When I began my first year at Yale, my residential college, Trumbull, had just come off a Tyng Cup high. The Tyng Cup is the trophy of excellence awarded to the best residential college within intramural sports. If you’re not sure what intramurals (or IMs as we call them), are, think of the Disney Channel Olympic Games. Teams are based on residential college and anyone is welcome to play any available sport. There’s everything from volleyball to badminton, frisbee, and even bowling! Despite the pandemic, IMs are still happening, although there have been some shifts: this year students are playing socially distant games like spikeball, cornhole, and bocce.
The last time I participated in IMs was my first year. I went to a volleyball game and it was really fun…but I never went again. Not because I wasn’t interested, but because I just didn’t have the time. But this year two of my roommates and fellow FroCos are IM secretaries (the people who organize the games and tournaments for their respective residential college). And somehow they’ve convinced me that I must play some IM games before graduating this spring (but really they just need to get more players out to games). “It’s the last time ever that we’ll be able to do this,” as my best friend and Head IM secretary, Adia, said. And she’s right. I’m realizing how full of “lasts” this year is.
During the pandemic, IMs look a bit different in that everyone has to maintain a six feet distance and wear masks (there’s also much more sanitary procedures in between games and cleaning the equipment). And yet, IM secretaries and students have made the best of the situation and come out to the games to have a good time. This Thursday, I attended a badminton game with a few of my suitemates. It was the first time I played a badminton game at Yale ever, and the first time I’ve played the sport since my senior year of high school (about 4 years ago). It was a really fun!
Me and my first-year Matt in action
The team we played, Pierson College, was very positive and had great sportsmanship. I played a round of mixed doubles with one of my first-years and we won! I was really bad at serving but we were still, somehow, on a roll, slamming the birdie down on the other team. More than winning or playing, it was great to hang out with my frosh outside of Trumbull and the obligatory FroCo-ing duties. And I got to watch and cheer for my friends and fellow Trumbullians on their A-game wacking the tiny birdie across the gym. Ultimately, we ended up in a tie with Pierson, and in the extra time we had left, we just played for fun. It was a great way to connect with others (safely) in a friendly, competitive setting. And for that one hour time block, I felt like we were being allowed this tiny moment of normalcy, in this case: one IM game at a time. #MOORAH#Trumbull4lyfe
My roommate Jewel post badminton