In an effort to raise awareness for intramural sports, University Recreation is reinstating a “Game of the Week” series that was first introduced last year.
The series will focus on a different sport each week and channel in on one specific game each time.
The games are chosen based off a number of stipulations and interesting storylines, which can include information given by referees, the history of a team or even the rivalry between two teams.
This is the second year the series has been implemented. In the fall of 2014, the “Game of the Week” program only ran for a few weeks. University Recreation has plans of continuing it longer this year.
Justin Hall, a junior studying business administration, works for University Recreation and is in charge of organizing and promoting the series.
“We’re looking to improve from last year, so we’re focusing on promotion and organization this time around,” Hall said. “I’m working on completing a full schedule, and this is just one of the things we are doing to improve the system.”
University Recreation is currently trying to get more people involved with intramural sports. About 5,500 students have already participated this year, compared to 7,000 students during all of fall in 2014.
“We’re looking to get everyone involved and give people a chance,” Hall said. “It’s a healthy and active way to bring everyone together, and this is the message we want to send.”
The series is already underway this year. Last week’s “Game of the Week” featured the defending men’s competitive soccer champions. This was an obvious choice because of the team’s success last season.
This week, the spotlight remained on soccer, but honed in on the co-rec league instead of just men’s. The featured teams consisted of the 336 Mafia and Godsquad, two sides that have opened their seasons with wins.
The two teams went head to head Tuesday night. After a thrilling contest, Godsquad eventually pulled away to prevail in this week’s game, winning by a score of 7-3.
“We were hyped up so much more knowing that this was the game of the week,” said Godsquad captain Nick Valore, a junior studying business administration. “We look forward to these games as a team, and we were excited to be out there.”
Brandon Smith, 336 Mafia captain and a sophomore studying sport management, said the addition of the series has changed his mindset.
“As soon as we found out that this was the game of the week, it definitely altered the way we approached it,” he said. “Regardless, we always come ready to play, and we always play to win.”
Next week’s contest will shift to flag football, and the Tuesday night matchup will feature last year’s co-rec competitive champions.
