Despite the many changes to campus life as a result of COVID-19, Villanova Recreation has found many fun and safe ways to still have intramural sports this fall. 

Michael Hay, the Coordinator for Intramurals and Recreation at the University, is “proud that we are able to provide the campus community the opportunity to let off some steam in a safe but competitive environment.”

Hay also provided some details about the challenging planning process of the Fall 2020 intramural season stating that, “Representatives from Villanova, UPenn, Temple, St. Joes, LaSalle and Drexel met virtually on a regular basis to share ideas, discuss obstacles and work together to find the best path forward for all of our respective departments.”

The hard work of the Intramural staff is much appreciated and their efforts to come up with creative yet safe activities for the University community should not go unnoticed. The new offerings for the Fall 2020 semester include yard game olympics, individual football competitions and the University’s first football combine, singles tennis and disc/frisbee golf. 

Masks should be worn at all times during all events and proper social distancing should be in effect when with team members. The subsequent paragraphs will go into more detail about each of the intramural offerings. 

The yard game Olympics is a great way to add a little friendly competition into the games that most of you may play with your friends anyway. The four different yard games that make up the tournament include bocce, washers, horseshoes and kan jam. Teams will consist of two to four people with two designated players for each game, and you can substitute players across different events. The tournament will last the entire month of September with different events each of the four weekends. 

In order to remain in accordance with social distancing guidelines, an individual punt, pass and kick competition, as well as a football combine, were created. Both events will be based on your individual skill only, rather than team competitions.

As far as the combine goes, skills such as vertical leap, 40-yard dash and 20-yard shuttle will be tested, and each competitor will be ranked after each event. The 10 finalists with the highest overall rankings across all three events will then compete for victory. 

Similar to regular intramural football, doubles tennis is not being offered this semester. However, singles tennis is still a great way to stay in shape and even compete against friends; if you can’t play with them, at least play against them. All skill levels are eligible and encouraged.

Disc/frisbee golf is the last new offering this semester, but definitely one of the most exciting. Disc golf is essentially like regular golf, but instead of having the holes in the ground, they are in upright cages that you throw a frisbee into. The scoring works the same, so the lowest score wins.

Overall, the University has worked hard for months to make the Fall 2020 intramural season a reality. 

“Villanova has one of the best rates of participation in Intramural Sports in the entire country,” Hay said. “We average about 3,500 individual students, graduate students, law students and faculty and staff participants every year.”

One of the three Senior Commissioners for Intramurals, Thomas Magnier, thinks that “everyone can agree (especially over the past few months) that sports are a way to bring communities together, which is something Intramurals has always strived to achieve.”

Michael Hay, Thomas Magnier and the other Senior Commissioners, Trevor Scianna and Chris Cooney, have all contributed immensely to making this intramural season possible. 

To register, visit the Recreation website or sign up in-person from 2-6 p.m. outside The Finneran Pavilion, Sept. 1-3.