it can be the best it’s ever been in the coming years.