Some students are just more athletic than others. The more-athletic ones are easy to spot – they’re often involved in at least one competitive sports team. But not everyone wants to or has time to be part of those teams.

For the less-sporty types, Simpson offers intramurals, where students can compete in anything from croquet and washers to mud volleyball and flag football.

However, despite rules outlined in the Intramurals handbook, students often play in both team sports and intramural competitions related to their sport.

The handbook says no varsity or junior varsity intercollegiate athlete can be part of an intramural team for their sport or a sport “associated” with it. This rule extends for the full academic year in which the student-athlete was part of Simpson’s team. The student is only considered eligible for an intramural team if he or she has been dropped from the team roster and is no longer practicing or playing with the team.

In short, a volleyball player shouldn’t enter mud volleyball on an intramural team. A football player is ineligible for intramural flag football. A tennis player can’t play pickle ball with his or her friends in intramurals.

It may seem unfair.

After all, what harm is there in having just one volleyball player on a coed mud volleyball team? But once a single player is allowed to participate in both his or her sport and the intramural version of it, it sets a precedent. Then a few more play both. And a few more.

Soon it’s difficult to regulate who should and shouldn’t be allowed to play intramurals. It becomes easier for an intercollegiate athlete to claim he or she has quit the team when that’s not the case.

And the students who aren’t as talented – the ones who play intramurals for the fun of it – don’t have an equal chance.

Simpson needs to enforce the rules on who can play intramurals. Intercollegiate athletes have an unfair advantage in their own sports.

Besides, they have uniforms so they should be able to leave the coveted IM T-shirts for the rest of us.