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(10/23/01 5:11am)
The men's volleyball club looks to make quite a splash this year within both Midwestern and national club sports. The optimism amongst the team is not unfounded. \nLast year's team took fifth in the nation, while losing only two senior players in the process. While Mike Pingeron, an All-American starter on the team last season is gone, the rest of the team is quite confident with this year's roster. \n"We're returning five out of six starters, so I think we're going to be pretty tough this year," A-Team starter and vice president JT Gripe said.\nThe team as a whole is doing well together even after losing an All-American. "We lost a good player, but we're doing pretty well, we're molding as a team," Gripe said.\nHis thinking is also supported with year-long cohesive experience between the returning starters. Team captain and president Jeremy Levy said all of this year's starters will be returning next year providing potential for another ground-breaking run.\nYet returning starters are not the only positive for the team this year. \n"The bench is good, this year we're much more deep than last year, we have two good freshmen who are going to step up this year," Gripe said. "Even if there is an injury amongst the club's starters, there will be an adequate player there to back him up." \nTo further safeguard any shortness of players, the club has a farm system of sorts provided by the B-Team's roster. For most players, the B-Team is not the last stop within the club's road either. \n"If the guys stick with it, next year they have a shot at making A, as long as they work hard," Gripe said, continuing, "We take this very seriously, we work in the off-season a lot on our game."\nThe year's first challenge came Saturday during the Hoosier Illini Classic where the team was in action for the first time this year. The tournament was thought of as a tune-up.\n"It's a small tournament, it's kind of a gear-up tournament for our next weekend which is a lot of good teams in the nation, there's four Top 15 teams in the nation," Levy said.\nWithin the small invitational, the team's bench was strengthened by providing some A-Team players with more playing time.\n"We put three of our A-Team guys on the B-Team just for this tournament, so they can get a little more experience," Gripe said.\nThe Classic proved successful for the team, winning the tournament championship in three games against the Marquette Golden Eagles.\n"We came into the tournament expecting to win and we did what we wanted," starter Jeff Foott said.\nThis successful performance provided a good tune-up for the team, but also showed problems the team can work on while gearing up for next week's tournament at Northern Illinois University.\n"Our defense hasn't been played as strong as we'd like, our passing had been a little bit off, but we hit up front pretty hard," Levy said. \nIf play improves, the team hopes to make an impact nationally.\n"We wanted to make a statement to the other teams in the Midwest that we're going to be the team to reckon with," Foott said. "IU's team can be sure the statement has been made"
(10/16/01 5:50am)
Two people covered in black, body length suits and large metallic helmets stand meters apart with their sword-like Shinais held at an X at the middle of the arena. \nAs if out of a Star Wars movie, the people are about to go into battle, except it\'s not for the \"Force,\" but to defeat their opponent in the sport of Kendo. \nThe word \"Kendo\" translates into \"the way of the sword\" and stems from the words Ken and Do, which mean \"sword\" and \"martial art,\" respectively. It evolves from Samurai warriors based in Japan in the 12th century. But instead of razor sharp Katanas as in the past, Kendo contestants use Shinais, a sword-like staff made from four pieces of bamboo.\nRelative to its feudal Japanese roots, Kendo\'s history as a sport began a short time ago. \n\"Thirty years ago, they made it into a sport, modernized it, made some rules, so now it\'s Kendo,\" said Tae-Yun Koo, president of the IU Kendo Club. Its campus history has been short, with obstacles during its existence.\n\"There was a former club that was here maybe a decade ago that left some equipment,\" William Thompson, Kendo Faculty Sponsor said. The club was based off campus, creating a small barrier for potential members. Shortly afterward, interest in the club fizzled, and it stopped meeting. The club then returned a few years later. \n\"The club was moved onto campus by a student who then graduated, so the club went out again," Thompson said. "This is the second generation of restart for the club.\"\nKoo said there is little doubt that any breakup will ever happen again. \n\"People who sign up as Kendo members are more than 60-70, usually there are 15 who come to the sessions, so it\'s quite a few people when compared to last year,\" Koo said.\nSteps have been taken by the club to combat the chance of another breakup.\n\"For this year, we put more effort into advertising and to recruit some members,\" Koo said. \nAlso aiding in keeping the club together is the diversity of the members. \nMost martial arts classify by women and men, and/or age or weight," Koo said. "We play all together. It doesn\'t matter if you are small, if you are a female, whatever,\"\nThe sport might be exciting to watch for most viewers because of its hard fighting and unique rules compared to other marshal arts. In addition to the use of Shinais, Kendo uses a different sort of graduation system.\n\"There\'s no belt, there is a sophisticated exam,\" Koo said. \"You pass the one level, (then) you have to wait one year to reach the second level and for the third level you have to wait two years.\" \nThe clothing within Kendo is different from other martial arts. Kendo competition participants use \"Hakamas\" or pleated pantaloons along with a \"Do,\" a torso protector made from any hard material and with other types of padding. \nAnother difference is the specific hit points that Kendo participants can use. Koo said there are four different hit points including one\'s head, torso, and neck.\n\"The hits are controlled, short, and powerful,\" Koo said.\nThere are competitions during the year for serious competitors. Koo said the club members travel to places such as Chicago or Detroit to compete against independent and other college clubs.\n\"It\'s good exercise, and I love Kendo, I couldn\'t get out of it," he said. "Sometimes I\'m too lazy to get there, but when I put on my armor, I just want to play."\nFor upcoming competitions and information check out http://php.indiana.edu/~kendo/index.html or come to any of the three practices a week on Tuesday at 9:00 or Thursday at 8:30 in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation building, room 163 or every Sunday at 8 p.m. in room 169.
