With the involvement of fundraising, school work and jobs, students in the greek community find ways to have outlets to relieve stress by participating in intramural sports.

For many of the sports, there are multiple skill levels offered, but there are also brackets for houses in the greek community to compete against each other.

“I like it because the competition gets most of my pledge class together,” said Luke Belzer, junior in kinesiology and health and member of Farmhouse Fraternity.

“Greek students can create teams for any of the sports,” said Linda Marticke, intramural coordinator for recreation services.

Marticke is in charge of creating the tournaments and games for all sports, and understands the importance for houses to play together.

“It’s a good way for members to bond with others in their house,” she said. “Intramurals are also good stress relievers and social outlets for students.”

Students in the greek community find sports to be a great way to bond with those in their house. It also creates more friendly competition between the various fraternities and sororities, aside from Homecoming and Greek Week competitions.

“Recreation services aims to provide events for any interests,” said Kate Dickey, junior in child, adult and family services. “There are team sports, such as hockey, basketball, football. There are also individual athletic events such as cross country, and events where athletics isn’t required, such as NCAA pick ‘em and pool.”

Intramural sports also allow students to play sports they may have not had the opportunity to play in high school.

“I like playing ice hockey because it’s a sport I would have loved to do in high school, but couldn’t because of basketball. Now I can play it as an intramural,” Belzer said.

“What students enjoy most about intramurals is they have fun when they play,” said Marticke. “They like to compete because many played the same sports in high school and like the competition. It’s fun to play with new friends, and old friends. For the greek community, it’s fun to play with people in your house.”

All intramural sports play at various times, depending on availability of the facility.

“Most of the games are played after 8 p.m., but sports like flag football are earlier in the day,” Belzer said.

Participating in a variety of sports is easily done by students that play through recreation services.

“I have played flag football, broomball, basketball, volleyball, softball, dodgeball and NCAA Bowl Pick ‘em,” Belzer said.

Students like Dickey get involved with playing intramurals, but she also referees and works for recreation services.

“My favorite part has been winning the sorority broomball division the past two years with the Alpha Chi Omega team, the Wolf Pack,” Dickey said.

By winning a division in any of the sports at any level, the members of the winning team receive champion T-shirts.

Students of all skill level participate in the different skill brackets, but because the greek community tends to play in the “greek bracket” there is more variability in skill level.

“Playing intramurals really helps unify a house. It also gets members involved and active,” Belzer said.

The key to success with playing intramural sports is to have fun. Whether playing on a team with friends, members of a greek house, or with a group of strangers, intramural sports is a great way to get out and be active. To find more information on intramurals, visit http://www.recservices.iastate.edu/im/.