While most students today don’t sign up for intramurals with the idea of fighting sexism or the war, that wasn’t always the case. Historically, the activity that now registers between 2,000 and 2,200 students a year showcased much more than which fraternity fielded the best dodgeball team.
Today, the fall intramural season includes flag football, dodgeball and volleyball and is separated into four divisions determined by gender and skill level. In total, Northwestern funds eight different intramural sports in three seasons, and the top competing team throughout the year is awarded with the title of “Team of the Year.” The fall season began Oct. 4 and includes teams from Greek organizations, residential colleges and residence halls.
While NU club and varsity sports offer only unisex teams, most intramural sports with co-ed teams have sex ratio requirements and mandatory female-playing time. The flag football rulebook mandates that plays must be run to boys and girls alternatively to legally advance across the field, according to its Web site.
“It’s a lot of fun and great exercise,” said Weinberg freshman Julie Whyte, who plays on a flag football team for her floor in Elder Hall. “My favorite part is definitely when I do something well, such as sacking the quarterback.”
This female participation in intramural sports dates back to the 1920s, only a few years after women received the right to vote. A 1923 Chicago Tribune article documented the surprising fact that there were more women playing intramurals than men. Yet less than two decades later, the goal of University-funded sports changed to a much more militant tone.
A Chicago Tribune article from January 1942, more than a month after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, detailed how NU was planning to beef up its intramural program in order to better prepare students to enter the upcoming U.S. involvement in World War II.
For Ryan Coleman, manager of intramural sports, intramurals still play a principal part in the student experience, even without military benefits.
“The values of intramural sports are individual for each person,” Coleman said. “However, I feel that they allow students to socialize and get to know others as well as exercise and get better at the sport they play.”
Coleman, who played several intramural sports in college and is a former graduate assistant for intramural sports at Southern Illinois University, said he maintains contact with many of the friends he made on the intramural field.
“Some of my closest friends today are from those days,” Coleman said.
