Intramural sports

Intramural sports, also known as interhall sports, hall sports, or (in collegiate universities) intercollegiate sports or college sports, are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, for the purpose of fun and exercise. The term is chiefly North American,^[1] although the concept originates from the United Kingdom and the term has been adopted there. Dating to the 1840s,^[2][3] the term is derived from the Latin words intra muros meaning "within walls",^[2][3] and was used to describe sports matches and contests that took place among teams from "within the walls" of an institution or area. It is contrasted with extramural, varsity or intercollegiate (US) sports, which are played between teams from different educational institutions.^[4][5] The word intermural, which means "between institutions",^[6] is a common error for "intramural".^[5][7]

Sport became established within English universities in the 19th century,^[8][9][10] although the earliest reference to medieval football being played by students in Oxford dates back to the 14th century.^[11][12] The oldest competitive intramural sport is inter-collegiate rowing at Oxford University, where the first known competition was in 1815 with Brasenose College winning and Jesus College being possibly their only competitor.^[13] The colleges of Oxford, Cambridge and Durham provided a natural focus for sporting activity, and by the end of the 19th century inter-collegiate sports competitions (including many of the cuppers at Oxford and Cambridge) were well established at all three universities.^[14][15][16]

Intramural sport was also played at some US universities in the 19th century, such as the baseball match between freshmen and sophomores at Princeton in 1857.^[17] This division by graduating class was followed at other US universities. By the 1880s, Yale had a college rowing championship, contested by class crews, and a class baseball championship.^[18] At Harvard, at around the same time, it was complained that "Each class has its own crew ... But the class nine and the class elevens exist only in name." ^[19]

The first intramural sports departments in the United States were established in the 20th century at Ohio State University and the University of Michigan in 1913.^[20][21] Elmer Mitchell, a graduate student, at the time, was named the first Director of Intramural Sports at the University of Michigan in 1919. The first sports facility in the country dedicated to recreational sports opened at the University of Michigan in 1928.^[22] Mitchell went on to write Intramural Athletics (1925)^[23] and Intramural Sports (1939),^[24] and became known as "the father of intramural sports".^[25] One of Mitchell's students in 1946 was William Wasson, who founded the National Intramural Association (later the National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association; NIRSA) at a meeting of intramural directors from 11 Historically Black Colleges and Universities in 1950.^[26]

Colleges at the University of Adelaide compete across multiple sports for the High Table Cup, also known as the Douglas-Irving Cup.^[27]

The Canadian Intramural Recreation Association was established in 1977 to share information and facilitate professional development in secondary and tertiary institutions in Canada, but became inactive in the 1990s. The Western Canadian Campus Recreation Association was established in 2009 and became the Canadian Campus Recreation Association in 2012. In 2013, they opened discussions with the US NIRSA about establishing a Canadian chapter within NIRSA, and in 2017 NIRSA established a Canada region.^[28][29]

The Ontario Intramural Recreation Association was established in 1969. After the formation of CIRA, this became CIRA Ontario in 1989.^[29] It remains active as a charity promoting intramural and recreational sports in Ontario.^[30]

Universities in the United Kingdom offer recreational sports within the university. At the collegiate universities of Cambridge, Durham, Oxford, Lancaster and York, recreational sport takes place between colleges and is known as college sport, inter-college sport, or inter-collegiate sport.^{[31][32][33][34][35]} More generally, recreational sport within a university in the United Kingdom is often called intramural sport.^{[36][37][38][39][40]} Recreational sport exists alongside varsity matches with rival universities and inter-university competitions organized by British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS).^[41][42] In terms of participation, Durham University's college sports is the largest intramural programs in the UK and one of the largest the world, with over 75% of students taking part in sports and more than 550 college teams across 18 sports.^[43]

Matches between representative intramural teams at different universities are sometimes arranged, such as the intramural varsities between Loughborough intramural sports teams and Durham college teams and between Loughborough intramural sports teams and Nottingham intramural sports teams,^[44] and the college varsity between college teams from Durham and York.^[45] College teams also participate in the Roses Tournament between York and Lancaster^[46] In the past, a men's and women's intercollegiate boat race was part of the Henley Boat Races between Oxford and Cambridge. College boat clubs from Oxford, Cambridge and Durham often compete in external events such as the Head of the River Race.^[47]

One particular form of intramural competition is between medical schools and the rest of the university. This is found at places like Imperial College London, where Imperial Medics play the rest of Imperial College in the Imperial Varsity,^[48] and King's College London, where Guy’s, King’s College and St Thomas medical school play the rest of King's for the Macadam Cup.^[49]

NIRSA provides a national network of nearly 4,500 highly trained professionals, students and associate members in field of recreational sports.^[50]

As in the UK, intramural sports at universities where all students belong to a residential college may be organized along college lines, e.g., at Harvard and Yale.^[51][52] At others, such as Rice University, there is a distinction between college sports and intramural sports more generally.^[53] A third option, such as at the University of California, San Diego, is that intramural sports are separate from the residential college organization.^[54] Some residential universities, such as Notre Dame, run specific interhall competitions alongside open intramural competitions.^[55]

• College sports
• Physical education class
• Team sport