Elise Anderson
Pacific Lutheran University Recreation reached a major milestone this past month when BestColleges.com named the PLU Intramural Sports Program among the top 50 best college intramural programs in the country.
Coordinator of Recreations Rob Thompson manages the campus exercise programs and finds new ways to engage the student body.
“Not only are we bringing more programs to the table, but each of these programs we’ve found a way to make unique,” Thompson said. “We are constantly adapting to improve the student experience from broadcasting our intramural softball championship game, to having intramural All Star games, to even keeping goal scoring statistics.”
Participation in intramural programs increased from 452 to 782 in the last three years. The 2014-15 academic year accounted for 782 members of the student body being involved in some way with an intramural sport.
“It has been incredible to watch the number of students participating continually grow and to see the positive attitude that the campus has about recreation activities,” Junior Cara Gillespie, an intramural regulator and social media marketing assistant, said.
PLU’s intramural program offers 38 leagues over the course of the school year. Adding to the variety of sports for spring semester is the introduction of inner tube water polo, which will serve to test the waters for the possibility of future aquatic based sports. The January term intramural season will offer soccer, volleyball, doubles pickle ball, basketball, coed basketball and dodge ball. Team rosters are due Jan. 7 by 3 p.m.
Recreation offers students to participate in exercise programs, including Outdoor Recreation, Club Sports Teams, Intramural Sports and Group Exercise. Each program provides students opportunity for fitness oriented activities and social engagement with other students.
