Women's basketball coach Janice Savitz, also the head of intramural sports, has an extensive list of new proposals for the fall season. Included in the list are new activities like a Jumbo Challenge, fun runs, and kickball. To coincide with these additions, Savitz plans to cut the number of sports and focus on advertising and organization.
Savitz, who will run the program alongside men's soccer coach Ralph Ferrigno, hopes to get the organization off to a running start.
"I want to do something to set it off so it's not just bland and boring," Savitz said.
To spice intramurals up, Savitz is considering the Jumbo Challenge, an event where individuals would have 30 days to compile as many miles as possible by running on the treadmill, riding the exercise bike, or swimming in the pool. Prizes would go to the student with the most total miles, and participants who attain a certain number of miles.
Assistant Athletic Director (AAD) Branwen Smith-King, who is working with Savitz, proposed fun runs - one or two-mile jogs around campus. Competition would be de-emphasized during the runs, as Smith-King sees them as a possible way to bring students together.
"We need to generate more enthusiasm with diverse activities to get people interested in getting out," Smith-King said.
[Savitz has looked to other schools, like the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to find more obscure yet popular intramural sports like kickball, and believes it could be successful at Tufts.]
The second part of Savitz's plan is to improve the quality of the individual sports. In line with this, Savitz will push to reduce the number of sports offered to just soccer, flag football, and volleyball (with the possible additions of Jumbo Challenge and kickball). Last fall, the athletic department offered six sports, but touch football, field hockey, tennis, and basketball will be eliminated this year in an effort to consolidate resources.
According to Savitz, dedicated referees and student commissioners will be the driving force behind reorganization. [Ideally, she would like to hire three commissioners in order to maximize the efficiency of each sport: one in charge of league finances, one in charge of scheduling and rules, and one in charge of advertising.] While the job of intramural commissioner is a paid one, many students are reluctant to make the time commitment necessary to become commissioner of an intramural league.
"We need commissioners who will be dedicated and willing to spend the time," she said.
In addition to commissioners, Savitz is looking to recruit referees more successfully. Like commissioners, referees are paid, but the time commitment discourages many from assuming the post.
Smith-King, also head of the physical education department, has suggested a class that would deal with officiating.
The commitment level required to play intramural sports, which cater to students lacking the skills or desire to compete at the club or varsity level, depends on the sport. In the more popular sports (soccer, football, volleyball, and basketball) leagues are formed and schedules usually run for four weeks with two weeks set aside for playoffs. Other sports like ice hockey, women's lacrosse, and tennis depend on the number of students signed up. These sports often deteriorate into haphazard pickup games, one of the reasons Savitz and Smith-King are open to students' suggestions.
"We would like input from the students," Smith-King said. "Ralph did a great job but we would like to have more varied activities."
