Ask Simpson students what they like to do in their spare time and the odds are that you will soon be discussing intramural sports. With an array of events and activities that expands every year, the popularity of intramurals always seems to be on the rise.

There has, at times, been some controversy in the world of intramurals as some of Simpson’s intercollegiate athletes have played in the intramural sport that they play for the college’s team.

But even a little controversy hasn’t lessened participation.

According to Nicole Darling, assistant director of student activities and director of intramurals, over 65 percent of Simpson’s on-campus students are active in intramurals.

Volleyball, basketball and football are the pre-eminent events.

“We try to interact with the students as much as possible and promote an active, healthy lifestyle,” Darling said. “The challenge is to keep finding new and creative activities to bring in new participants and to get the word out to the freshman about how they can get involved and meet new people.”

Kinball was one of the new sports introduced this year. Like most events in their first year, it didn’t have a huge fan base

Darling said the students who tried the game seemed to like it.

“Those that did play seemed to enjoy it and hopefully it will gain popularity,” Darling said.

Junior Reed Weston has been a household name in the world of intramurals over the years, winning the coveted championship T-shirts in Jamball, singles pool, volleyball, washers and fishing, just to name a few. Weston was also the male participant of the year in flag-football.

“Intramurals is my way of staying physically active and social at the same time,” Weston said. “The competition is a lot of fun, especially playing with and against so many of my friends. Five-on-five basketball is my favorite sport. It’s always extremely competitive and a lot of my friends play.

Senior Angela Servais is a four-year intramural veteran and loves the different purposes intramurals can serve.

“I’ve had a lot of fun in all the different sports, but I would have to say that late-night softball is my favorite,” Servais said. It’s a blast, and it’s something that isn’t disrupted by my evening work schedule.”

Sophomore Mitchell Keller is another feared name in intramurals. With highly competitive teams in whiffle ball, volleyball, football, Jamball and was part of a champion five-on-five basketball team.

“Intramurals bring me great joy, as it is a great outlet for my competitiveness and also sociality,” Keller said. “I kind of have two groups of friends that I play with. One is more for recreation and one is for the pursuit of the bizarre-colored T-shirts. Five-on-five basketball is something very dear to me, but my friends and I look forward to getting a little muddy with some volleyball this spring.”

Check your e-mail weekly for intramural news and schedules. The spring promises to be another big intramural season, as May Term rolls around and brings the echelon of intramurals to a peak with daily events.