Fighting for two points, senior accounting major Trevor Jessup (00) goes for the lay-up above an apposing player. Jessup's team, Polyforce 1, won against Abusement Park, 71-49. (CU Independent/Rob Denton)
Most students at CU cannot score their way into intercollegiate sports, but everyone can play on an intramural team.
Though the CU Recreation Center offers over 12 sports as unique as inner tube water polo, students still filter back to the classics of basketball and soccer.
Intramural basketball uses the most facilities. The 120 teams of five players each are signed up for the first fall session of the semester.
Journalism student Jen Brady, a 19-year-old sophomore, is a veteran to the intramural basketball team. Brady played basketball in high school and, like so many other students, she still loves the thrill of competition.
“It was an easy choice,” Brady said about signing up for intramural basketball.
Assistant intramural coordinator Danielle Muntz said intramural soccer claims the most students. The intramural league has 72 teams of six to eight people. Though more students sign up for soccer than the 72 teams listed, there are less grass fields available in contrast with sports that use basketball courts, leaving disappointment to the 10 to 15 soccer teams on the waitlist.
Muntz also said soccer gets more international students than any other intramural sport.
On top of that, club soccer freshman Alexis Keeney, an 18-year-old biology and studio arts major, said intramural soccer gets the 94 girls who were cut from the 160 who tried-out for CU club soccer.
With intramural basketball and soccer, teams can choose how competitive they want to be. The online Intramural Handbook specifies that basketball has four different levels of competition. Open, which is the most competitive, and then A, B, and C respectively.
Muntz said she knows why students who come to intramural sports like soccer and basketball.
“They want to keep playing sports,” Muntz said. “But they also want the independence from time commitment.”
Games are casual and are usually on weeknights. There is no official practice schedule unless agreed upon by the individual team.
Freshman Antony Smith, an 18-year-old integrated physiology major, said the goal of intramural sports is to have a social life.
“I picked a co-ed Baker Hall team,” Smith said. “I wanted to meet people around the dorm.”
Participation from all the students, whether dunking basketballs or just learning to dribble, allows basketball and soccer to be key components in the world of CU intramurals.
Contact Independent Staff Writer Sonia Amodeo at Sonia.amodeo@colorado.edu.
