At 8 p.m. on a typical Thursday night in the Luce Center, the sound of basketballs on the hardwood floor echoes down the hallway. Any passerby would expect to see one of the school’s basketball teams at practice, or perhaps even a game wrapping up.
If they paused for a second to actually look in, however, they’d see something a little different: a group of adult men playing against a team of sophomore students from the University of Kentucky. This might send the spectator down a new path of questions. Is it some kind of new practice method? Maybe an alumni match?
The answer is found in something else entirely: intramural sports.
Intramural sports is a program offered at Asbury University that brings over 600 participants – 400 of whom are unique players, meaning some compete in multiple sports – to over 10different activities. These events range from pickleball and ping pong to soccer and volleyball. What makes this program truly unique is the wide range of skill levels.
Some participants are current or former collegiate athletes. Others played their sport growing up or in high school. Some are even trying it for the first time. The program also extends beyond those in the student body, welcoming participants from the surrounding community and other colleges.
What makes Asbury’s intramural program different from others is the ability to form your own team. Many schools use a drafting system, which ensures everyone has a team but often splits up friend groups. At Asbury, playing with friends is part of the appeal. For newcomers who don’t have a team, organizers will do their best to match them with one.
“It’s fun to get together, and it fills my cup to just hang out and be with all the guys and have fun playing,” said Wilmore resident Cody King.
King plays on an intramural basketball team called “The Ballers” with friends he knows from his church and other areas of the community. He attended Asbury for a couple of years in the mid 2010s, and played “just about every intramural they offered.” Now, a decade later, he’s returned.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to fellowship with your friends and to meet new people, especially when looking at ministry and discipleship opportunities,” said King. “I’m getting to meet a lot of Asbury students who I wouldn’t have met otherwise by playing intramurals.”
This season, though, there was something more at stake for the team. One of King’s close friends and teammates is moving away over the summer, meaning each game they get to play is a celebration of their time together.
“This whole season we dedicated to him — we wanted to get a championship for him. My sole goal was to win it or help win it,” said King.
So on this otherwise unassuming night in the gym, as The Ballers faced a team of students not from Asbury, the game was far more than just another match. It was the championship game of the season, but also a homecoming and the final run for a group of friends hoping to clinch it one last time.
Forty minutes of close gameplay later, The Ballers won with a lead of nearly 20 points and the team pulled off their mesh jerseys and tugged on their championship winner t-shirts to take one last team photo together.
One of the other members of the winning team was Jonathan Waterman, the Intramural Director at Asbury. He said the program’s open team format, which allows his friends to play together, is a key element in building community.
“I just think it’s a great way for students to interact with some of the people that they’re living by and that was one of the things I loved when I was a student,” said Waterman. “We would get some different faculty playing, and it was just always fun to interact with them in ways other than in the classroom.”
“It’s really nice to see them connecting through generations,” said spectator and sophomore Crystal Hensley.
Waterman also explained that, when enough groups register, teams are split into an A and B league. This allows teams to keep playing with their friends while still maintaining an appropriate level of competition.
“I think that no matter what, and no matter what level you’re playing, people are able to come out and just make it as fun as they want it to be with their friends, which is what I love,” said Waterman.
As for a piece of advice they’d give a newcomer to intramurals? Both men had the same thing to say: just show up.
“Just show up. You gotta sign up, and you gotta show up. If you’re scared, don’t be scared. Get in the game. You won’t regret it,” said King.
“You’re not going to get made fun of or anything for not knowing what you’re doing or being new to a sport, I think everyone is pretty welcoming and understanding,” said Waterman.
Now that basketball and the other winter intramural events have concluded, a new group of players will take the field for spring sports with late-night games of soccer and flag football, hoping to bring even more people together.
