By Brian Kiley
Daily Bruin Contributor
Long after sunset last Wednesday night, central campus was
finally quieting down. A few scattered students were heading back
towards the dorms, but it was 7:30 p.m., and the action that
consumes UCLA during the day had dwindled to nearly nothing.
But from the Northern Athletic Field, screams of
“Let’s go Pi Kapp!” pierced the brisk night air.
Over there, the action was only beginning.
Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, some of the best
non-varsity athletes at UCLA come out to the NAF to strut their
stuff in A-league 4-on-4 intramural flag football.
The A-league, the most competitive of UCLA’s three
intramural leagues, consists of 25 teams, 15 of which are fielded
by fraternities.
The game is played on a 50-yard field, which is often lined by
spectators from the competing fraternities, and each game consists
of two 18-minute halves.
A-league games are typically well-played and intense, but
inter-fraternity games are even more fiercely competitive.
“Tensions are higher just because there are the house
rivalries out there,” said Michael Robrock, who officiates
intramural games. “(Fraternities) have guys from the house
come out to support them, and there is some pride at stake as
well.”
“The competition is probably the best part,” Mark
Hardin of Pi Kappa Phi said.
This competition involves entire fraternity houses, not just the
teams they field.
“It’s pretty cool when we play the other
frats,” Marc Steinberg of Alpha Epsilon Pi said.
“Because a lot of our frat comes to watch and the other frat
also comes ““ it’s like a little rivalry.”
The number of players on each team varies from fraternity to
fraternity. Alpha Epsilon Pi has five players who rotate playing
both offense and defense. Zeta Beta Theta has 10 guys who regularly
play, with separate offensive and defensive squads.
Most players on fraternity teams played high school football,
which adds to the competitiveness.
“Everyone but one (of our players played in high
school),” Anthony Alviso of Sigma Alpha Epsilon said.
Prior to the start of the season, most fraternities have some
sort of try-out period to determine who plays on their A-teams.
“We make the teams based on ability, experience, whether
they played in high school and general enthusiasm,” Alviso
said.
This year, teams have had to adjust their style of play because
of the 4-on-4 format. In previous years, when games where played on
the larger Intramural Field, the games were 7-on-7.
“The key to winning is going to be speed,” Rafael
Cortez of Alpha Tau Omega said. “We’ve narrowed down
our team to guys who are quick and fast, and have the right
moves.”
Over the years, some fraternities have established rivalries
with each other. Sigma Chi, which historically has been one of
UCLA’s most successful intramural sports programs, is most
competitive with Phi Kappa Psi.
“We are pretty big rivals because every year, it’s
pretty much the two of us competing for the trophy,” said
Ryan Wagner, who is the intramural chair at Sigma Chi.
Even for those fraternities that don’t have specific
rivalries, bragging rights on fraternity row make every game a big
game.
It’s fun to compete in (an inter-fraternity)
medium,” Hardin said. “It’s not necessarily a big
deal, but your name’s kind of on the line, so it’s for
trash-talking rights.”
The four-game regular season ended last Thursday, and all teams
that finished with a record of .500 or better advance to the
playoffs, which began Tuesday. The playoffs consist of a
single-elimination tournament that is scheduled to end Dec. 2.
Following the intramural season, the Inter-Fraternity Council
has a double-elimination flag football tournament that the
fraternities can compete in. That tournament will return to the old
7-on-7 format.
Intramural sports represent one, perhaps the sole, way that
fraternities still compete against one another. The days of social
competition are all but gone, while athletic contests remain
vigorously fought battles to gain fraternal superiority.
“All that’s left of the rivalry is athletics,”
Mohammad Shahsahebi of Pi Kappa Alpha said.
“So we go out and we try to compete, and it’s
hard-nosed, but after the game we shake hands and we’re
cool.”