Photo by Ian KeelStaff Reporteditor@insideuab.com
While not every student can qualify for university-sanctioned sports, intramural sports offer a chance for individuals to get involved in competitive programs, with or without prior experience and regardless of gender. With registration for the fall sports starting on Sept. 8 and with enrollment for the flag football league opening that day, students may find themselves interested in or curious about what intramural sports have to offer.
Unlike club sports, intramural sports are played entirely between UAB teams. Instead of competing with students from Jacksonville State University, for example, players would compete against their peers from around campus. Many join to play with or against their friends.
“My friends asked me to sign up, and I figured I’d try it out,” Daniel Mendoza, a junior who has played both intramural outdoor soccer, kickball and basketball in the past. “I am not someone who could compete for the university or in club sports, so it was a way to get plugged in.”
“They’re so much fun. It’s not a huge time commitment, and it’s a great way to relieve stress and get away from homework,” Mendoza said. “ [...] They are terrible at publicizing though, so not everyone knows about them. Even I’m not familiar with all the sports offered unless one of my friends talks about it.”
UAB’s intramural sports offer 10 team sports over the course of the year, with the options changing with the seasons. Currently, the fall season’s league options include: flag football in September and outdoor soccer, dodgeball and volleyball in October. Tournament options this semester include: 3v3 basketball and kickball in September, badminton and racquetball in October and floor hockey and basketball in November.
Since all of these options are offered at varying points in time, if a student is crunched for time one month, they have the ability to join another sport at another time during the semester.
Outdoor soccer, played between Oct. 17 and Nov. 17, is a popular choice among interviewed students. For some international students from countries in which the sport is particularly popular, like Paul Loukou, joining intramural soccer was a way to get involved in the UAB community by making it feel more like home.
“[I joined intramural soccer] just to be involved with something on campus. As an international student [...] when I came here at first I didn’t really know about the different activities, but soccer was the only thing that can bring me, like make me want to do something, play some sport on campus,” said Loukou, a civil engineering major from Cte d’Ivoire in West Africa. “That’s what really motivated me, because back home the main sport is soccer. So since I heard there were some soccer competitions here I was like, ‘OK, why not get involved and see how it goes?’”
Alhi Junior Patrice Ephraim N’Guessan, the Facilities Manager at the Campus Rec who is also from Cote d’Ivoire, played intramural soccer for similar reasons.
“I’m on a team with my friends from the country. We call it Ivory Coast which is the name of our country.” N’Guessan, who was a player on the same team as Loukou. “ [...] It’s great. It’s fun, and we like it! I mean, we’re two time champions, so it’s fun.”
Widely varied campus organizations compete in intramurals as teams. The University Honors Program, fraternities and sororities are just some of the organizations involved in the sports as teams.
“The Greeks enjoy the friendly competition,” said Mendoza, who played co-ed kickball with Theta Chi, a fraternity, and Alpha Xi Delta, a sorority, in spring of 2015. “It’s fun to see everyone come together and support their organizations.”
The UAB Intramural Sports Inclusive Statement aims to ensure that students, faculty and staff can play intramural sports regardless of skill, gender, age, or handicap. This allows students to play games they may not have prior experience in.
“I really like [...] that this school has this variety of students and [that it tries] to make it something that everyone can be involved in.” Loukou said. “Because there are so many different sports, you can’t really say you can’t play any of them, because there’s flag football, badminton, pretty much everything. So that’s really good to get students involved on campus.”
