The Story

Unconditional Member of the Tribe

Aug. 15, 2008 | By Joseph Quinn, DSJ Guest Columnist

It was down to the final shot. One of my fellow hall-mates had just placed the ball on the penalty spot and took several steps backward, pacing out the appropriate distance between him and the ball. He put his arm up, my RA whistled and the player charged forward, but before he could finish, I stole the opportunity, launching the ball well off target.

I just missed the window, instead blasting the ball into an opponent’s stomach. A playfully angry riot ensued, leaving me begging for mercy after being pelted by an assortment of soccer balls, tennis balls and Frisbees. So ended a typical session of Hall Olympics. Minus the skateboard and rolling desk-chairs.

The games invented and played on my freshman hall rank among the best experiences I’ve had at college.

One event, known now as peanut butter bowling, always attracted large crowds and made for a great time - at least, until the jar exploded against the wall. Then we stopped playing for a while.

Hall soccer was also a favorite: crowding an excessive number of people into an arena that lacked the capacity for anything larger than a 1 v. 1 competition was always a challenge that was somehow met with great enthusiasm.

When the hall just simply couldn’t handle our sheer numbers, our sheer mad skills, or our RA’s sheer frustration, we took our antics outside. From Wiffle Ball to Frisbee, and from the Fruit Bowl to Cricket, we whet our athletic pallets with a great diversity of both established games and puerile machinations. We were a group of champions…


Athletics at William and Mary come in literally every size and shape. Some people see the College as a haven for nerds without a great football program. Others hold a different but equally pessimistic outlook: the College’s nationally-ranked soccer, field hockey, cross country and track and field programs are inaccessible and will bar them from ever participating in the sports that they loved in high school.

I myself took the latter of these attitudes as my freshman year approached. I was the captain of my mediocre high school cross-country team, and played starting left bench in soccer. How could I ever enjoy athleticism with a team ever again?

Sorry about that. Sometimes I get a little over-dramatic. It didn't turn out that way in the end.

In reality, almost everyone at the College enjoys athletics, and truly everyone can get involved. From varsity sports to club athletics to intramurals and even goofing off with friends, you will not stop enjoying the activities you love over your four years on campus.

Are you adventurous of spirit? If so, extend your boundaries and try to enjoy a game or sport that you weren’t forced to try in your high school P.E. class.

On my first night at the College, for example, my freshman hall went to the Sunken Gardens to play a game of Ultimate Frisbee with another hall. I went into that game not knowing what “Ultimate” was, or even how to throw a Frisbee, and now- well, at least I now know what Ultimate is.

While we didn’t get the ice cream that my RA conditionally promised with our loss, my entire hall had a blast. With an insurmountable quantity of faux intensity, we stormed the gardens with our minds set on the prize, but walked away as a group of people who had something to laugh about, as a group of friends who just got their butts handed to them in a game of Frisbee.

And we loved it.

As you can see from my nostalgia trip, active life and sports at William and Mary are an amazing way to weave yourself into the campus' close-knit community. Those with mad skills reserve judgment on the less able, allowing sports to be a means of bonding rather than a cutthroat contest of skill and strength.

Don’t get me wrong - if you’re talented and want to compete with the best of them, you can do that here. But no matter where you are on the grand scale of athletic ability, fellow students are always fellow members of the Tribe before anything else.

So go ahead, grab a group of friends and head to the Rec Center for some racquetball or an aggressive (yet goofy) game of dodge ball. Design your own unique and intriguingly offensive Frisbee golf course, with Lord Botetourt’s Statue and Lucian Minor’s obelisk gravestone as target holes. Join an intramural team and battle it out for those incredibly attractive IM Champions T-shirts. Or just head to the Sunken Gardens for a classic game of midnight Ultimate Frisbee.

And know that everyone here is ready to get out there and do it with you.


Joseph Quinn is a guest opinions contributor to The DSJ. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the entire staff.


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