Imagine having the opportunity to go head to head with yourprofessors in a game of physical prowess, the adrenaline from amediocre midterm report fueling you forward.

Intramural soccer students are getting a chance to do just that,since the start of the “Fearless Faculty Footballers,” anintramural soccer group made up of eleven Simpson facultymembers.

“I am old, totally out of condition, and have virtually nosoccer skills, but insofar as I could work it into my schedule Iwould love to play,” wrote Gary Kinkel in an e-mail to JeffParmelee, who has taken an active role in recruiting players.

Kinkel may not have had experience on the soccer field, butother players on the team come with a nice resume. Parmelee playedsoccer in college, as well as Mark Gammon, another team member.Plus, the head and the assistant soccer coaches will be taking thefield against their own players.

Parmelee, who also plays on the faculty intramural basketballteam, headed up the effort. He recruited players by sending out ane-mail to faculty, staff and administration inviting anyone who wasinterested to form a team with him.

“It’s important to have a larger group so that we have enoughpeople to play and can have some substitutes. Soccer requires a lotof conditioning and professors are not known for theirconditioning,” Parmelee said.

On the tentative roster for the team will be Parmelee, RickSpellerberg, Mark Gammon, Cory Chapman, Aziz Haffar, Michael Adams,Wayne Stacey, Kinkel, Tom Woldt, Chris Waddle and John Pauley.

But don’t expect to see the group out lifting weights or runninglaps at Hopper.

“We believe that things like practice and stretching are foramateurs,” Parmelee said.

These faculty athletes are not too worried about playing withoutmuch practice, but they do have some concerns. Parmelee’s biggestone is a bruised ego.

“We have no concerns other then being embarrassed! It’s great tointeract with our students outside the classroom; it’s a lot offun,” he said.

The faculty members will be facing off against student teamsduring soccer intramurals this spring. They played their first gamelast week. The turnout was five people, just enough for a team. Itincluded Parmelee, Spellerberg, Gammon, Mustapha, and Cory.

As for the outcome of the game, Parmelee explained, “We startedout against the best team; we played against the senior startingsoccer players for Simpson. They narrowly escaped with a victory by13 or so goals, and I think I detected a slight hint of fear intheir eyes when we took the court. It could have been amusement. Ican’t be sure.”

But watch out for the “Fearless Faculty Footballers” in thefuture. Spellerberg mentioned that they could use the opportunityto take out some students.

Said Spellerberg, “It’s one less exam to grade.”