After being gone for more than six years, intramural sports returned this year to Sinclair Community College with mixed results, according to Brad Hemphill, an athletic department intern who is in charge of supervising all intramural competition.
Hemphill said the athletic department decided to bring back intramurals after surveys showed students were interested. Hemphill said sports such as flag football, kickball, soccer, basketball and volleyball were chosen based on the surveys, but the only sports that were attended regularly were football and basketball, resulting in the others being discontinued.
“There’s a core group of about 20 or more people that always come day in and day out, but other than that we’ve lacked consistency,” Hemphill said. “More or less (intramural sports) are for students to interact with other students, play some sports that they like and just stay active.”
Hemphill said low attendance caused intramurals to run more like an open gym where students show up, pick teams and then play, instead of how traditional intramurals are run where students sign up for teams and schedule games in advance.
Van Browne, a Criminal Justice major and former Dunbar High School football player, said he got involved in intramurals after hearing about it from classmates. Browne participates in both football and basketball and said intramurals provide great exercise while allowing him to have fun with his friends.
“It’s a great way to meet people,” Browne said. “It’s not just for males either; there are about five females that play flag football.”
Browne feels that intramural football has been more competitive this year than basketball because everybody that plays football is around the same skill level, as opposed to basketball where Browne said the elite players dominate the gym.
Hemphill said he would describe intramurals as laid back and usually played at low to medium intensity.
“It’s not competitive, but it is competitive,” Hemphill said. “So if you’ve still got that competitive itch from your high school days you can come out and you can be competitive or you can just come out if you just want to shoot some shots. It’s for students so we do our best to make sure they are having fun no matter what skill level they are.”
Hemphill said there won’t be any intramural sports during the summer, but the athletic department does plan on bringing them back in the fall with some changes.
“We’re not going to have the gym at all in the Fall because of the basketball and volleyball teams, so there won’t be any (intramural basketball),” he said. “We’re looking at doing something in the pool. We’ve looked online at some other schools and they do floating water polo so we’re looking at something along those lines, but we’re not sure if it’s going to (happen) or not.”
Intramural sports schedule:
Flag Football: Mon & Weds – 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Tues & Thurs. 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the fieldhouse Room 8L10
Basketball: Mon. – Thurs. – 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. In the gym, Room 8112
Cost: To participate in intramural sports, a one time payment of $3 is required. The payment can be made in Room 8(023). This payment does not apply to students currently registered in a physical education course.