The Intramural Board, a service of Associated Students, facilitates all intramural sports on campus, as well as a Football All-Star Tournament for Southern California Christian colleges.

Intramural Board Director: Sam Ellishttp://as.biola.edu/services/intramurals/.

History

Intramural sports dominated the social scene in the mid-century. Initially, students gathered in teams according to their dorm floors.

Team names varied, with one early squad named "The Bonecrushers." The 1953 squads were named after 19th and 20th century evangelists: teams included Moody (D.L. Moody), Finney (Charles Finney), Sunday (Billy Sunday), Torrey (R.A. Torrey), and Chapman (J. Wilbur Chapman).

According to the yearbook, the Terrible Torries “whalloped” their competition in 1953 football games, while Chapman (named after the evangelist who toured along with Charles Alexander, R.A. Torrey's musical revival partner) took the prize for basketball.

For Biola women, nicknamed “Eaglettes,” the sports program started with extracurricular recreation on a weekday evening. Those who signed up at the beginning of the year would form a volleyball, basketball and softball team, with players switching to a new sport with each new season. They wore knee-length, pleated culottes and short-sleeved plaid blouses and played at an annual volleyball tournament against Westmont College.

The women’s teams adopted a new theme song every year. Before games, they would huddle up for a prayer and then sing out the hymn (during the ’50-’51 season, the anthem was “Let the Beauty of Jesus Be Seen in Me”). Their fans brought tracts to the games, taking advantage of the games as witnessing opportunities.

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