A declining number of intramural soccer officials over the last few years has the ISU Soccer Club team taking the reigns, and making the tough calls that the intense intramural sport has a tendency to produce.

Garry Greenlee, director of intramurals, and Devon Myers, Soccer Club president and sophomore in industrial technology, have linked up to produce a bundle of single-elimination tournaments for this year’s outdoor soccer events.

The two organizations decided to link up because intramural soccer has had a tough time furnishing officials the last couple years because of the constant pressure and criticism placed on them from the extreme players.

“We lose 90 percent of our officials from the previous year, each year, due to bad sportsmanship,” Greenlee said. “Our inability to find students that can official soccer adequately, for a recreational way, led us to the club team.”

Myers and the rest of the club team see this as a chance for them to accomplish some positive things for their program.

“This was a good opportunity for us,” Myers said. “Greenlee offered us funds if we helped him out, and he was able to put on the intramural still.”

Myers said all the guys on the club team have been playing soccer since they were children, and the majority of them have refereed games before. Nonetheless, they all know the rules of the game very well.

Nathan Tuggle, junior in mechanical engineering, is satisfied with the referee situation.

“I think the soccer club will do a fine job officiating. They are probably the most qualified to do it,” Tuggle said.

Tuggle’s team initially was not going to be able to participate in the intramural.

Greenlee’s original plan was to allot 24 slots for one single-elimination tournament. He held a lottery and the first 24 teams drawn were the ones who got to play. Then around 85 teams signed up, and Greenlee had a change of heart.

The day after the lottery, a mass e-mail was issued and the new format was born – nine men’s single-elimination tournaments, consisting of eight teams each, and one women’s single-elimination tournament with 12 teams.

That’s a lot of champion T-shirts.

“I was not happy at all when I found out our team wasn’t picked for the lottery,” Tuggle said. “I had been finding people to be on my team for two or three weeks and then I found out that it was all a waste of time. I felt like a jerk when I had to tell everyone that they weren’t going to get to play. I commend Garry for listening to the people who weren’t picked in the lottery and allowing more teams to play.”

Although his was one of the teams lucky enough to be selected in the lottery, Curt Nelson, junior in industrial technology, agrees.

“I thought it was a good idea to change it after the lottery,” Nelson said. “I like how they have so many brackets, and I like the idea of more T-shirts; it was a good alternative.”