“The Bearkat Cup is intended to promote friendly rivalries, encourage good sportsmanship and participation, and reward success.” – SHSU Rec Sports
Sam Houston State University Intramural Sports has an annual contest that rewards their most active student participants. The Bearkat Cup is a competition that lasts the duration of the school year to crown the best all-around Intramural Sports team.
The competition is based on a points system. Teams can accumulate points by registering for events and then gain additional points by attending and performing well in the sports they sign up for.
“We have a lot of people that play a lot of our sports throughout the course of the year,” Senior Assistant Director of Intramural and Club Sports Brian Weaver said. “We just want them to be aware that the Bearkat Cup is something that we do. We reward teams that sign up and use that same team name over the course of the year.”
Rec Sports crowns Greek champions as well as men’s, women’s, and CoRec. The winners have their team picture mounted on a plaque and displayed in the Recreational Sports office. Rec Sports is even trying to incorporate more prizes into the program for their winners to really try to reward their repeat users.
“Last year we gave out some prizes to our men’s and women’s Greek champions,” Weaver said. “We’re looking to expand that into our men’s and women’s division this year, as well.”
Intramural Sports and the Bearkat Cup are not limited to students that enjoy typical athletic events. Of course, the programs offered include traditional activities like flag football and softball, but there are also indoor sports like basketball and extreme dodgeball as well as some unorthodox competitions like “Hungry Hungry Hippo” and a “FIFA” tournament at the Kat Klub.
Some sports have an entire league or short season they play, but plenty of one-night events are available, too. Most of the single-night competitions fall on Wednesday evenings and have on-site registration, so no prior commitment is required.
Weaver feels like the Bearkat Cup is the epitome of Rec Sports. It is supported by their mission statement and embodies their core value of excellence.
“We’re happy to provide the programs that we do, and we love seeing people come out and build those relationships with one another,” Weaver said. “I love building relationships with students and seeing the same faces over and over again.”
