With the winter sports season over, the focus in Darby has shifted to one of the most popular intramural events on campus—basketball. With a total of 22 teams, 12 in the non-competitive and ten in the competitive league, various students from all parts of campus journey to the Athletic Center.
Ahmed Idrissa ’09, a participant in the competitive league, does not believe that being a part of the recreational league changes the experience.
“Guys and girls love to come out here and have a great time—they aren’t extremely serious about it, but at the same time like to be competitive,” Idrissa said. “It’s all about good times.”
David Arseneault ’09, who has been a participant of intramural basketball for the past four years and the Student Director for three, agreed that it’s a great experience for all players.
“It is a constructive atmosphere,” Arseneault said. “Especially because they let us use the main gym in Darby, which is exciting.”
Within the competitive league, the tension in many games can be cut with a sharp knife.
“We’ve had a few close non-competitive games, but in the competitive league we’ve had some teams win on buzzer beaters and overtime games,” said Bobby Long ’09, referee and participant. “It’s been pretty crazy so far.”
The games are not only close in score, but the participants themselves get very involved with the action.
“We’ve had a lot of competitive games going on,” Joe Fouche ’12 said. “I know the football team has their team—they get really hot and intense. Everyone has a lot of fun though.”
Besides the actual players getting intense, the referees do not shy away from becoming part of the action. John Bruns, ’10, a referee for the competitive league, confessed that he is a strict referee.
“I’m just trying to control chaos out here, make sure no one gets hurt,” Bruns said. “But, you know, sometimes they just get really angry, they just don’t like my calls.”
Though the competitive league may get more intense in some aspects, the recreational league has had their fair share of unique experiences and intense moments.
Adam Lange ’11, a participant in intramural basketball since last year, is particularly fond of the team bonding that basketball is able to provide.
“The other teams are really tight outside of basketball since they are on sports teams together,” said Lange, who allows prospies to play on his team. “I think we’re deep since we don’t really have more than one activity we do together besides basketball. We aren’t as athletic and don’t have a lot of teamwork built up per se, so we just screw around a lot.”
It is no doubt that even in the non-competitive league there is no love lost between teams. However, sometimes winning takes a backseat to pure fun.
“The one win we have between our two years was against the girls’ soccer team,” Lange said. “They are much better athletes and much better shooters, but we are about two feet taller on average. We would just slowly walk up to the hoop and get rebounds.”
Though many teams compete with passion, they do not shy away from being a little bit silly with their tactics.
“It’s particularly fun to see the swim team come in in just their speedos,” Arseneault said.
The swim team isn’t the only one that takes on a silly persona during the games.
“A team that is pretty crazy is the ultimate team,” Lange said. “They usually pick a gimmick every game, like sometimes they’ll only let one person on the team shoot for an entire game, things like that.”
No matter the league, it is clear that intramural basketball is widely enjoyed throughout campus.
“I really wish there was more basketball,” said Matt Zmudka ’11, a non-competitive player. “I really like the month when we do this, it’s a really great time.”