(10/09/01 5:06am)
Throughout the last decade, womens' sports have made their mark in American society. The United States has witnessed WNBA's introduction in 1997, the 1999 Women's World Cup Championship and the Olympic dominance in softball. \nThe female presence within American sports continues to grow and it seems this trend would follow at all levels, including intramural sports at colleges such as IU.\nBut Assistant Director of Intramural Sports Satoshi Kido said a national trend of falling female intramural participation has occurred during the past few years. At first glance, no feasible cause can be found for such a participation decline with exception of a potential lack of interest.\nWith further analysis, this trend actually has a positive cause. The fall within intramural competition is not caused by a lack of female interest as initial analysis might provide. The reason is less complex, he said.\n"There is simply more choice these days," said Kido. \nThis choice stems from the different forms of recreational athletics that are provided to the average student. \n"There are four programming areas within rec sports; Intramurals is one, Strength and Conditioning is another, Aquatics is one, and Outreach is the fourth," Assistant Director of Special Events Chris Geary said. \nWhen one group is separated into others, participation numbers are guaranteed to fall. \n"Five to 10 years ago, intramurals was the backbone, it was the program of Rec. Sports," Kido said. \nAnother reason for the downward trend is time constraints among potential female intramural athletes. \n"We sometimes ask women why they don't play intramural basketball, and (they say), 'we need to study,'" Geary said, adding that time constraints might be problem. "They don't want to play for five weeks, they just want to play for a day or three or four hours." \nWhile the number of female intramural participants might be decreasing, the number of physical activity participants is increasing. \n"The number of people that use our facilities (and) enroll in our programs is going up," Geary said. "Group exercise is up something like 320 percent."\nThis growth has even caused group exercise leaders to turn people away from overflowed sessions. \nOther than the occasional inconvenience for participants, this is a positive trend for rec sports. Geary said the goal of RecSports is to "Try to get students involved so that they're playing for the rest of their lives,"\nThis drop within female intramural participation has been rampant throughout the country. As for Bloomington, RecSports officials remain confident. \nKido and Downing said that women's participation in intramural sports will remain steady at IU and Geary agreed.\n"It's not by any means that intramurals is going down," Geary said. "It's that women are changing, they're choosing which area they want to get involved with"
(09/25/01 3:54am)
Sports already plays a large part in many IU students' lives; ranging from football tailgating parties to dressing up or painting yourself with as much cream and crimson as possible. \nFor many, being a spectator is the full extent sports plays in a person\'s life. But there is a place where the student doesn\'t just have to watch the game, but rather is in the game -- Recreational Sports located in the HPER and the SRSC.\nThere is a wide range of activities for any student to participate in. IU Rec Sports department has popular sports such basketball and flag football, but offers niche sports, such as table tennis and euchre for men and women. Events and leagues are held in both the fall and spring semesters. \nThroughout the year, there are 24 different sports; giving students various opportunities to compete. Josh Downing, coordinator of Recreational Sports, said there is no discrimination concerning who can participate in activities, adding that there is no age requirement for competitors.\n"Any IU student with a valid ID can participate," Downing said. \nMajor sports like basketball, soccer and tennis are played in multiple formats. Basketball has events like three on three and "Basketball Bonanza," along with multiple five on five tournaments.\nThese tournaments bring in a wide range of student athletes and people looking for something to do. Whether you are in a fraternity or a sorority, undergraduate or working towards a doctorate, you can get involved with a recreational sport.\n"I think there\'s kind of a misperception that it\'s only fraternities and sororities that are playing," assistant director of club sports and intramurals Stacey Hall-Yannessa said. "Even in basketball, there\'s a lot more campus teams than fraternity and sorority teams." \nThe sheer size of the participation within recreational sports shows that fraternities and sororities could not be the only participants. According to Downing, there are about 25,000 total participants, including about 13,000-17,000 people competing in intramurals. \nIn order to combat such numbers, all sports are divided up into divisions, which keeps tournament skill levels fair. According to Kido, intramural competition has remained stable each year.\nWhile intramural participation has been consistent at IU, there is a different trend nationally for women. \n"Nationwide, female participation has been dropping considerably," Kido said, adding that the cause is unknown.\nDowning said the national trend has not held true at IU, where female participation has stabilized.\nRecent changes within Recreational Sports include the switching of soccer and softball between fall and spring semesters. This change has created a fluctuation in the participation of these sports.\n"Softball dropped this year, because we moved to fall semester, to about 170 teams, dropped from 240" Hall-Yannessa said. \nRec Sports is sensitive to the concerns of the students. If there is a change that students feel is needed, such as roster additions, Rec Sports strives to accommodate the participants. \n"The students will give us feedback and we have a council of students who are participants and also employees," Hall-Yannessa said. "They\'re called the intramural sports council -- they provide us guidance on what types of sports students like or sometimes they\'ll even drop a sport that maybe are not as popular," \nRec Sports promotes good sportsmanship and provides an outlet for students to remain active. Kido said intramurals also promote a social atmosphere. \n"It's a good way to meet people and make friends"