College is the time to try things. It’s a cliche and it’s true. At no other point in your life will you be exposed to such a large group of people all in the same place of their lives as you. Everyone is trying to figure out who they like, what they like, and why they like it.
So in college, it only makes sense to pursue an interest, no matter how weird it may seem. Here’s a list of the six weirdest club and intramural sports at colleges in America.
6) Cornhole
Okay, cornhole isn’t weird, but it’s weird that it counts as a sport. In fact, at the professional level, it sometimes airs on ESPN 2. Still, it’s easy to think of it as just a yard game, but a number of schools offer competitive teams.
5) Beer Pong/Beer Die:
Providence College introduced a new club called “The Weekend Athlete.” Games here involve beer pong, beer die, and flip cup, among others. Everyone likes to claim they’re the greatest pong player to grace their school, but this is a real chance to test it. And hey, if cornhole makes it on ESPN, I don’t see why this can’t.
Credit: Caleb Ming for ESPN
4) Underwater Hockey:
Surprisingly popular, underwater hockey is played at a number of schools. This involves putting on a snorkel mask and jumping into the pool with a tiny, foot-long stick. The rest of the game is pretty self-explanatory. Try to score on the opposite end of the pool and try not to drown.
3) Bass Fishing
This is ranked up here because it’s not just a club where you go over to the pond, have a few beers, and fish for fun. This is a VARSITY sport. Most of the estimated 600 teams are club, but a few hold a varsity status. The varsity teams are not associated with the NCAA, however, meaning teams and individuals can accept sponsorships.
2) Quidditch
How is this only at number two? You’ll see. But yes, playing Quidditch is very weird. Think about how it started, too. Most sports take years to evolve into their final form, but Quidditch came from J.K. Rowling whipping together an entire sport in the matter of days. The sport comes from Harry Potter and involves people flying on broom sticks. At the college level, the players run with brooms between their legs while trying to throw a ball past the keeper into any one of three hoops. One player runs around with a tennis ball, pretending they’ve the golden snitch. Weird, but hey, as we said, college is the time to go for it.
1) LARP
Is this even a sport? Heck, who’s to judge. If you want to be reductive, look at NASCAR. You drive cars around in a circle. Fencing involves stabbing each other with swords. Cornhole (it’s just too laughable to pass up) is just a few people throwing bags of beads at a hole. You get the point. Anything can become a sport if you want it to. LARP stands for Live Action Role Playing and it’s basically people dressing up and acting out the game Dungeons and Dragons in real life.
Credit: Factsite
Special Inclusion: Extreme Ironing
In the introduction, we noted that we would be listing the strangest sports at American colleges. Well, De Montfort University of the UK doesn’t fall into that category, but it might have everyone beat. They have a club called Extreme Ironing, which involves members going to the most remote places they can find and ironing their clothes. People have ironed on the top of mountains, underwater while scuba diving, on the slopes while skiing, and everywhere in between.
Considering how wrinkly my clothes are, extreme ironing sounds like a club I could get definitely use.
You forgot the game of penny duel. It's where two back-to-back opponents, armed with a penny between middle finger and thumb, walk ten paces away from each other and then turn quickly to fire the pennies at each other. If one of them is hit, he's considered dead. This game can also be played with a cups of beer as the target. Soon to be played at colleges across the country....Cheers!