Each school year hundreds of students at Northern Kentucky University find a way to keep their competitive juices flowing by participating in the intramural program.
Jill Kleiser was hired last year as the director for recreational programs and her nnd her staff have added many new sports and events to go along with the old student favorites from past years.
Leagues are set up in a variety of sports, from some of the more popular such as flag football to some new events such as a wiffleball world series.
“There are going to be leagues and for those who don’t have the time to invest in the leagues, there are day-long tournaments,” said Kleiser.
Kleiser says that she isn’t surprised with the turnout of students because intramurals serve as a way to get away from the stress of school and to meet new people.
One change that students may notice this fall season is there is no fall basketball league.
In past years there has been a very short intramural basketball league at the end of the fall semester.
Instead this semester there is a three-on-three basketball tournament, with the actual five-on-five basketball league starting at the beginning of the spring semester.
“The three-on-three tournament is just one of the tournaments we have planned,” said Kleiser,
While intramurals can be a way for students to get back into that competitive mode, not all of the leagues are on a high competitive level.
“It really is just kind of what you want,” said Kleiser, “you can play in a harder league, one designed just to have fun.”
Also this year, students have the option of keeping the same team together and entering into multiple leagues throughout the year.
At the end of each league points will be given out to the teams, based on how well they finished in the overall standings.
At the end of the school year, the team that compiles the most points overall, will be awarded the first annual, “Director’s Cup.”
“The director’s cup will be good for getting a lot of the on-campus students and greek life students involved in intramurals,” said Kleiser.
“It allows for the same team to stay together for the entire season.”