UT's intramural sports program has a new director and he is ready to make some changes.

Charles Vogt ran the intramural program at University of Virginia for several years before his arrival at the University of Tennessee. In that time he implemented a sportsmanship program, which he will employ at UT starting with flag football in the fall.

"The idea is to get the players to treat the refs with more respect. They're not making that much money, and like anyone they're going to make mistakes," says Vogt.

The new sportsmanship rules incorporate a 4 point grading scale for teams to be judged on. If a team displays subpar sportsmanship they will achieve a low grade on the scale. At the end of the year any team with below a 3.0 will be ineligble for postseason tournaments.

"We hope we don't have to bar any teams from the playoffs, that's not our goal. We just want everyone to be more aware of how they act on the field," says Vogt.

Also, this semester students will be required to scan their individual ID in order to be permitted to play before games. Last semester it may have been possible for students to illegally play on multiple teams without the staff having any way of knowing.

An improved intramural website is one more thing Vogt has brought to the table. Recsports.utk.edu will now post league standings and rankings online. More information about the changes will also be available at the site.