Intramural program adds a new sport to the mix

Fresno State's newest addition to its intramural sports program is co-ed inner tube water polo

By RYAN SMITH

Team registration started Monday for a new intramural sports program — inner tube water polo — just days after Associated Students unanimously approved the necessary $5,988.50 to begin the program, intramural coordinator Bart Ballard said.

Associated Students ensured the new program’s existence last week during a senate meeting when it approved the money for purchase of equipment such as goals, water polo caps and inner tubes, as well as hiring personnel such as a lifeguard and a referee.

Inner tube water polo is similar to original water polo, with one big exception. It requires students to float in inner tubes rather than swim during play. The league will be co-ed and all the games will be played at the pool in the North Gym.

The new game was created by Ballard and Associated Students in order to offer a growing number of intramural participants a wider range of sports to choose from each semester.

While Associated Students overwhelmingly supported the inner tube water polo proposal, Ballard said it has been a project in the making for a couple of years.

“Adding more programs is something I’ve wanted to do for about three or four years,” Ballard said.

“Associated Students kept asking me to add more programs, but we haven’t had the money.

“It’s been very frustrating. I feel like I’ve given this speech about money over and over and all I do is just keep re-talking about the same story to a new group of people every year.”

An opportunity for long sought-after funding came recently, however, when members of the Associated Students finance committee told Ballard that if he had any new ideas for improving the intramural program, he should propose them to the committee.

Ballard said he knows the students involved in Associated Students want what is best for the student body but thinks the bureaucratic process by which money is budgeted is slow and cumbersome.

“Every year there are new students in charge and the only way for them to know what’s going on is for us to keep going back, asking and hoping for money,” Ballard said. “I understand it’s not easy. I go through the same thing with my program — students leave or graduate and all the new people have to be retrained.”

After Ballard finally received the go-ahead to create a new sport, he decided on inner tube water polo, then detailed all the program’s expenses and proposed it to the committee.

Ballard’s proposal appealed to the finance committee members, who then sent it to the senate for approval.

“Intramurals has been growing since it started on campus, and we want the students to be able to access more sports and have more options in order for the program to continue to grow,” finance committee member Raj Badhesha said. “We thought the idea of having inner tube water polo was a great idea.”

Jennifer Reimer, vice president of finance for Associated Students, also thought the new sport would improve the intramural program.

“We seemed to think it was a good idea and we thought it was going to be good for students,” Reimer said. “I think it will be very popular. Intramurals has grown consistently over the years, and I think this new sport will help continue intramurals’ popularity.”

Ballard said he was excited about the addition to his continuously growing program.

“It’s taken a long time to get the program to where it is now,” Ballard said. “For example, we had just 10 basketball teams five years ago, and this year we have over 70 teams.”

“People come out and enjoy it, and then they tell their friends and that’s the way the program grows, through word of mouth,” Ballard said.

Ballard said he expects the same evolution of growth to happen with inner tube water polo.

“We’ll have to drive the word through the dorms and elsewhere around campus,” Ballard said. “Right now, the sport is so new that nobody knows about it, but we should have a good turnout.”

The deadline to register a team for inner tube water polo is Feb. 28 and competition starts on March 1.

At about the same time the inaugural season of this new program starts, Ballard will be back in front of the finance committee, pleading his case for money during Associated Students’ annual budget hearings for the 2005-2006 fiscal year.

Last year’s budget allotted the Intramurals and Recreation program $43,000, which was about $7,000 less than what Ballard had requested. Ballard said he hasn’t determined all of his money needs for the new year but would be very excited if his program could get $50,000 this year.

“Intramurals is a quality program, and the students see that, and Associated Students sees that,” Ballard said. “We finally have some backing by Associated Students and now have an opportunity to make this program a go.”