The Iowa football team isn’t the only one that will kick off its season in the coming days. Starting next week, another 210 teams will take to the gridiron for intramural flag football.

The number of teams is subject to change, however. As of Wednesday, more than 100 teams still had not attended a required team captain’s meeting.

The final mandatory captain’s meeting was on Wednesday at 4 p.m., but captains who did not attend one of these mandatory meetings have one final chance to do so in order to keep their teams registered. Captains must attend the makeup meeting today at 9 a.m. and will be required to pay a $40 late fee in addition to an $80 sign-up fee if they still wish to play flag football.

“We didn’t use to offer the makeup day,” said Mike Widen, an associate director of Recreational Services. “We wanted to give each team one extra chance to play.”

Team schedules will be available on Friday; the flag-football season will kick off on Sept. 8. Flag football has a five-week season followed by a playoff.

Sign-ups for referees strong

With more than 200 teams competing in flag football, a large number of student officials is necessary for a successful season. This year, around 90 students signed up and were trained as flag-football officials over the week.

“That’s probably more officials than we’ve ever had,” Widen said.

Each official goes through an extensive training program before officiating actual games. Prospective officials went through a classroom session on Sunday and game training on Monday.

“We go over game rules, proper positioning, and rapport with the players,” said Ross Bower, intramural supervisor. “We basically cover the ins and outs of the game.”

The referees also had a chance to officiate team scrimmages Wednesday night at the Hawkeye Recreation Fields. All registered teams were invited to attend the scrimmages, which gave officials the opportunity to get a feel for the pace of the game in addition to providing teams a chance to practice their plays. 

“This gives the officials a chance see live game action without it having any effect on the standings,” Widen said.

Sand volleyball still looking for teams

As of 3 p.m. on Wednesday, only four teams had registered for six-on-six intramural sand volleyball.

Students still wishing to form a team can sign up by downloading a registration form on the Recreational Services website or by picking up a form in the Field House. Registration forms, along with the $20 team fee, must be turned in to E216 Field House by 4 p.m. today.

Last year, 63 teams participated in the tournament-style event, and Widen sees no reason the number of teams will be any different this year.

“Many teams wait until the last minute to sign up,” he said. “Having only four teams signed up right now isn’t a big concern.”

Sand volleyball will begin on Sept. 8. Each team will play two pool play games, and the top two teams from each division will advance to tournament play.