By Peter Loganbill / Photos courtesy of Recreational Services
When Pat Bosco ’71, former vice president of Student Life and dean of students, was an undergrad at Kansas State University, intramural sports were played in Ahearn Fieldhouse, sharing and competing for facilities with athletic programs and physical education classes.
“We virtually had no idea what we were missing,” Bosco said. “We thought every college or university competed with athletics and education classes for space, and we had no concept as a student body about health and fitness. It was non-existent.”
The intramural program started in the fall of 1920 with two options, men’s basketball and women’s field hockey. In past years, games played as intramurals included tennikoit, a tobacco spitting contest and a posture contest, said Denise Telck ’16, communications and marketing assistant for Recreational Services. Today, the program includes tennis, Spikeball, rock paper scissors, touch football, volleyball and many other games.
The program started in Nichols Hall — which was once an athletic facility — and moved to Ahearn in 1950. Over the decades, the university created new facilities to accommodate students’ wants, including the Natatorium and the Chester E. Peters Recreational Facility.
When Bosco was a student, he said the program met a common need of students coming in from high schools across Kansas.
“The sense of competition is particularly important to the retention of a student and the persistence of a student at the university, particularly one like K-State that attracts so many students from all over the state that have had strong athletic competition experience throughout high school,” he said. “In many instances, they were the star of their football team, or basketball team or volleyball team. They were coming to the university and did not want to give up that opportunity to still participate in a competitive program.”
When Bosco started intramurals his first year at K-State, he said the games helped him overcome his homesickness.
“People are looking for a sense of belonging, a sense of identification, and in my experience, [the] first few weeks of participation in the fraternity intramural program in a significant way got me over the hump,” Bosco said.
The university added outdoor fields north of Edwards Hall, the former athletic dormitory, in 1969.
“The facilities will be a big boost to the tennis team and intramural program,” then director of intramurals Don Rose said in 1969 to the Manhattan Mercury. “This will make the outdoor intramural facilities at K-State as good as [or] better than any other Big Eight school.”
At the time of the 50th anniversary of the program, Bosco was investigating the proposal of a new Rec Complex.
“In the spring of 1971, while I was the student body president, I was approached by the vice president [of student affairs] to form an SGA study group to build a recreation program at K-State,” he said.
In 1980, the Rec Center became a reality. A Kansas State Collegian article from the time stated “The Rec Complex houses a weight room, 16 handball-racquetball courts, two gyms, a multi-purpose room, men’s and women’s locker rooms and administrative offices.”
Although exercise shifted into the present as more individualistic, said Steve Martini, director of recreational services, it used to be more about group activities such as intramural sports.
“Exercise has really changed over the last 20 years,” Martini said. “The focus back in the ’70s, even back in the early times, but up through the ’70s, and the early part of the ’80s was on team sports.”
Derek Jackson ’92, ’15, associate vice president of student life and director of housing and dining, participated during graduate school at K-State from 1989 to 1993, playing football, racquetball, basketball and other sports. He recalled going to the dining hall after a game.
“You sit down at the dining room table, and you know people,” Jackson said. “You talk some smack a little bit or you say ‘great job,’ and then there’s some rivalry that kind of builds up or there’s some support camaraderie that builds up.”
After attending three different institutions for his undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs, Jackson said K-State intramurals stood out.
“K-State by far had the most participation and intensity and the level of professionalism that’s run by the intramural program,” he said. “I was competitive. I was as competitive as you can get, but I played with an attitude of sportsmanship, and I wanted the person I was playing with to be successful as well.”
Today, at 100 years old, the program is still popular among many students. Nathan Brown, Phi Delta Theta intramural chair and senior in computer science, said the program gave him a great leadership opportunity.
“It’s actually been a bigger impact than just playing the sports,” Brown said. “I just think it brings a group of people together to achieve a common goal, and it takes each individual’s effort to achieve that goal.”
Beyond the fraternity and sorority leagues, there are many residence hall floors or just groups of friends that will form independent leagues. Nicki Kirchhoff, intramurals supervisor and junior in agricultural business, played on independent and Co-Ed Rec teams and said some teams are more competitive than others.
While some really want to win the tournament, she said, others just want to have a good time.
“It’s a nice place to let off steam and workout and be around good people,” she said. “Even if you’re really bad, no one cares, they’re just happy you’re there.”
With COVID-19, group sports are currently on hold, but Martini said the plan is to maintain one-on-one sports like badminton, as well as eSports and skills competitions. Currently, the Rec is hoping to have an in-person celebration in the spring for the program’s 100th anniversary.
“Exercise and fitness has been part of life at Kansas State University for 100 years,” Martini said. “It hasn’t come and left and then come back. Exercise has changed, but people socializing and getting together to participate and have fun around certain activities they like is going to continue.”
Note: This article originally appeared in the winter 2020 issue of K-Stater magazine.