Campus sport participation is up. Here’s why.
How The Medium is helping revive a sports culture on campus.

In February 2022, UTM held their first competitive soccer tryouts since cancelling all varsity and tri-campus programs during the pandemic. It was a modest turnout at best, and the lack of awareness meant most of the campus’s best players never ended up hearing about the team until it was too late. In fact, when the following season rolled around, and new, talented players appeared for the first time, I asked them why they hadn’t played the previous season.

“I didn’t even know we had a team.” That was the response I received.

Believe it or not, there was a time when UTM campus culture flourished with sports of all sorts. Indoor ball hockey in particular stole the show in the school paper each week, leaving students flocking to newsstands to see them or their friends being featured in the latest sports stories.

“The newsstands would get depleted,” recalled Zain Fancy, former student, ball-hockey enthusiast, and writer for The Medium in the mid-1990s. “[The Medium] made everything feel bigger than it was.”

The Medium was the driving force that propelled the expansion of UTM’s ball hockey league—a league that, at its peak, constituted 70 men’s and women’s teams and was once hailed as the largest intramural sports program in Canada. 

In the years to come, The Medium’s Sports & Health section shifted further away from campus news, adopting a more “legitimate” approach to sports reporting with a greater emphasis on Toronto’s professional teams. 

But perhaps it was the unprofessionalism of the now-forgotten Sports & Health section—the unrefined prose, the unfiltered opinions, and the unwavering passion for a league that was so, in the grand scheme of things, unimportant—that allowed the section to nurture and grow a campus culture of sport.

If you’ve been following the Sports section so far this year, you would have seen the weekly updates on UTM’s tri-campus soccer teams. Just two weeks ago, men’s soccer completed an undefeated season, winning its first ever league championship. This was the same program that had only made one tri-campus final in the past five seasons and was miles away from ever being considered the top team in the league. While tryouts in 2022 were contained within the tight walls of Gym C, the most recent tryouts were spaced across three different sessions, with over a hundred hopeful players taking to the field to push for a spot on the roster. UTM’s soccer scene, whether that be through tri-campus, intramurals, or even drop-in sessions, has solidified itself as an integral part of our campus’ sports culture.

And it’s not just soccer that’s seeing an uptick in participation. Through the first semester, UTM saw nearly 650 unique participants comprising 114 teams across all intramural sports programs. From spikeball to badminton to dodgeball, UTM students have clearly expressed their desire to get active and take part in the healthy competition offered by the university.

UTM’s Learn to Play programs have also seen increased demand throughout the semester and has provided 138 students the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of new sports in a safe environment, at their own pace.

However, even with the higher levels of participation, the vast majority of UTM students are still uninvolved in the numerous athletic opportunities offered on campus. In fact, according to UTM’s internal records, less than one in ten students are currently registered in a UTM sports program. While The Medium has consistently publicized sports tryout dates, game schedules, and other campus athletic programs, there’s still much work that needs to be done by school administration to engage the student population with the opportunities offered to them. The Department of Recreation, Athletics & Wellness has done a fantastic job providing athletic opportunities for students, but it falls on the larger institution and other student organizations to shape the general sentiment towards campus sports. 

That’s precisely why I’m unapologetic for dedicating one-third of the Sports & Health section each week to tri-campus soccer. Truly, there has been no better sports-related story on our campus this year. It’s something to celebrate, and for our school, one so widely regarded for sciences, math, and even liberal arts programs, it’s essential that we take the time to recognize the value of a sports subculture and its impact on not just student athletes, but campus life and community at its core.

Sports & Health Editor (Volume 51) — Joseph is a recent graduate from UTM, having double-majored in Professional Writing & Communication and Political Science. During his time at UTM, he played on the men’s hockey and soccer teams and was actively involved in the campus’ sports community. Joseph is a strong advocate for a healthy lifestyle, and hopes that as Sports & Health Editor he can encourage students to get involved in campus sports and activities.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *