For the first time since 2018, UNK Campus Recreation hosted an intramural battleship competition. The event took place last week in the pool at the Kearney Family YMCA.
Campus Recreation previously offered this competition when there was a pool on campus. A partnership with the aquatics department at the Kearney Family YMCA presented an opportunity to revive the event.
“Anytime we can offer students a new and unique opportunity to play a sport or work as a team, then we’ll try to find it,” said Jack Scrimger, sport programs coordinator for Campus Recreation.
The game is played with four or five canoes and three people on each boat. Frisbees and buckets are used to splash water into opponents’ canoes to try to sink them. The frisbees are also used as paddles to row the canoes around in the pool.
Participants were not allowed to empty water out of their own canoes and could not touch their opponents’ equipment.
When a team’s canoe sinks, they are out of the round. Points are given for the order each boat is sunk, with the last boat afloat earning the most points.
Fifty-eight students participated in 19 teams. There were four sessions, each lasting 45 minutes. Three rounds were played within each session.
Scrimger said there was a lack of photos and videos from when they previously offered this event, which made promotion a challenge. Campus Recreation gathered a group of students to help create new promotional content and began promoting the event on the UNK Intramurals Instagram page in early February.
“I was a part of the promo video for this, and it was pretty fun, so I decided why not do it again?” said Rebecca Williams, a sophomore studying math and computer science.
Williams was a part of the Sunken Ships team, who stayed afloat to win the first session.
Scrimger said the intramural staff assess their one-day events each semester. If they feel students enjoyed the battleship event and operations went smoothly, Campus Recreation will consider putting on more battleship competitions in the future.
“It’s pretty fun, like I wish it wasn’t a one-day event,” said Elizabeth Cifuentes, a senior majoring in K-12 health and physical education.
Scrimger also said they will continue to partner with the Kearney Family YMCA as well as the Big Apple Fun Center to offer students more unique intramural opportunities.
Campus Recreation is hosting other one-day events this semester, including laser tag, wrestling, UNO, track and field, disc golf, 3-on-3 basketball, badminton and bucket golf. Registration for Spring Session 2 is open, and students can sign up on the IMLeagues app or website.
