By Luke Timothy R. Burbano | March 8, 2024
Everyone’s eyes are set on big departments to take the top spot in every intramurals: the College of Engineering and Design (CED), College of Business Administration (CBA), and College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), among others. However, Silliman University (SU) houses more than 15 departments, and several of these have quite a huge gap to fill population-wise. Thus, it would be worth asking: Can small colleges still be a “home of the champions”?
It comes as a shock that the ones making a buzz both in the court and online are those who came to play the games by their own rules. As such, this year’s SU intramurals have proven that small colleges can win the championship, if only on their own terms, through unique means.
Here are some of the ways departments with a humble amount of students can still win the intramurals:
Band together
To win a war, one must compete with the same amount of soldiers, if not more. What better way is there to combat the great number of big colleges than to merge two small colleges together to form a mega-fusion?
The College of Performing and Visual Arts (COPVA) teamed up this year with the Institute of Environmental and Marine Sciences (IEMS). According to Jhia Nasara, a third-year COPVA student, this was due to “a lack of people playing for certain sports.” This strategy not only made them stronger on the court, but it also boosted their players’ morale. With huge musical instruments resonating through the crowd and the teal flaglets flooding the area, COPVA and IEMS certainly banded together well to make their presence known.
Be a fan favorite
Winning the fame could still be counted as winning the game. This can’t be more true for the College of Mass Communication (CMC), who gained massive popularity for their “dogshow” branding. Using witty one-liners instead of revealing their scores and blaring game-show songs or performing trendy pop songs during games are just some of their tactics. “To make people smile somehow became a tradition for the College of Mass Communication,” shared Grylle Adrian Malala, second-year CMC student.
Be a fan favorite with another college
Following their basketball matches last February 28, another viral moment came from the interactions of the College of Law and CMC. Posted on the Kapunungan sa mga Mass Communicators’ Facebook page is a video of both colleges having a good time whilst dancing to the TikTok trend, “Girl in the Mirror.”
The SU-Law Supreme Law Council also posted the results of their game against CMC with the caption, “A big shoutout to our favorite pookie wookie snookum babies from the College of Mass Communication.” Students took delight in the two colleges’ interactions on social media, with one even stating that the two colleges may be vying for this year’s “Best in Dogshow Award,” an award now comparable to being an overall champion, but for the small colleges.
Enjoy, losing is the new winning!
Truly, the best way to win as a small college is to have fun and do your best despite being against all odds. Overcoming the match with a higher score may bring victory in the game, but beaming from ear to ear whether win or lose brings some sort of victory and pride equal to the opponent’s win. As drag queen Alyssa Edwards said, “Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to is.”
Colleges with fewer students may usually be underdogs in their games, and historically they have been outperformed by bigger colleges, but there are so many ways to still be the stars of hyped competitive events such as the Intramurals. Instead of being hopeless or aggressive in trying to outplay their opponents, true sportsmanship and camaraderie are proven through the splits they execute or the cackles they let out due to their errors.
These teams may not be dominating the games with their one-digit scores beside the opponent’s three-digit scores, but they are capable of capturing the hearts of the people who have hailed them online as the “real home of the champions.”
Editor’s note: This feature article was contributed in fulfillment of a media partnership with the College of Mass Communication.
