If you ever walk down to the bottom of Spring Street on a blustery October evening, you might make out impassioned shouts, chants, and cheers coming from just past Farley Lamb Field. You aren’t hearing the end of football practice or eavesdropping on a local cult. Instead, you are listening to the crescendos of intramural (IM) Soccer games in full motion.
If you follow the noise, you will see dozens of athletes spread across half of the makeshift soccer field on the turf inside the track. Some dart across the two demarcated fields, pointing at unmarked opponents, and shouting things like “Man on!,” “Ball!,” “Time!,” and “Switch!” Spectators and substitutes watch excitedly on the sidelines, bouncing on the balls of their feet to keep warm from the cold.
From the hours of 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday, four IM soccer teams battle it out in two small-sided games, 30 minutes each. The 12 teams in the league are split into two pools of six, and the top four teams in each pool move on to tournament play with the chance to win it all.
Assistant Director for Intramural Sports Kris Hoey was described as “The Commissioner of the League” by former IM athlete Matt Kandell ’24, as she works behind the scenes to make IM Soccer possible. Her main role is to encourage students and their friends to form teams, guide new participants through sign-ups, schedule games, and hire student referees and scorekeepers.
While Hoey did not establish IM soccer, she noted that she has added her own flair and structure to the program over her past two seasons as director, such as through her lively game schedule emails.
“I’ll stoke some fires, if you know what I mean,” Hoey said. “For certain teams, I’ll be like, ‘Hm, I wonder who’s going to win this game,’ just to get them talking.”
In one such email, Hoey poked fun at the faculty and staff IM team, the Old Folks in Cleats, writing they had to wear black as their jersey color.
“I said that the reason that they get to wear black is because it reminds them of their childhood, watching a black and white TV,” said Hoey.
“We all love the group emails that we get,” Everett Johnson ’29, captain of More Fruzz, said. “They’re always very snappy and fun.”
According to Hoey, students’ creativity also amplifies the IM soccer experience. “I love when students make their own uniforms or have their coaches come dressed in suits, looking very coachy, and bring a whiteboard,” Hoey said.
How else do IM soccer players let their creativity shine? Look no further than the team names — including The Moo Crew, Freshman 15, SNAR F.C., More Fruzz, and Urine Trouble.
Johnson explained that the name More Fruzz stems from the time he and his first-year friends formed a team for IM frisbee. According to Johnson, the term Fruzz was initially short for “Frisbee Huzz.” Fruzz, he noted, is also an acceptable IM Soccer team name, as it could be short for “Freshman Football Huzz.”
“We do a call and response,” Johnson said. “It’s like, ‘What do we want? Freshmen. When do we want them? NOW!’”
Another team, Urine Trouble, was also formed through first-year connections. Captain Micheala Beckman ’28 explained that her Williams Outdoor Orientation for Living as First-Years (WOOLF) group, B3 In the Woods We Pee, remained friends and formed an IM team.
“We started by playing IM basketball last Winter Study, and we were B3 On the Court We Pee, and then we were like, ‘We need an upgrade,’” said Beckman. “We decided to go with Urine Trouble [for IM soccer].”
Not all teams are centered around such whimsical gags. Muhammad Haad ’26, founder and captain of the team A.J. Memorial, explained that the team was created in honor of his friend Anthony Johnson, who passed away last year.
“He’d been like a big brother to me and some of the guys on the team,” said Haad. “He always looked out for us. That’s why we did it.”
That these diverse backgrounds all crystallize into one IM soccer league is part of what makes the competition so compelling to students, Hoey said.
“It’s just people coming together in a space where they don’t have to be anything else,” Hoey said. “They are coming as an IM athlete, and I think that it’s sort of special.”
Even when more competitive teams play less experienced ones, both enjoy themselves equally, according to Johnson. “IM is a great place because you don’t need to know soccer,” Haad added. “Soccer has a low barrier to entry. It’s not like water polo or horse jumping or something like that. It’s easy to learn and get your friends together and play.”
IM soccer provides an opportunity for casual fun, much needed for students who are often overwhelmed by their busy college lives. “Some of the things that are going on in the world may feel negative,” Hoey said. “It’s just a place to go and to not worry about some of those things and come together as a community over the love of soccer.”
While the program provides a hub of community and connection, it remains a competition. The Spuds, AmanChester, Bottom Feeders, Pique Blinders, SNAR F.C., A.J. Memorial, More Fruzz, and Old Folks in Cleats all advanced to tournament play, which began on Monday. By the end of Wednesday, only two teams will remain.
The final to crown this year’s IM soccer champion will take place on Williamson Field at 8:15 p.m. on Oct. 22.
