Intramural soccer will debut Feb. 18 and will be held on Tuesday evenings in the O’Pake Upper Gym, according to Alex Kissinger, recreation and intramural coordinator for Campus Recreation.
“We normally have sports throughout the week from all day Sunday to Monday and Tuesday evenings,” Kissinger said “We definitely have room to add more sports but it comes down to space and numbers.”
The process started last fall when Adam Janowicz ’23 reached out regarding an outdoor soccer league. Janowicz wanted to either play at the club or intramural level.
After starting classes he decided not to play club to avoid having to juggle practices and games with classwork. He instead chose to start his own intramural soccer league.
Janowicz wanted to start SJU Sunday League for students who did not want to play at the club level but still have a love for the game. Janowicz himself played four years at the varsity level in high school.
Last semester Janowicz made flyers and hung them around campus to promote interest for the league. The flyers made some noise around campus as many people were talking about it and around 85 total sign-ups, according to Janowicz.
Mateo Chaplin ’23 said soccer has been his passion since he was little and loved the structure of the league.
“I loved how diverse it was,” Chaplin said. “No one grade dominated which kept each game extremely interesting.”
Chaplin met Janowicz through the SJU Sunday League this fall and became friends as he wanted to play soccer.
The games were held on St. Mary’s Lawn each Sunday morning. After attempting to create a structured league with teams and a playoff system, Janowicz said he decided to just keep it loose and create the teams the day of.
“The students put it together themselves, and we just provided the space and equipment,” Kissinger said.
The participation in the Sunday League is what pushed Janowicz to try to officially set up a league through SJU Recreation.
Thus, the winter indoor intramural soccer league was born.
The process of approval for the league took a few weeks as he had to email administrators in both the athletic and intramural departments to propose the idea, according to Janowicz.
“We need to know that there will be participation and that students are actually interested in the sport we introduce,” Kissinger said.
Chaplin described how he wants to play club soccer but is recuperating from a torn ACL a year prior and was just cleared to play soccer right before last semester.
“I finally got my doctor to clear me back to playing, so my first instinct was to get back on the field to do what I love,” Chaplin said. “I wanted to play club but was nowhere near the level I had to be with my leg. So my hopes for joining a Sunday league was just to start easy and build up my strength. My goal for this year is to work as hard as I can to earn my spot on the club team.”
Janowicz reflected on his role of starting intramural soccer.
“I’m proud of how the intramural soccer went this fall because it brought attention to the intramural department that a large number of students on campus want to play soccer at the intramural level,” Janowicz said.
