Lyndsay Krisel
Equinox Staff
With the 2013 spring semester in full swing, there are many new and exciting activities for students to take advantage of around campus. The Keene State College Recreation Department’s Intramural Sports Program in particular recently introduced some new tricks and sticks up their sleeves for their beloved competitors.
For any students taken by a good game of pool, the Recreation Department’s Intramural Program has decided to team up with the Night Owl Café, to create an intramural billiards league this spring.
While most students are familiar with the KSC Recreation Department’s exciting games, ranging from 3-on-3 basketball, to floor hockey, volleyball, indoor soccer and even pickle ball, others prefer the laid back style of pool or table tennis, in the game room of the Young Student Center.
Night Owl teams up with intramural sports for billiards
This new billiards league is an excellent way to incorporate a little competition to some good clean fun, as well as an opportunity for students to strike an 8-ball and win a T-shirt.
According to Intramural Sports Coordinator Taylor Tully, the rules of the game are quite basic for any game of pool, shooting stripes and solids into the holes and then competing for the 8-ball. The game also allows students at any playing level to join. Tully mentioned that this was not the first time intramural sports has collaborated with the Night Owl Cafe to create some unique games.
“We teamed up last semester for a table tennis tournament, as well as an indoor mini triathlon, which was started last spring, and we really liked the collaboration,” Tully said.
In terms of playing games, and drawing attention to both the intramural program and game room, collaboration on campus has been a big help. Tully explained, “Because both departments are involved, it does help for collaboration on campus, but also they have the equipment and we have the knowledge of running the team aspect of sports.”
The man with the story behind this idea lies in the hands of Night Owl Café Manager Gino Vallante, who said that he often tries to think of new programs to organize for students on campus every semester. He said, “There’s been a lot of collaboration between what people do in game rooms and student centers and what Intramural Sports does with ping pong tournaments and such, so I said, ‘We should have a billiards league!’”
Vallante explained that most of the programming that the Young Student Center does is collaborative, whether they are working with the Student Activities Council, Recreation Center, Pride Club and many other co-sponsored groups. “It’s a great way to combine resources, plan an event, and draw more people,” Vallante said.
These combined group efforts are not only a great way to promote some fun games, but it is also something to be deeply admired, that these departments have the resources to be able to create something new and original, to keep the interest of students here at Keene.
There are several ways to get involved on campus, if students find the will to do it. “Opportunities are available all around campus, you just got to get out there to find them,” Vallante commented.
Senior Stephan “Drew” Rolfe recently joined the billiards league with some friends of his, and is pretty excited for its turnout this season. He explained that he got into pool after his dad bought a table back home, where they’d have some father-son bonding and compete against each other.
“It’ll be some good practice for when I go home to play him,” Rolfe said, “maybe I’ll actually win.” Rolfe also suggested that a league like this could benefit even further from advertisements where students would see them more, such as the dorms on campus.
He said, “If you were to put stuff where [people] would actually see it more, I feel like it would definitely catch your eye, because who doesn’t like chilling out with their buddies, watching TV and playing some pool?”
One other specific detail Rolfe pointed out is the “unity” or collaborative efforts put into creating a league such as this. He mentioned, “It shows unity between everything, that our school is very connected and can work together on several different levels, and utilize everything we have.”
Some other different games to look for this spring include a bowling league, softball tournament and the March Madness Skills Challenge, which according to Tully, is composed of a mix of shoot-out basketball games, that is set to take place after the NCAA selection show this March, so be on the lookout and get involved this semester.
Lyndsay Krisel can be contacted at
lkrisel@ksc.keene.edu