Five seconds to go, your team is down by two and you have “the rock” 18 feet from the hoop in front of a gymnasium full of screaming people. One last Hail Mary pass arching down a sideline filled by awestruck, silent fans, and you sky to make the grab.
Or it’s bases loaded, one run game, two outs with a full count and you are choking up on the bat, planning on pushing a single over the first baseman to score two.
We all know how these stories end; you drill a step back three with no time left a la Kyrie Irving, you “Odell Beckham Jr. the pass” in the back corner as you drag that second foot just inside the boundary or you push that fastball that was left a little too high on the outside of the plate just over the first baseman’s outstretched glove.
You are a high school hero.
We all know who they are, and I freely admit that I joined their ranks three years ago when I came to Ole Miss. You talk about that kick, shot, hit or catch (that took all of 30 seconds to occur) for hours because a small part of you knows you will probably never get that same opportunity to go full-on Marshawn Lynch, put the team on your back and become a champion again.
Well, I am now talking to all those forlorn souls searching for that athletic competition that made them a household name (or at least a name with which someone vaguely associates some kind of athletic play). I am telling you it’s time to answer the call.
To be clear, no, I am not saying it is time to give in to the lie you tell yourself: All you need to do is workout a little more, drop a couple pounds and then you’ll be out there catching balls in the Vaught on Saturdays. I’m talking about the new arena of competition for high school heroes: intramural sports.
No, intramural sports are not the same as the seasonal high school sports you played back home.
It’s better.
Take flag football, for example. Last year, intramural flag football had a total of 102 teams featuring 1,088 total competitors. And for every SportsCenter top-10 catch you made in your illustrious career, there’s a high school hero with a similar highlight reel on the other side of the ball, too.
On a more real and serious note, it’s important to mention that there are not 1,088 people who played high school football out there. Intramural sports are for everybody and have different kinds of competitors and divisions. If you are looking to go as hard as possible, the competitive division is definitely the place for you. But if you are truly just looking to get out there and have a good time or maybe try a sport for the first time, there is a recreational division, as well. Maybe you want to get out there and mix it up with members of the opposite gender – check out the co-recreational division!
The unified intramural sports, a division of intramural sports that partners with the Special Olympics college, works under the premise that training together and playing together is a quick path to friendship and understanding. There are more intramural sports available here at Ole Miss than just the common ones that gave you those letters you proudly wore on that sweet leather jacket from high school, and each of these unique opportunities can be learned about here.
The registration deadlines for sand volleyball and flag football are rapidly approaching, with sand volleyball ending Wednesday and flag football (both the preseason tournament and the actual league) ending Sept. 5.
So, whether you’re going to respond to the call to etch your name into intramural glory or are looking for a fun activity you can do with your friends and stay in shape, head over to the intramural website and check it out.
