Harvey Mudd College’s cornhole and Scripps College’s inner tube water polo leagues probably aren’t the first things that come to mind when thinking of athletics at the 5Cs — but these eclectic intramurals and others like them are roping in students who might not otherwise feel at home on the field or in the pool.
Operating under Claremont-Mudd-Scripps athletics in the fall, both intramural sports feature walk-on participants from the three colleges. Unlike varsity teams with recruited athlete rosters, these unique leagues draw students who have diverse athletic histories.
Assistant director of recreation Matt Ryan oversees intramurals and is responsible for creating schedules, training student referees and providing necessary equipment. He said these unusual sports offer a chance for more people to get involved with CMS athletics.
“I just think that rec programming as a whole, not just intramural sports, but all across the board are about reaching people on campus,” Ryan said. “If it was up to us, we would have something for everyone. We want to offer things that people who maybe would be less inclined to play, would be comfortable coming out and having a good time.”
In her freshman year, Kyra Clark HM ’22 spent a lot of time with upperclassmen residence hall mates who always talked about inner tube water polo. After receiving emails about the sport, she thought about giving it a try.
“It just looked like so much fun,” Clark said. “Inner tube water polo is like water polo, but without all the bad parts. There’s no aggression, and you’re not treading water to save your life.”
Comparative to soccer, inner tube water polo features five to six players to a side, including a goalie, according to Clark. Each player sits on top of an innertube and adheres to normal water polo rules, passing the ball back and forth to make goals.
Within her first few games, Clark instantly became one of the team’s top scorers. Her athletic prowess in the pool isn’t surprising considering her previous athletic achievements, which ranges from being a gymnast to playing actual water polo.
“I was a bit of a jock,” Clark said. “I did lots of sports for a long time. I never thought I was a jock until I went to Mudd.”
Considering her athletic status, Clark is now the team captain in her senior year. The role not only requires administrative duties, like registering the team and working with CMS coordinators, but also entails informal responsibilities, like carrying on the team tradition of leading chants and jamming to music on the way to games.
Clark said the sport was crucial to making her feel connected to her campus. As a captain, she hopes to maintain this tight-knit community.
“I think it was the first experience of my college career that made me feel like a part of my community, because I felt valued and recognized by seniors as a little baby freshman,” Clark said.
Outside the pool, cornhole offers a set of two wooden boards where teams of two take turns tossing bean bags into the hole of the board.
For Kalena Delong SC ’25, cornhole runs deeper than links within campus, representing a more profound connection to familial roots.
“It’s actually something my family has played for a really long time,” Delong said. “My grandparents and most of my family on my dad’s side live in Pennsylvania, and so whenever we went to visit we would play cornhole as a family. So, I feel like I’ve kind of grown up playing it.”
In collegiate play, Delong participates in official matches with partner Melina Durre SC ’25. Despite not engaging in formal practices, the duo pushes each other to become better by throwing a few bean bags around before every game.
“I think we get along well because we’re both pretty competitive,” Delong said. “I don’t think we’re completely crushed when we lose. I think we’re just there to play and to kind of just participate in this weird sport. We had a good rhythm of supporting each other as we play and congratulating each other.”
The sport has different methods of scoring based on what the two sets of opponents agree on, but they typically agree to a best-of-three format. Delong said the CMS employees who referee the game are often enthusiastic and supportive.
“I feel like they viewed us as the underdog, because we would be losing so badly,” Delong said. “Every once in a while, we would have three points and the other person would have 17 or something like that, and then we would make just like a little bit of a comeback. The refs would cheer for us.”
Although just getting started with collegiate cornhole, Delong said the sport has already had a positive impact on her.
“I think the part that I love most about it is just kind of how close it is to my heart just because it’s something that I grew up with,” she said. “It just reminds me of really, really good memories, and then it’s also kind of cool to do it in a new environment with new people.”