Intramural Sports
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Intramural sports are recreational
sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...
organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution,oxforddictionaries.com
/ref> or a set geographic region. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
words ''intra muros'' meaning "within walls", and was used to describe sports matches and contests that took place among teams from "within the walls" of an institution or area. The term dates to the 1840s. It is contrasted with extramural, varsity or intercollegiate sports, which are played between teams from different educational institutions. The word intermural, which also correctly means "between institutions", is a common error for "intramural".


History

The first intramural sports departments were established at
Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
and the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
in 1913.
Elmer Mitchell Elmer Dayton Mitchell (September 6, 1889 – June 15, 1983)} was an American football and basketball coach in Michigan who is considered the father of intramural sports. He was the first varsity basketball coach at the University of Michigan at ...
, a graduate student, at the time, was named the first Director of Intramural Sports at the University of Michigan in 1919 and the first recreational sports facility in the country opened at the University of Michigan. Mitchell is considered the "father of intramural sports" and taught a class in intramural sports taken by William Wasson, founder of the National Intramural Association (NIA), the forerunner to the
National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association The National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) is an organization which regulates various sports through the collegiate systems across the United States. NIRSA serves students who play at the university varsity or club level in a ...
(NIRSA). Mitchell later authored ''Intramural Athletics'' (ED Mitchell - AS Barnes, 1928), and ''Intramural Sports''. He co-authored ''Intramural Sports'' with Pat Mueller. Today, "intramural" tournaments are still organized within a specific community or municipal area, between teams of equivalent age or athletic ability. For example, intramural sports programs are often organized on college campuses to promote competition and fun among the students and teachers sometimes. For most schools and campuses, intramural sports are used to promote wellness and allow students who do not compete on a national (
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
) level an opportunity to be active.


In the United States

NIRSA: Leaders in Collegiate Recreation, formerly known as the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association, a professional organization based in
Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis ( ) is a city and the county seat of Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2020 United ...
, provides a network of more than 4,500 highly trained professionals, students and Associate Members in the recreational sports field throughout the United States, Canada and other countries. In most of the world outside North America,
sports scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United Sta ...
s and college sports on the North American model do not exist so the distinction between college and intramural sports has no relevance and is not made.


In Canada

The
Canadian Intramural Recreation Association Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
(CIRA) organized intramurals within Canada from 1976 to 2002. CIRA Ontario has been the major intramural organization in the Canadian province of Ontario since 1969. CIRA Ontario is an incorporated, non-profit organization whose mission is to encourage, promote, and develop active living, healthy lifestyles and personal growth through intramural and recreation programs within the education and recreation communities. They fulfill their mandate through resources, workshops, conferences, newsletters, awards, and other means.CIRA Ontario
/ref>


See also

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College club sports in the United States College club sports in the United States are any sports offered at a university or college in the United States that compete competitively with other universities, or colleges, but are not regulated by the National Collegiate Athletic Associatio ...
*
Physical education class Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement exploratio ...
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Team sport A team sport includes any sport where individuals are organized into opposing sports team, teams which compete to win or cooperate to entertain their audience. Team members act together towards a shared objective. This can be done in a numb ...


References


Further reading

*C. Jensen & S. Overman. ''Administration and Management of Physical Education and Athletic Programs.'' 4th edition. Waveland Press, 2003 (Chapter 14, "Intramural Recreation"). {{Authority control College sports in the United States Terminology used in multiple sports Student sport