By Samantha L. Colinco
AFTER DECADES OF tradition and face-to-face sports battles, this year’s intramurals will undergo a major change after the Silliman University Athletics Department introduced Monday a new format of competition for this November’s event.
All sports will be played using the Nintendo Wii.
Head of the SU Athletics Department, Meriam Macho, said that the decision was made primarily to address the concern towards the harmful effects of the sun – one of which is skin cancer – due to the worsening climate change.
“We cannot anymore allow our students to swim in the pool or play in the outdoor basketball court, ball field and tennis court where they are exposed to the harmful rays of the sun. Preserving our skin is more important than any physical activity,” she said.
A home video game console released by Nintendo, the Wii uses a remote controller that serves as a handheld pointing device and which detects movement in three dimensions.
Wii Sports offers five sports simulations namely tennis, baseball, bowling, golf and boxing. Consequently, only the said sports will be played in the intramurals.
A 2012 study by Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas found that the energy used when playing Wii Sports is not of high enough intensity to consider it actual exercise.
But Macho remained unconcerned.
“It doesn’t matter if the students really exert energy or not in playing them. This year, it will be more fun because we get to play new sports such as golf, boxing and bowling. We just have to be adventurous and try new things,” she said.
The Athletics Department needs at least 30 Wii consoles at P6,500 apiece along with widescreen television sets to accommodate the 14 competing colleges and departments.
Macho added that they are not worried about the additional costs because of the heaping revenues the university has incurred this semester alone.
“It’s a good thing we now have surcharges, income-generating projects like the columbarium and not to mention the various grants. Because of these, we can surely afford as much consoles as we need to make this year’s intramurals a success,” she said.
NB: this article is part of the lampoon issue. 😀
