PNW intramurals hosted combat archery at the Hammond campus on Feb. 16.

Matt Dudzik said when he was asked to consider combat archery as an intramural, he had to do a little research.

“It’s similar to paintball and even dodgeball, where the object is to hit your opponent,” Dudzik said. “We kind of tweaked the rules toward the size of the gym, the number of people being here and the number of people we can have at once.”

Like a dodgeball match, players start by lining up on the far ends of the court, except they are armed with a single arrow, a bow and a paintball mask.

Competitors move around the court, taking cover behind obstacles and scrounging for arrows to counter their opponent’s attack. Hitting opposing players equals one point. Every time an archer hits a target, they are awarded ten points.

Nicholas Nelson, junior, said that combat archery is what intramurals is all about, meeting new people and playing games.

“It was a lot of fun to shoot at targets and players, and it was actually the first time I ever shot a bow and arrow,” Nelson said.

While the interest for combat archery was developing, Dudzik said he did everything in his power to make sure combat archery could be available for students this season.

“We had the money in the budget this year, so it was easier to buy the equipment,” Dudzik said. “Instead of paying someone else to come, we can run it and keep the equipment ourselves.”

Dudzik said the focus of this new option is to reach people that haven’t found an intramural they’re interested in as well as get students together to better their overall college experience.

“I’m curious to hear feedback on how everyone played,” Dudzik said. “I think everyone had fun. We probably had sixty people here.”

Malcolm Carson, sophomore, said he has experience shooting a bow and arrow, but this was his first experience with combat archery.

“The best part is the competitiveness,” Carson said. “You get out there, you start dodging arrows left and right and you just feel amazing. Way cooler than dodgeball.”

Dudzik said that he is planning a trio of nights in the month of April to provide students more opportunities to play combat archery.