Intramural basketball gains popularity

When Chris Brown `27 arrived at Grinnell in the fall of 2023, he expected to find intramural opportunities for students like him who enjoy playing basketball for fun. 

Instead, however, he found it challenging to find spaces for casual basketball games. Intramural sports of years past had ended when their organizers graduated from the College. In the spring of his first year, Brown decided to form a club and try rebuilding Grinnell’s intramural basketball league. 

“There had been a club of intramural basketball before, but then nobody continued it, so I was like, I feel like the community needs a space to play basketball, especially if there’s interest,” he said.

In the club’s first semester, Brown hosted open gyms a few times a week, which he used to gauge interest in an intramural league. In fall 2024, he started a league between four teams, three of which mostly consisted of athletes from Grinnell’s varsity teams. Now in its third semester, the league has grown to 8 teams, with around 80 students playing games against one another every weekend. 

“I’m super happy with how the league has grown, honestly,” Brown said. “This is bigger than I ever expected it to get.”

Brown oversees nearly all aspects of the league himself, including coordinating with captains, operating the shot clock and tracking team standings. 

“The secret is having the team captains manage their teams while I manage the team captains,” he said.

The league’s players include both varsity athletes and students who have never played collegiate-level sports before — something that many players appreciate. 

“I made new friends, like for example, my team, most of these guys are friends with me because of basketball,” Drilon Qerimi `27 said.

“It allows you to meet a lot of different people,” said Jack Ruhanen `25. Ruhanen’s final season on the men’s basketball team ended in March, meaning that he is now able to play at the intramural level. 

Ruhanen said he thinks it’s important for former basketball players in the league to be mindful of being overly competitive.

“If you have collegiate basketball experience, you might process the heat of competition differently than other people will,” Ruhanen said. “You don’t want to push somebody away, because not everybody’s here to compete, some people are just here to have fun.”

“This isn’t an athlete-only space, anybody of any level can join,” said Brown. “It’s been super fun to see people that maybe haven’t played organized basketball before get into it and actually really enjoy it.”

Though there is variety in players’ basketball experience, Peter Versh `25 said that the league enjoys a positive culture of sportsmanship and friendly competition. 

“Sportsmanship is really good in games,” said Versh. “There’s obviously trash talking, but everyone, at the end of the day, lines it up and gives high fives, which is awesome.”

“I was a little intimidated at first, because it was just a bunch of guys, but everyone was super nice, super chill,” said Astrele Khalsa `28, one of the few women who regularly plays in the league. “Even though my skill level wasn’t the same as theirs, they would pass to me, so it gave me an opportunity to practice shooting and stuff like that.” 

Khalsa said that the club’s open gyms and the intramural league have helped her improve her basketball skills significantly, but that she is sometimes underestimated as a female player. 

“I have gotten a lot better, which is really fun to see, but I’m physically really strong, so when I body other people, it’s surprising, so that’s kind of always satisfying,” she said. 

“I really like playing sports, and it’s a fun way to hang out with people,” said Reese Komsthoeft `25, a player for the women’s soccer team. “I think the hard thing is that there’s no girls.”

Brown, Khalsa and Komsthoeft all hope to see more women join the league in future semesters.

“I’d love for more people to know about it, especially more girls,” Khalsa said. “But other than that, it’s just really fun. It’s an easy way to participate in a group sport that doesn’t take so much of your time.” 

Beyond increasing the league’s gender diversity, Brown said his goals include increased funding. This would go towards paying students to referee games and work the shot clock. 

“Doing clock for four hours on the weekend is kind of a lot of a time commitment for me,” Brown said. 

Many players echoed the need for more financial and administrative support for the club, which often struggles to officially reserve gym space for their games.

“We have to play at really weird times. We’re kind of just beholden to everyone else’s schedule,” said Owen Theus `26, another former player for the men’s basketball team. 

“There are other schools where their IM [intramural] leagues are much more incorporated, like they have faculty support,” said Cameron Youngblood `25. 

In spite of scheduling and funding difficulties, the league is beloved by its players.

“I’m grateful that I’m getting this opportunity to play five-on-five basketball because, like every sport, it’s very difficult to gather people who genuinely want to play,” said Sunjae Kim `26. 

“Ball is life,” said Ryan Boev `25.