There is no doubt that school sports are very competitive, and tryouts are not easy. Coaches often mention that the toughest part of tryouts for them are making the cuts. For many athletes, the looming feeling that cuts are going to be made is an added stress.

Intramural sports are sports that don’t make cuts from their roster. In the case of intramural basketball, players can form their own teams of up to ten players. Intramurals are a good way to relieve any students of the stress of final roster cuts.

I believe that the school could benefit from expanding intramurals to more sports. They are a fun way for students who got cut from a school roster or want something with less pressure to participate.

Bobby Rallo (11) stated that intramurals gave him a choice. “The school basketball team is for people who are serious about the sport and probably want to pursue it in college,” Rallo said. “Intramurals aren’t stressful and they are entirely for fun.”

Intramurals also provide a somewhat competitive environment through the structure that is provided. Students get to participate in a bit of a regular season before going into playoffs.

“The structure is very well organized and time managed. I like the organization and the scheduling of the games,” Carlos Campos (12) added.

The fact that intramurals allow students to play basketball without the high stress of a high school sport, but with a similar competitive aspect, is what makes them a good option for interested students. They won’t have to worry about being cut from a rosters. Mr. Czarnecki, the supervisor of intramurals, agreed that intramurals are a low stress environment.

“There is no pressure put on the students to necessarily worry too much if they win or lose,” Mr. Czarnecki said. “Teams do get a little bit competitive, but, all in all, the students are there just to have fun.”

Something that might be in students’ minds is that they might say they wouldn’t develop skills if they are playing in an environment like that. This is not true in some cases. Students could very well develop skills while being in a less stressful environment, even without a proper coach.

Some teams go to the Sullivan Center to practice or play pickup games against other teams. Studies done by a website called Active show that top performing athletes also spend time playing less-structured pick-up games to further develop their skills.

If the school were to add a longer intramural season for flag football, or possibly start an intramural season for soccer, students would have more of an opportunity to play a sport. The turf could be used once football and soccer are done with practice, similar to how the fieldhouse is used once basketball finishes practicing.

More competitive sports should have intramural seasons so that students who don’t want to be on a school team or who got cut from the roster can still play a sport they enjoy with friends.