Dive into intramural sports this semester with inner-tube water polo, one of three new sports offered by the Department of Recreational Sports.

The department has taken this intense sport and added the twist of the inner-tube so anyone can play.

Players will have a ball and will have to to move themselves around the pool and throw the ball into the other team’s net. They have to stay seated in their inner-tubes at all times. According to SMU’s Intramural Coordinator, Jack Harper, the rules will not change-they will only be simplified.

Water polo will add more variety to SMU intramural sports. Nina Pantera, a junior from San Francisco, has participated in intramurals since her freshman year and cannot wait to participate in inner-tube water polo.

“It’s not something you would play on a regular basis,” Pantera said. “It’s something competitive but you can goof around at the same time.”

Senior Kristen Smith from Mission Hills, Kan., agreed the originality of the sport may make it popular.

“It’s not a wimpy sport and it sounds like a lot of fun because the title has ‘inner-tube’ in it,” Smith said.

Water polo begins on Oct. 16 and the registration deadline is Sept. 29.

Along with inner-tube water polo, Recreational Sports has added sand volleyball and water volleyball to its long list of sports. Play for each has already been offered this semester. Harper said sand volleyball will be offered again in the spring and water volleyball may be offered again in the fall next year.

Sand volleyball saw some success in its first semester with eight teams of four players showing up to play. Harper believes the sand volleyball was more popular than the water because it allowed students to go outside and have a good time. Sand volleyball is also a competitive sport and popular on the West Coast.

Pantera believes the addition of some new, original sports will increase student participation, something the Department of Recreational Sports wants to happen. Judith Banes, director of recreational sports and spirit, believes that the ability to offer more sports will definitely attract more participation.

“It is one of those ‘happenings’: the more you have, the more will come,” Banes said. “‘If you build it, they will come.'”

Build it, they did. The Dedman Center for Lifetme Sports was constructed to increase the space allotted for intramurals, as well as the number of sports played. Banes said when discussing the outdoor area planners debated whether or to have two sand volleyball courts, or one volleyball court and one outdoor basketball court. The idea for two volleyball courts won, because for intramurals when one league has play at least two courts are needed. The indoor soccer court was created, not only because a basketball court would not work on that end of the center, but also because recreational sports felt a soccer court would allow for intramural competition.

The aquatic center in the Dedman Center is another area that will benefit intramurals, as seen through inner-tube water polo and water volleyball. Aquatics coordinator, Sarah Donahue, said the aquatic center was also designed with intramural sports in mind. The designers made sure to add a lot of different options so many games could be played at the same time. With the additional space in the aquatic center, Donahue said Recreational Sports has the potential to add water basketball as an intramural sport along with water volleyball. Water polo was a large consideration.

“We also were wanting to attract water polo players for club or intramural sports because there are a lot of students that have been involved in water polo in high school,” Donahue said.

Donahue believes pool sports will attract students who may otherwise not have participated.

The want and need for participation in intramural sports comes from the importantance of intramurals to the SMU community. Harper stressed that intramurals increase a university’s retention by helping students get involved on campus.

“Intramurals provides opportunities to all people to become more involved in the university,” Harper said. “They help students to adjust to life in the university setting while getting to know new friends.”