As an attempt to increase the amount of sports played at school, TCS 8th grade students are hosting intramurals for the first time.

The Columbus School 8th grade students, with the help of STUCO student Valentina Mesa, are hosting intramurals for the first time. They achieved it by talking to the person in charge of a large department of sports, Luis Fernando Rodriguez.

“We first talked to Ms Vega, the Middle School principal, who told us it was [Luis Fernando Rodriguez, head of Middle School sports] who we should talked to; we organized a meeting with him, and bam! It was all set,” says Valentina Mesa, 8th grade STUCO student.

Intramurals prove to be a large change in the Middle school curriculum, as these students had been wanting intramurals for quite a while now; these games play an important role, as they not only incentivize students to play sports, but provides the school with a healthy environment of competition.

“I came up with the idea with my peers, as they had been asking me to try to get the school to include this; everyone had been wanting intramurals for quite a while,” says Mesa.

Intramurals have proved to be something healthy that students enjoy in the past, as it has been seen throughout the year in high school; it gives the students a healthy, fun activity through which they can unwind after a day of working hard in class; Mesa also says most of the event has already been planned, even if they are missing some pieces.

“[Valentina Mesa] already did most of the effort; we have decided that intramurals will be played days C and E, starting a week from Monday the sixth,” said Luis “Nando” Rodriguez, head of Middle School sports and P. E. teacher.

The event will start off Thursday, November the 9th; it can only be played on days with the schedules C or E, otherwise schedules start to interfere. A few days prior to this date, students will be able to sign up in teams up to 10 people from 6th-8th grade.

“Two tournaments will take place; first the guys’, and when it ends the girls’ one will take place. Intramurals can usually be quite long, so these two events will span a large part of the school year,” says Nando.

Due to the fact that both girls and guys showed a lot of interest for the event, two tournaments will be played, one for each. In prior years, girls have not shown much interest, which is why it is a major change for this year’s cup.

“We hope intramurals can be what we want them to; an event that promotes healthy lifestyle and sports, and in which me and my peers can have fun and share experiences,” says Mesa.