You Ask, We Answer: What’s the Difference between Intramurals, Club Sports & Varsity Sports?

Thanks to Associate Athletic Director for Recreation Rob Thompson for helping us answer this question!

There are plenty of ways to get active and involved in sports at PLU, whether you’re looking for competition, skill-building, or just some fun with friends.

Here’s a breakdown of what it means to play intramurals, club sports, and varsity sports:

Intramurals

• The Basics: Intramural (aka IM) Sports are a fun and casual way to be active, be social, play a sport you enjoy and/or try something completely new. You compete only against other PLU students (or faculty and staff, who can also participate in IM!), and games are supervised by student workers to keep everything running smoothly.
• Skills/Experience: None needed! No tryouts or practice is required, and players of all skill levels are welcome.
• Competition Level: Whatever you make it. You can opt into an Advanced or Beginner division for most of the leagues we offer to best fit your level. The point of intramurals is to have fun, make friends, stay active, and get involved in friendly competition. (And to win an IM championship t-shirt.)
• Commitment: Low. Teams usually play once or twice a week for a short season, 3-4 weeks.
• IM Leagues at PLU: There are usually ~30 throughout the year, and range from the more ‘traditional’ sports (flag football, soccer, volleyball, basketball, etc.) to more niche like spikeball, innertube water polo, badminton, and Washington State’s official sport, pickleball!
• How to get involved at PLU: Create an account on IMLeagues.com or the PLU Rec app. You can sign up as a free agent to join a team, or create a team with friends.

Club Sports

• The Basics: Club Sports include teams of students who do compete against other colleges, and have coaches to guide the team.
• Skills/Experience: Club sports are open to all skill levels – whether you’re completely new to the sport, or have experience.
• Competition Level: You will be competing against club sports teams from other schools – competition is more serious, but not at varsity level.
• Commitment: Medium. Teams usually practice 2-3 times a week, and there is travel involved through the season (mostly local).
• PLU Club Sports: There are currently five active Club Sports: Men’s & Women’s Wrestling, Men’s Lacrosse, Men’s & Women’s Ultimate Frisbee.
• How to get involved at PLU: Reach out directly to the team or fill out our interest form. A coach or team captain will contact you with practice info and answer any questions.

Varsity Sports

• The Basics: PLU Varsity Athletics are part of Northwest Conference of NCAA Division III. NCAA Division III has a focus on the student-athlete experience and does not offer athletic scholarships.
• Skills/Experience: Our professional coaches do have a recruiting process – and some require tryouts. Most of our student-athletes have deep experience in their sport – there are exceptions, notably for the rowing and lacrosse varsity teams – students don’t need to have experience in those sports to play on the varsity team.
• Competition Level: The Northwest Conference is a competitive Division III conference, and our PLU varsity teams have a tradition of success (including 11 nation championships and 280+ conference championships!).
• Commitment: High, including daily and off-season practices and travel.
• PLU Varsity Sports: There are 18 Varsity Sports: Baseball (M), Basketball (M, W), Cross Country (M, W), Football (M), Golf (M, W), Lacrosse (W), Rowing (W), Soccer (M, W), Softball (W), Swimming (M, W), Track & Field (M, W), and Volleyball (W).
• How to get involved at PLU: The best way to get started is to complete a recruiting form for the sport(s) you want to play.