Intramural forfeits perturb players

By Patrick Eland

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Forfeit is typically associated with a lot of things— defeat, give up, lose, surrender. But when “forfeit” is used in reference to an intramural game, just one word comes to mind: laziness.

Even though most students involved in intramural sports participate, some seldom show up for what the sign up for.

Matt Beck, intramurals coordinator, said flag football, which consists of about 140 teams and a three-week season, had 41 forfeits this year. Only ten of those teams have paid their forfeit fees. He said sand volleyball has had 26 forfeits in its two-week season, and only four teams that have paid their forfeit fees.

“We don’t want your team signing up for all these leagues if you’re not having any intent to be there,” Beck said. “Don’t take a spot in the league away from somebody else that wants to play.”

“It really makes me upset when I take the time to drive all the way over there, and then I don’t get to play, because the other guys were too lazy to show up,” Aaron Flickinger, McPherson junior, said.

Almost every intramural sport at the University requires an entry fee from each team, usually between $10 and $20. The fee is used to pay referees and show that each team is committed to playing, Beck said.

After paying the entry fee, each team signs up for a day of the week and a time slot on that day as to when it will be playing all of its games.

Flickinger said teams sign up for day and time slots that it knows it will be able to make it to each week, but teams wait until the last minute. These teams end up with time slots that they agree to just because they want to be a part of the league, but then don’t end up showing up for any of their games.

“I understand what teams go through when they have to have a forfeit,” Weston Pletcher, Rosalia junior, said. “It’s pretty aggravating, because you take time out of your day to show up and play and then they don’t show up.”

When a team forfeits its game, they must pay a $10 fee within three days of being contacted by intramural services, or the team is dropped from the league. Each team is only allowed two forfeits before being removed from the league. Teams that do not pay the fee will not be able to register for any other sports until it is paid.

Beck said forfeits from rescheduled games, which are randomly assigned and without either team’s input, are usually dealt with more leniency. It often won’t count toward a team’s forfeit tally, or the team won’t be charged the fee.

— — Edited by Jacob Muselmann

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