Intramural basketball player gets her head in the game

The championship game of the women's intramural basketball tournament was cancelled on Monday, Feb. 22 when a player was injured. The score was 29-27 with one minute and ten seconds left when sophomore Jodi Spotts was elbowed accidently in the head by an opposing player. Everyone stopped in their tracks as she turned, blood seeping out of her scalp and down her face.  Spotts went to the restroom with teammates Karli Saner and Catherine Meyer to get cleaned up. Both Saner and Meyer said this was the most memorable experience they have had playing this year. After a few nursing students examined her, they decided to take her to Medpoint, where she recieved eight staples into her scalp. She said she was fortunate enough to not have to shave part of her head. “The doctor was going to, but then I asked him a couple times,and he finally decided not to,” said Spotts. Even though this was the most gruesome experience the girls have endured this year they still promote playing intramurals. “The best part about playing intramurals is being able to play a sport for fun with cool people,” said Spotts. Meyer agrees and said it is also nice to break away “from the life of a nursing student.” This is part of the reason that Spotts and Meyer decided not to play basketball for a college team, even though they had played for four years in high school. “It would take too much time and with nursing I would have no free time, so now I just play for fun,” said Spotts. There are a variety of different reasons why the girls this year participated in intramurals. “Since the age of five I have been an athlete and it honestly feels like a part of me is missing when I am not shooting hoops,” said Saner. Meyer has been around the game so long she misses playing competitively. “Plus its way better than high school because you don't have to worry about screwing up and getting put on the bench right away,” said Meyer. “I can just play and who cares how good or bad I do in a night. Plus its fun because my team actually wins games and that rarely happened for me in high school.” Even though most people are out there for fun there is still a lot of competition between teams. “While intramural sports are competitive, things are not overdone, at least when I am not playing,” said Saner. "I think we all want to win and take the game seriously, but there is an extent to which we all can say ‘That's too much.’ We play for the love of the game.” Spotts said it makes her glad that people are competitive and that people honestly try hard. Since there is a lot of fun and competition involved, they would love for more people to come play next year. “If you love basketball and are decent and know how to play you should come,” said Spotts. Spotts, Meyer and Saner all plan on playing again next year together. “(My) team is not changing for the next two years,” said Saner. “I love to play basketball of course, but I grow both as a player and a person thanks to the way intramurals, as well as my team, challenges me.” Although this was the last game of the five on five season for girls there is one more game for the guys on Thursday, Feb. 25, at 9 p.m. There are also other intramurals in which students can still participate, including volleyball on Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. and dodgeball on Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. On March 15 futsal (indoor soccer) will start. Students interested can visit the intramural page under the Student Life tab on Bethel’s Web site.