Intramural basketball at the Harold J. Callais Recreation Center at Nicholls State University saw a large increase in the number of participants competing in this semester’s four leagues.
This semester, students and faculty members at Nicholls are competing in men’s, men’s 6-foot and under, women’s and fraternity Intramural basketball leagues. In total, there are 41 teams competing across the leagues.
“Basketball is just a popular sport for intramurals. This year we’ve had more teams than we’ve ever had,” Kristen Fillmore, Intramural Coordinator, said. “I think everyone is excited. It’s the competitiveness of it, as well as the recreation side of it. I just think students are excited. They love basketball, and they have a great place to come and play.”
The recreation center, which was opened a year ago, has proven to be a better option for intramural basketball. In the past, the games were held in Shaver Gym.
“I think Nicholls intramurals have come a long way. I remember games being in Shaver, unorganized, no scoreboard and unbearable heat,” Chris Johnson, mass communication senior from Mandeville, La., said. “Through the rec center’s being organized and structured, it has allowed even more students to become involved and want to participate in intramural sports. Now, seeing the involvement of more students and faculty members, it makes the games bigger and the intensity levels rise for big rivalry games.”
The leagues and the recreation center as a whole have also seen a large influx of freshmen students participating in what they have to offer. Fillmore believes that the freshmen are going to be able to benefit from having the recreation center available for their entire time at the school.
“There’s a lot of new faces and a lot of new teams. That also helps with our numbers as to why we have more teams this year. More students are getting involved. More students are becoming aware of what we offer. This is the second season that we are able to offer games here in the rec center. You know, an awesome facility, being able to referee every single game with a full staff, being fair, being consistent and making sure safety is our number one thing,” Fillmore said. “It’s something to help [the freshmen]. They’ve played high school ball. They’ve played club ball, and it gives them an opportunity to play at the next level even if it is just among their peers here at Nicholls.”
Grant Pitre, business administration major from Cut Off, La., said, “I like how intramural basketball has more than one league available and how it is open to everyone at Nicholls. It gives the kids who didn’t make it to the next level a chance to still play the game competitively. I think basketball is also one of the most popular sports at Nicholls just from the amount of people I see playing in the gym.”
Because of the large number of participants in this semester’s leagues, Fillmore is looking into creating an additional basketball league in the fall.
“We’ve thought about maybe in the fall doing a 3-on-3 league. That way they could still get some basketball in the fall as well,” Fillmore said. “We’re definitely looking into starting a 3-on-3 league in the fall so we can carry over the numbers and continue to have this interest and this competitiveness in the rec center.”