With the start of the spring season only a few days away, the age-old traditions of picnics in the park, the school year winding down and those first warm and breezy days are soon to come.

For students at Penn State, the start of spring means the beginning of the spring Intramural Sports. Soccer, one of the most popular sports in the world, is rapidly becoming one of the most popular intramural sports at Penn State.

Beginning on Monday, 200 teams of men and women will enter into the spring session of IM soccer. Each team will have at least eight players on their roster, with six on the field at one time. With a round-robin style of competition, teams will compete against each other to try to make it into a single elimination playoff tournament.

The sport of intramural soccer at Penn State is one of the most popular, and with more and more teams wanting a chance to enter, the window of opportunity to get that chance seems to close faster and faster.

When most people think of soccer, they recall the unmistakable ball-handling skills of the great Pele, and contemporary stars such as Mia Hamm, David Beckham and Landon Donovan, who have all made their marks on the soccer world. Some students here at PSU aspire to play like these great superstars, but that is definitely easier said than done.

Juniors Andrew Snyder and Brad Boyer played IM soccer their first two years at University Park and had a blast participating in such a high adrenaline sport.

"I had a great time," Snyder said. "It was really exciting to get back on the soccer field like I did when I was younger. You get an incredible rush, especially when you are driving down the field on a breakaway, heading towards that goal."

Boyer found it to be a great source of exercise and really enjoyed getting to know his teammates.

"I would always play the striker, so I would be running down the field back and forth almost the entire game, and man by the end, that was quite a workout." Boyer said.

When asked about the friendships made on the field, both Snyder and Boyer remarked at the longevity of the bonds they found on the field.

"I still talk to some of the guys on my team," Boyer said. "We don't hang out too often, but if I see them around campus, I'll say hey."

For the teams who participate in IM soccer, the sport goes beyond the basics of the ordinary pick-up game. Each team has its own colored shirts, with single- or double-digit numbers on the backs, giving the appearance of real uniforms. There are also two 20-minute halves, giving players a sufficient amount of time to play the game.

With well over 100 teams entered in the league, this year's spring semester of Intramural Soccer promises to be one of the most exciting and competitive yet.