Northern Kentucky University Intramurals hosted their first-ever Free Agent Day Sept. 7, allowing potential flag football players to get involved with the sport. The event attracted four new players, but Coordinator for Intramural Sports and Outdoor Adventure Programs Jeremy Chipman considered it a success.
The event, held in the NKU Soccer Stadium and took the form of a practice game, was put on by Chipman and intramural officials. It allowed students who weren’t on a team, but were still interested in playing, to meet new people and potentially find a team to join.
For freshman Elliott Stidham, it also presented an opportunity to play a sport that he had never been involved in.
“I was always too small in high school to actually play real football,” Stidham said. “But this is flag football. I’ve always wanted to play, and this is my chance.”
Chipman’s hope was that enough of these “free agents” would show up for the event so they could meet each other and form their own team. They should be able to join an already-existing team, and it will keep an entire team of free agents from quitting.
“In the past, we tried to combine [free agents] all together without meeting one another,” he explained. “Then, once they get in, they realize they don’t want to play. They usually forfeit by the end.”
It allowed new intramural officials to get involved as well, furthering the success of the event.
“We wanted to get new officials out here,” Chipman said. “We have a lot of rookies; we’re trying to get them trained,” Chipman said. “To get everyone out here and get them involved; I think it was a success.”
Chipman said these types of free agent events might occur for other intramural sports in the future, such as basketball. He said soccer is also a possibility, as the intramural staff recognizes the sport’s growing popularity on campus.
Chipman said that the main point of events like these is to give students without teams an opportunity to get involved, regardless of the sport.
“Schools across the country have the same problems with free agents. We’re just trying to think outside of the box on how to get them more involved,” Chipman said.