"Pitch, Please" and "Ball's Deep" may sound like the start of an inappropriate joke, but they are actually just the names of two graduate student sports teams.
A number of graduate students have joined sports leagues through Triangle Sports Social Club—a group that organizes sports competitions in Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill—and the University's intramural program. Students often join in order to make friends and bond over sports.
“Graduate students have a very hectic schedule with classes and teaching and trying to have a life, so we provide a social life… and something to look forward to without having to scramble,” said Charles Warren, athletics director of the Triangle Sports Social club.
Triangle Sports Social Club is aimed at graduate students and professionals in their 20s, 30s and 40s—many of whom are not from Durham, Warren said. Sports serve as a common bond, and the club strives to strengthen community through competition and post-game socials.
The Club currently has 20,000 members and is still growing, Warren added. There are approximately 3,500 active members who play every sports season. The club offers a variety of sports, including kickball, softball, football and cornhole, which range from purely social to highly competitive.
“We’re seeing more teams joining and we’re seeing more interest… like anything, it takes a while to build momentum, but it certainly is happening,” Warren said.
Warren noted that the teams don't have regularly scheduled practices and some teams choose to "practice" at bars rather than at parks.
Graduate students are also taking advantage of the University's intramural program.
Graduate students maintain a large presence in the University's intramural sports program, said intramural coordinator Matthew Holdren. There are approximately 320 intramural sports teams, and half of them are graduate-specific, he estimated. 38 percent of intramural participants are graduate students.
Many of the graduate teams operate within separate leagues for graduate students, due to differences in age, maturity and skill-level, Holdren noted. He added that the division is preferable for both groups of students.
"Undergraduates like to play with their friends—there's not many people who know [about intramural sports] and there's not much relationship between graduate students and undergrads," he said. "They might know each other here and there."
Despite little interaction with undergraduates, graduate students enjoy the outlet for stress and social interaction that sports provide.
“Our team has a low-pressure and supportive vibe," wrote Emma Wu Dowd, a third-year Ph.D. student and member of the HodgePodge HedgeHogs intramural soccer team—which consists mostly of other students at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience—wrote in an email Monday. "We're really just out there to run around, maybe kick a ball here or there, and have lots of fun.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.