The inception of the intramural activities at Wisconsin was noted as early as 1893 upon completion of the Armory Gymnasium on Langdon Street. Interclass and inter-college participation in baseball, contact football, gymnastics, and track and field existed in the early 1900’s under the direction of various physical education department staff members.

The period of 1910-1920 marked the first dramatic increase in intramural activities. Inter-fraternity swimming contests marked the beginning of competition between Greek organizations. All-university competition was to follow and in 1920, a staff of seventeen members, directed by the program’s first intramural director, George Berg, conducted an expanding program of activities which involved not only the students but faculty and staff members as well.

An administrative reorganization of the intercollegiate and physical education divisions in the early 1930’s prompted the appointment of Art Thomsen as coordinator of intramurals in the fall of 1932. This new administration sought to arouse interest among independent students, and by 1937 the number of independent teams had grown form 3 in 1932 to 71. Fifteen different activities were offered in 1936-37, with rowing, volleyball, handball and badminton being the most popular additions.

Expectedly, the advent of World War II caused intramural participation to drop drastically, with less than 2,500 male students in attendance at Wisconsin. Immediately after the war, 1946-47, the enrollment of male students reached an all time high. As a result, the intramural program underwent some significant changes, both physically and structurally. Acreage was obtained on the west campus for outdoor activities, while program activities were administered under the new title of Intramural-Recreation: INtramurals, representing structured competition leading to championships, and recreation signifying the informal, free play phase of participation. Total participation accelerated again with the opening of Gym Unit II in 1967, and further expansion of outdoor areas. This increase was accompanied by a large increase in the number of women participants.

By 1973-74, the competitive program offered 20 different sports which generated 26,815 participations, while the recreational activities provided for almost 300,000 participations for men and women. A new co-rec division was established in 1973, offering nine different activities. The university also facilitated the operation of over 20 club sports organizations which involved some 500 men and women. In 1974, Jack Nowka and Sally Leme were named co-directors of the expanding program, which in 1976-77 offered 25 competitive and 20 recreational activities for some 426,000 total participations. In August 1977, Co-director Jack Nowka resigned from the program and Robert Fox was hired as the co-director for the 1977-78 year. A restructuring of the program occurred and in July 1978 Dr. Gerald Maas was named the new Intramural-Recreation Program Director.