Physical Education and Sports
Remember PE back at school? This is your chance to relive that experience, if only for one last time! Many sporting activities are offered at MIT and you can participate at a variety of levels.
Physical Education Lessons
In a recent “what did you like about MIT” discussion with the chair of faculty at MIT, the PE lessons were mentioned so much more than anything else it almost became embarrassing.
What’s so great about PE?
The great thing about the PE programme at MIT is that, unlike varsity or club sports in Cambridge, it gives you the rare chance to learn from scratch – no previous experience necessary. The star of the MIT varsity pistol team had never touched a gun before her first PE lesson. This CMI-er could barely stand up on skates when he first arrived, but by the time the ice-rink was melted in spring, and journalistic integrity requires telling this, he could hold his own in an ice-hockey game. Perhaps the speedy progress is because even the absolute novices are taught by world-class instructors – the pistol instructor is a World Champion (apparently the U.S. Marines he beat were not let off lightly!) and the sailing instructor is an Olympic coach and competitor.
Facilities
The sports facilities at MIT are impressive as they are, the new Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center opened in 2002. This gives you access to a brand new Olympic-class 50-meter pool, a training pool, an 11,000-square-foot fitness center, and a 5,000-square-foot court facility which will offer volleyball, aerobics, recreational basketball, as well as six squash courts built to international competition standards.
The PE year
In terms of Physical Education, the academic year is divided into five sections: four quarters and Independent Activities Period (IAP) in the middle. This gives you the chance to take five PE classes. It is worth giving some thought to planning your classes, as they aren’t all offered all year round (for example, sailing is only offered in the first and fourth quarters when it's sunny, and the ice-rink is only in operation for the middle three fifths of the year). Most classes meet for an hour, twice a week. Popular classes are offered at many times so fitting PE into your schedule should not be too hard. Over IAP, classes meet about four times a week.
How to register
You need to apply online through the PE lottery, which is on “Websis” (student.mit.edu). You then need to check again to see what you have been assigned, and turn up to the first class. If you didn’t get into the class you wanted to take, then just turn up anyway on the first day. There are always people on the list who don’t turn up, and you can very often get into the class you want by turning up early and asking (no guarantee though – I have seen 80 people try this for a class for 30 people)
Helpful Links
The homepagehttp://web.mit.edu/athletics/www/
Opening hours of the pool, ice-rink, courts, pavilion, etc.http://web.mit.edu/athletics/www/facil.html
Physical education pages – class details, dates, lottery etc.http://web.mit.edu/athletics/www/physed.html
The lottery dates you need to add to your diary to make sure you don’t miss out.http://web.mit.edu/athletics/www/physed/lotterydates.html
IM Sports
The MIT Intramural Athletics Program, or IM in short, offers competition between dorms/FSILGs in more than fifteen sports. Each sport consists of different “leagues” – the IM equivalent of Cambridge sports’ “divisions” – to cater for a range of skill levels. MIT students play a significant role in the administration of IM sports. The IM Council makes policy and disciplinary decisions, student sports managers organise leagues, and other students officiate games. Be prepared to be bombarded with e-mails from student organisers of the various games during term time.
Some of the IM sports that CMI students have participated in include soccer (continue the tradition of the Red Coats team...) (football is the one played with helmets), ice hockey and badminton. You can join an existing team from your living group or form one of your own – but good fun is the order of the day. For all the competitive spirit in academics, most participants adopt a more leisurely, relaxed attitude in IM games, although fraternities tend to be more competitive than other living groups.
Varsity Sports
“Blues” at Cambridge, “Varsity” at MIT (thank goodness not “Beaver”). MIT is not exactly renowned for its sporting prowess, and has yet to develop a strong tradition in any game. But true to spirit, CMI students have represented MIT in sports like soccer (men and women) and rowing – future batches will no doubt add to this. For more information, visit: web.mit.edu/athletics/www/
Rowing (or Crew)
You may have left rowing crazy cambridge behind, but if anything you've arrived at a real mecca. If you haven't rowed before Cambridge, you're in for a massive change- gone are the days of traffic jams on the cam, painful mornings at lighting up (sometimes), and mediocre facilities.
Soccer
The great thing about varsity sports, and mens’ soccer from the writer’s personal experience, is that the coaching support is excellent. For soccer, there was a full time coach and a volunteer assistant coach. A team of “trainers” was also present to administer aid for any injuries suffered during training or at a match. There was also always drinking water, training equipment, plenty of footballs, etc.; something that is at times missing in Cambridge due to the lack of funds. The pitches at MIT are, however, an absolute disgrace – totally solid/dusty with rocks all over them. It is recommended that you wear moulded studs on the pitch.
The level of commitment is very high. The season lasts about nine weeks, beginning a week before the start of the semester. It is short, but action-packed. Games were played on Wednesday and Saturday, with training on every other day except Sunday. So, six days a week for about nine weeks. To miss a practice you needed a very good reason. With such a busy schedule, and MIT being as it is, the going can – and did – get tough, but people survive. To find out more, talk to Walter Alessi (waalessi@mit.edu), the coach.
The standard of womens’ soccer (and sports in general) is extremely high compared to the standard at Cambridge (and England in general). Women in the US are actually encouraged to play sports!