College seems to be all about competing. Students must compete in the classroom to get that dream job, but on-campus intramurals allow students to show off their athletic skills.
Beside the student athletes playing at Bragg Stadium, Gaither Gym and the other athletic venues across campus, there are other Rattlers on campus competing against each other in friendly competition through intramural sports.
“Everybody might not want to go through all the rigor of collegiate sports,” said Marvin Green, the intramural director at Florida A&M University. “But they still want to compete.”
Some students have said that on any college campus there is only a select few individuals who can play sports on a collegiate level and maintain an athletic scholarship.
The intramural sports program allows any student or faculty member to participate in any of the 10 sports offered on campus. Students said they participate throughout the year for many different reasons.
There are some students who played the sport in high school and still want to play in college. There are also some students who don’t have the time or desire to play on a collegiate level. Then there are students and faculty members that love the sport and just want to play for recreation.
“It’s fun and it gives me the chance to play a sport I love,” said Gabriel Lherisse, a 20 year old sophomore from Palm Bay. “It is important to get involved and interact with others.”
While intramural sports do not get all the support and major fan attendance at their games as do the collegiate sports, students and faculty members still have the opportunity to represent their university on a state and national platform. The best on-campus teams get a chance to compete against other school’s intramural teams in tournaments.
“FAMU has one of the top intramural programs in the country especially women’s flag football and basketball,” Green said. “We had to take our show on the road.”
The women of FAMU have recently brought home two National Intramural Recreational Sports Association national titles. They won basketball in 2006 and flag football in 2007.
Any student or faculty member can become an active participant in intramural sports on campus. All they have to do is come by the recreation center and sign-up and then the competition begins.
FAMU offers men and women’s basketball, track and field, volleyball, softball, flag football, tennis, racquetball, bowling, soccer and swimming.
“Right now we have intramural basketball that is going on,” Green said.
Green said that basketball is one of the sports that brings out many people and its one of the more popular sports.
Intramural sports are an integral part of this university and it gives students and faculty members a chance to exercise in great competition and network with others.