Powerade intramurals..next stop Vanderbilt

On over 50 campuses across the country, CBS College Sports and POWERade have collaborated to enhance the average student's intramural athletic experience.

Lucky for us, their next target is Vanderbilt.

"We're very excited to have Vanderbilt University on board this year and build the program up," said Lindsay Codd, regional marketing coordinator for CBS College Sports. "Vandy was a natural fit for the program with its school spirit and geographic location."

The program began in 2007 when CBS College Sports and POWERade teamed up with the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association. Their goal was simple: to sponsor and enhance intramural programs while generating brand awareness for POWERade. After a successful opening year, the program grew immensely.

"What began as a test pilot on seven campuses, POWERade College Intramurals has grown to be a national program on over 50 campuses," said Codd, who oversees the Vanderbilt initiative. "Our program has come a long way in the last few seasons and we're excited to see where it will go in the future."

Although intramural basketball only started a week ago, the impact of the sponsorship has already been felt by many of the participating athletes. In addition to providing new jerseys and free POWERade to Vanderbilt's Recreational Center, the program also features a newly launched social networking site designed to be the central hub for campus intramurals.

With 125 basketball teams registered for this season, enthusiasm and participation is high, but team-to-team communication is incredibly limited - important information like league standings or scheduling changes are often only provided to each team's captain. With the Web site providing this information to every registered athlete, Codd believes it has the potential to make the intramural experience more organized and interactive.

"Our hope is that intramural departments and athletes will use (the site) as their main forum for all things intramural. Each season the site grows stronger as intramural departments use the website to post schedules, standings and upcoming events," Codd said.

In addition to essential intramural basketball information, the site also features photo and video updates from events throughout the week. According to Codd, athletes will be able to log into the site and see highlights of their games as well as others around the league.

"We wanted to create a space for those athletes to come together to view game footage, talk about the leagues and connect with other intramural players from across the nation."

While CBS College Sports and POWERade raise brand awareness on Vanderbilt's campus, the intramural experience grows stronger. Increased interaction on the new social networking site makes each league more competitive and each game more meaningful.