Intramurals will be offering two new sports this spring, handball and combat archery.

Handball, a team sport, will be a one-night event on Feb. 9. There are two teams of seven players, six outfielders and one goalkeeper. The players on each team pass the ball using their hands with the aim of throwing the ball into the goal.

Matt Dudzik, assistant athletics director for facilities and recreational sports, said the handball idea came from watching the Summer Olympics. He hopes students will gain interest.

“The game is very popular in the Olympics and is fast-paced and high scoring. We are only going to a do a one-night open play to see if there is any interest in doing it more often,” Dudzik said.

Combat archery will also be a team sport, and it’s similar to paintball. Instead of using paint to hit an opponent, soft tip arrows will be used. There will be two teams, and a team loses by getting hit by arrows. Dudzik said that before adding combat archery to the intramurals schedule, it had been talked about by several students. It will also be a one-night event on Feb. 16.

Intramurals will start with open play dodge ball on Jan. 19, an air hockey tournament on Jan. 30 and a four-on-four bowling league on Jan. 31. The games will be played at Highland Plaza Lanes and will be eight weeks long. The cost will be $20 per person, which covers the entire eight weeks.

On Feb. 2, there will be open play bubble soccer. The games for the four-on-four soccer league season will be played Monday nights starting Feb. 6. A 3-point and free throw contest will be on Feb. 15, and a five-on-five basketball league season will start Feb. 19 with games each Sunday. Another contest offered in February will be a Twinkie eating contest on the 23rd.

Ping-Pong, coed volleyball and ultimate Frisbee will be offered in March. Ping-Pong starts on March 1 and will be one-on-one. Volleyball will be six-on-six with its season starting on March 2 and games played Thursday nights. Ultimate Frisbee will be a league with games each Tuesday starting March 28. There will also be a laser tag tournament on April 1 at St. John’s Zig-E’s Funland.

Dudzik said that there were more consistent participants in Fall 2016 compared to Fall 2015’s season. He said this past season was successful because teams were not forfeiting.

“As the season goes on, teams tend to fall apart for various reasons. That didn’t exist this fall. No matter how badly teams played, they still had fun and came out each week,” Dudzik said. “They got what the whole concept of the program is about, having fun and meeting other students and employees.”

Adrian Alvarez, a consistent participant of intramurals and senior marketing major, said he is glad he has been able to participate in intramurals during his time at PNW.

“I found out about intramurals through email, and I continued to go because of how much fun it is. I even keep contact with some people I have met there as well as Matt Dudzik,” Alvarez said.

Alvarez said that handball and combat archery are great additions and that he would like to participate in them to get a new and fun experience.

Dudzik said he looks forward to all the activities offered and the different students he meets because of the activities. He said he enjoys when the participants tell him they had fun.

“I enjoy when the event is over, whether it’s a one-night, open play, tournament or a league, and the participants tell you they look forward to doing it again,” Dudzik said. “It tells me that my staff and I have done our jobs.”

Dudzik said intramurals brings students together and hopes to see returning participants as well as new ones.

Alvarez said students should try what intramurals has to offer even if they are not familiar with the activities. He also said the intramurals program is important.

“The intramurals program is important because PNW might be relatively small, but the intramural program is by far one of the best I’ve heard about, and what Matt Dudzik does for the program all year around is great,” Alvarez said. “It’s a great way to have fun, and it’s awesome. You meet people participating in a sport you may have not known you were good at or even liked. The program is run by respectful and approachable people, and I hope it continues to grow.”

For more information on intramurals, call Matt Dudzik at (219) 989-2050 or email him at [email protected]