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.”
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