For the love of the game.
This phrase is a popular reason as to why athletes play sports and compete every day. For many students here on campus, they play intramurals because they miss playing sports in high school and competing against other people.
But the real reason that many students compete at intramurals is for the beloved t-shirt. The t-shirt has long been the reward for the winner of each individual sport for intramurals. Wearing the shirt on campus has long been a way for students to show other students that they won the shirt.
'I would say that the reason I play intramurals at BYU is because of the shirt,' Brandon Griffeth, a student from Marietta, Ga. said. 'If I just wanted to get some exercise and participate in an organized sport, I could join any city league in the area but when you have that shirt, you can walk around campus letting others know you're the man.'
For many, graduating high school means an end to their sporting careers. On average, only two percent of college seniors earn a college scholarship and many jump on the opportunity to play intramurals. It can help them to feel like they are competing for something special.
'Winning that shirt is almost as good as being on one of the actual teams,' Josh Maxwell, a senior studying biology said. 'People look at you like you're something special. It is the most coveted shirt on campus.'
Because it is one of the most coveted shirts on campus, many students will try for many years to earn a shirt.
'Well I just played Frisbee since 2006 and we just won the shirt, and now it seems like all of the drive to win is gone,' Zack Woodmansee, a computer science major from California said. 'Winning is still important, but now if we don't win it's not that big of a deal. But one of my goals at BYU was to win a shirt before I graduated.'
The shirt changes each year as the intramural department puts on a competition for students to design the t-shirt. For the select few on campus, they will be able to walk away with two coveted items when they leave Provo. A diploma from a highly competitive university and the most coveted shirt on campus.