Thursday Night Lights
Intramural Sports Program Scores Big at U of L
By Brian Foltz
Photos by Tom Fougerousse
The fans on both sides yelled until they could yell no more. Their painted bodies were spent from the intensity of the game they had just witnessed. The players were no different. Some went to shake hands with the opposition while others simply sat on the floor, every ounce of energy having been exhaused during the game.
NCAA tournament game? Nope. High school championship? Not that either. This was a Thursday night intramural basketball game in the Student Activities Center (SAC) between two teams whose organizations were in the midst of a tight campus points race.
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But when it was over, many of the players and fans intermingled and congratulated each other on a well-played game and talked about plans for the night.
According to Dale Ramsay, director of the U of L Intramural and Recreational Sports program, this is what intramurals are all about. "We want to provide students with opportunity to be competitive, but in an atmosphere that promotes good sportsmanship," he says.
Erik Brown, a senior majoring in sports administration who led his basketball team to victory in the game, relishes the chance to play in such a competitive atmosphere. "Most people figure their days of playing in front of large crowds in meaningful games are over after high school," he says. "To be able to do that for four more years is incredible."
Dave Walsh, a junior biology major who played against Brown, agrees. "It is fun to play in games with big crowds and such a great environment," he says. "But I think everyone realizes that it is intramural basketball, not the Final Four. We are out here first and foremost to have fun."
That kind of attitude is exactly what Ramsay likes to see from the participants in intramurals. He points to the brawl between players and fans in an NBA game in Detroit earlier this season as a big reason why sportsmanship is such a key issue.
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Some steps his department has taken to promote good sportsmanship include having all participants sign a sportsmanship statement at the beginning of the season and reading the statement before each game. Even the shirts awarded to the champions in each sport promote sportsmanship, with "Dare to Play Fair" emblazoned upon the back.
"I think what people sometimes fail to realize is that Rick Pitino is not out scouting the Wednesday night B-league games," Ramsay says.
Program Thriving
Participation in the university's intramural program is a real strength of student life. The sport with the largest participation, flag football, had 60 teams with around 850 participants in the 2003-2004 school year.
Basketball followed, with 68 teams and approximately 750 participants. Soccer also draws more than 700 participants.
But what is really impressive is how the smaller sports have flourished. In December, more than 400 students showed up for "Bowling Doubles," which lasted well into the night. More than 100 students participate in tennis, and the "Canoe Regatta" drew 394 paddlers in September.
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And one particular smaller sport has turned into quite a large event every year. "We intentionally put putt-putt as the last event in the campus race," Ramsay says. "There's sort of an irony of organizations slugging it out all year on the football field, soccer field and basketball court, but it all coming down to putt-putt."
In years in which more than one campus points race came down to the wire, over 250 participants have shown up to try and make it past the windmill or into the hippo's mouth.
The Social Aspect
According to Ramsay, the outstanding participation in these events really boils down to another great attribute of intramurals--the social aspect. "Sports break down barriers," he says. "You may have a guy in your class that you don't like, but one day you end up playing basketball either against him or with him, and realize that he is in fact a pretty good guy."
Brown knows firsthand how this works. He has been going head to head with the player who guarded him in the aforementioned game for four years in both football and basketball. "We always guard each other in both sports," he says. "Before playing against each other, I didn't really like him, but just through competing against each other we have become friends."
Ramsay points out that although he and his staff help coordinate everything, the program really and truly belongs to the students. Once a month the Intramural Council, made up of a representative from each organization participating in a campus points race, meets to decide the schedule for the year-long competition and discuss any issues regarding intramurals.
"These students aren't just meeting to meet," Ramsay says. "We actually listen to what they say and try to implement their ideas." Providing students with a sense of ownership of the program has helped to increase involvement. Members of the greek system especially make a very big deal of intramurals, Ramsay said.
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The program has some long-standing traditions. "The Turkey Trot," which has been held every November since 1953, is the oldest continuously run road race in Kentucky. The annual "Canoe Regatta" on McNeely Lake has been going on for nearly 30 years now. Another tradition is the "Intramural Champions Boards," featuring pictures of everyone who won an intramural championship during the course of the year. Ramsay says these bulletin boards serve the dual purpose of providing decoration for the intramural facilities and providing a way in which people can connect to the program and the university for years to come.
"When people come into the SAC gym, one of the first things they do often times is go to show whoever they were with their picture from when they were an intramural champion," he says.
Throughout the years, the intramural program has used different facilities. Former students probably remember playing basketball in Crawford Gym. Now games are played on one of four courts in the SAC. Soccer and football are played on the intramural field on Brook Street and on the turf at Trager Field in Cardinal Park.
While Parkway Field has given way to the wrecking ball, the site of the once great baseball park has not seen the last of exciting competitive action. Next year, two new lighted Bermuda grass fields will be added at the old Parkway Field site for soccer.
  Parkway Field then and now. |
And the track meet held every September takes place on U of L's modern track at Cardinal Park. To add to the atmosphere and professionalism of the event, both the scoreboard and an announcer are used.
The basketball championships are held in Cardinal Arena--where the U of L men's basketball team practices--with more than 1,000 people coming out during the course of the night to catch one or more of the six games.
It's all part of a rich heritage of quality programming that the intramural program has provided since 1928. Several alumni probably remember Ellis J. Mendehlson, a U of L staff member for more than four decades who led the intramural program to national prominence. He was given the prestigious National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association Honor Award in 1980.
"During his 41 years at U of L, he did a variety of things, but he was the individual who was known for turning his vision of a great Intramural Sports program into reality," Ramsay says.
Currently, more than 50 organized leagues, tournaments and special events in more than 20 different sports are offered every school year. The programming also goes to great lengths to reflect the diverse population at U of L, Ramsay says. The intramural department's motto is: "A sport for everyone and everyone in a sport."
Throughout the years, the program has provided for U of L students some of the best opportunities for social interaction, improved personal fitness and sense of community.
