Cedars, January 2019

January 2019 19 SPORTS by Tim Smith Intramural sports are a vital aspect to the Cedarville student community and a popular activity on campus. But, an inter- esting idea arose during lunch between the male Resident Directors one day. What if we created an event that created tradition across campus and increased involvement in intra- mural sports? From this lunch meeting, the Director’s Cup was born. Brock RD Adam Southerland said they wanted to create tradition among the differ- ent intramural teams and sports. “The Director’s Cup is an interhall com- petition,” Southerland said. “There have al- ways been good teams, but there is no real reputation among teams. There are some stereotypes among the dorms, but we want- ed to create some real competition between the dorms.” Starting this semester, the male dorms will take part in this campus-wide event. The Cup will involve five sports from the spring intramural lineup: 5 vs 5 basketball, dodgeball, indoor soccer, ultimate Frisbee and volleyball. But there are many oppor- tunities for participants to score points for their dorm. “At the end of the sport’s season, we will look at the tournament ranking,” Southerland said. “If there is a tie, then we look at the season ranking. We take the top team from each dorm based on these rank- ings. There are also possibilities of bonuses for teams, like if a team not only is the best team in dorm rankings but is the overall champion or runner-up for the sport.” Not every team, though, is eligible for the Director’s Cup. To qualify for the Cup and to represent a dorm, all students on the team must live in the dorm, except for one. The extra player, though, must have lived in the dorm last year. Dorms are not just competing for brag- ging rights, thought that might be enticing enough. Each RD put $50 of his dorm bud- get toward the pot, and the winning dorm takes it all. Southerland says there are also plans to have some sort of physical embodi- ment of the Cup. “The goal is to achieve a traveling tro- phy, an actual Director’s Cup that the dorm can put in the office and earn bragging rights over other dorms for the year,” Southerland said. Students around campus are excited for the event and believe it will be a true benefit to campus. “It helps build community within the dorms by making the competition bigger than just individual teams. You’re also play- ing for your dorm,” Lawlor resident Carter Miedema said. “Furthermore, it supports SGA’s idea of Better Together. The dorms are participating in already existing campus events instead of making their own.” Jacob Oedy, a resident of Brock Hall, has a similar attitude toward the Cup. “Sports and competition are easy ways for guys to get to know each other and bond. I think this will be an effective way to get whole dorms involved in not only benefi- ciary physical activity, but also social events where we can make connections and just have fun.” Along with increasing involvement and community, the Director’s Cup seeks to in- crease support at intramural events. “I think it will increase student in- volvement and attendance in intramural events because people like cheering on their friends and their dorms,” Southerland said. Though this spring is just a trial run for the Cup, Southerland thinks it has true potential to become an annual tradition on campus. “If it goes well and we seem to get a lot of involvement for both dorms and intra- murals in general, then we are going to im- plement it for fall and spring semester next year,” he said. The Director’s Cup officially began Jan. 14, the start dates for 5 vs 5 basketball and indoor volleyball. The Cup will run the en- tire semester until all five sports have fin- ished. Then a champion will be crowned. In the future, the Director’s Cup could see many changes and adaptations to help fit campus: adding other sports, including female dorms, and creating teams for the townhouses. For now, Southerland believes the strategy they have set up is best, and that it will benefit not only students, but all of campus. “Hopefully,thisissomethingreallygood for the campus, community and the dorms.” Tim Smith is a freshman journalism major and staff writer for Cedars. He loves foot- ball, 3 Musketeers candy, and primarily speaking in movie quotes. Director’s Cup Makes Debut in Spring Semester Photo by Mask Productions Intramural basketball is one of five sports included in the Director’s Cup this spring.