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Colleges with Sports: Your Options

Whether you’re playing or watching, colleges with sports offer many alternatives.

Even if you’re not the athletic type, colleges with sports still have a lot to offer in the way of non-competitive sports activities or simple sports-related activities that all students can enjoy.

On the other hand, some college offer few or no sport. Many students are fine with that– and may even prefer it. But you don’t have to be a superstar athlete to enjoy colleges with sports. Just make sure you choose a college that will allow you to involved as little or as much as you would like.

Playing Intramural or Club Sports

Club sports, often referred to as intramural sports, are non-competitive sports leagues for students. Students form their own teams and play against one another in a relaxed low-key setting. There’s no big pressure to win games or championship. The whole point is to have fun. This makes intramural and club sports a great way to get involved in student life on campus.

Most schools offer some type of intramural or club sports program, but some colleges have more options, including sports you may never have even heard of. Available sports options vary from one school to the next and can include everything from touch football to ultimate Frisbee, soccer, Frisbee golf, and more.

Playing Varsity Intercollegiate Sports

For those students who are interested in participating in a sport at a more competitive level, many schools have their own varsity sports teams which compete at the intercollegiate level.

In the case of varsity intercollegiate sports, there is much more pressure to be athletically successful. Most teams hold tryouts and have mandatory practices almost daily. The pressure is high because varsity sports teams are expected to represent their respective college as a whole. Unlike intramural or club sports, in varsity sports there is pressure to win games and championship titles.

Elite athletes have their choice of colleges where they can play varsity sports. Other colleges have tryouts that are much more open. If playing varsity sports is important to you, gauge your chances of making the team.

Cheering on a College Sports Team

Colleges with sports offer more than simply the option to play a sport. At many schools, a high-profile school sports team – often a basketball or football team – can attract a lot of attention and serve as a basis for a social system for students.

Students go with friends to watch games and cheer on the team at home games, will join their buddies at a bar to drink watch televised away games, throw tailgate parties on game day, and party into the wee hours on nights when the team wins big. In this way, colleges with sports can provide a fantastic sense of camaraderie among fellow students.

Zero Interest in Sports?

If you have absolutely zero interest in playing or watching sports, and the thought of partying to celebrate the football team’s big win is completely ludicrous to you, that’s okay.

There are plenty of colleges where sports have little to no significance on campus. Many smaller liberal arts colleges place almost no emphasis on sports teams, for example.

If you do end up at a college where the football team seems to be the center of student social life, don’t despair! At any college campus, there will always be more than one social option. Check campus billboards and student newspapers for notices about more offbeat social events.

Just because a college seems to be focused on a sports team doesn’t mean that every single student there feels that way. You’re sure to find non-sports related friends and social activities.