Western Albemarle High School has been ranked the #1 school in the state by MaxPreps for sports for many years now. And while this astonishing feat is what the athletic department prides itself on, it results in sports teams at Western being highly competitive and very rigorous. To offer more athletic opportunities for more students, WAHS is introducing intramural sports this school year for the first time in Western history.
In a recent newsletter, former WAHS teacher and new Athletic Director Dan Bledsoe announced an initial roster of intramural sports including archery, ultimate frisbee, pickleball, and boys volleyball.
Bledsoe cites that the inspiration for this initiative is to get students more involved in the WAHS community and to increase academic dedication. “If kids can find a way to be engaged with their school, whether it be through a club or an athletic program then they’re more likely to have academic success because they’ll be more motivated to come every day and maintain eligibility [to play].”
He adds that staff and parent support has been increasingly helpful in starting this initiative. “Coach Redmond…he’s a really organized guy and understands intramural sports. I know he’s looked at how programs are running at the college level and wants to try and emulate that here,”
Several Western teachers have signed on as coaches for these programs, eager to bring more athletic diversity to the school. WAHS English teacher Stephen Currence has had a longstanding interest in archery, a hobby of his since childhood, and recently got certified through the National Archery in Schools Program in hopes of establishing the sport at Western. “My intent for getting certified was to have an instructor to get the program up and running.” Currence intends to establish an archery team and hopes to add 3D archery to the program. He says “It’s a type of event where targets are set up at different ranges and the targets look like creatures, different animals and things like that.”
Students are able to sign up for intramural sports through a survey linked in the first athletic newsletter. The survey, which asks students to choose which sport they would like to sign up for, got overwhelmingly positive responses from students, with over 70 signed up as of September. Boys’ Volleyball had especially good feedback, as the spring volleyball tournament brought some popularity to the sport, despite there being no VHSL Boys’ team at Western. Freshman Max Harris is excited about the new intramural programs. “I think that the addition of intramural sports is a great way to build community and find opportunities to play sports that are not offered in as many places. These sports will surely add a lot of fun competition with our peers.”
