For new and returning students at FGCU, there are a lot of different ways to stay active on campus. One of those ways is through FGCU’s University Recreation & Wellness department. Along with all the other services they offer, intramural sports may be what many students are looking for in order to be involved in sports or just stay active, but are unaware of its existence.

Intramural sports are a set of recreational sports for anyone of any athletic ability that allows those that participate to exercise and have fun, while also still being organized and competitive at the same time. That’s what University Recreation & Wellness offers to not just students, but also to faculty and staff at the university.

There are plenty of sports to choose from that are listed online, including traditional favorites like basketball, soccer and volleyball to sports or games you likely grew up playing for fun in school or with your family and friends like dodgeball, flag football, kickball, sand volleyball and spikeball. There are also sports offered as intramural options that are much different from other sports such as archery tag, canoe battleship, pickleball, sitting volleyball and ultimate frisbee.

With that, there are two options for three of the sports in how people would like to play them, with different rule sets in order to better differentiate the play styles. For basketball, there’s either 3v3 or 5v5 style. Flag football offers 4v4 or 7v7. Lastly, soccer is offered in both 4v4 and 9v9 styles. There’s a lot of variety among intramural sports at FGCU.

Sport Programs Coordinator Isaac Hughes oversees both intramurals and club sports. Outside of that, he helps to train officials, who are students as well, for intramurals while also being involved in creating the schedules for these organized leagues within intramurals along with Assistant Director, Sport Programs, Andrew Funari and fellow Sports Programs Coordinator Zach McMahon.

The main thing that differentiates intramural sports from other ways to stay active at FGCU is the community aspect. Campus is central to all the sports offered at the intramural level, and having this central location helps build relationships between people that may have never met otherwise.

Junior Madde Jorczak is a student employee for Sports Programs under University Recreation & Wellness while also participating in intramural sports through basketball this fall. She played basketball and softball in high school, so for her, intramurals are a nice way to still stay involved in sports. As a student employee, she has been able to make many friends through work and said she values those connections she’s made.

“I love my coworkers,” Jorczak said. “We’re all best friends and it’s so fun coming here. It doesn’t feel like work, it feels like I’m coming to hang out with my friends. But obviously we still get the job done and do everything right. It’s just nice to have people you can trust and always can count on.”

The intramural basketball game ended with Jorczak and her team, the Rookies, who wore green, winning their game convincingly. She really enjoys participating in intramurals and the community aspect is something she appreciates as well.

“Intramurals, it’s just a lot of fun,” Jorczak said. “I love coming out here and playing the game because I feel like a lot of these people who play intramurals played in high school, so it’s like they’re still playing. Obviously not as highly competitive, but it’s still fun to make friends and I get excited to play every week.” 

Community is something emphasized significantly by the Sport Programs staff to be able to help build that connection among students who get involved in intramurals. Hughes wants intramurals to be something that students look forward to and enjoy being a part of.

“I hope they just have fun,” Hughes said. “The biggest part of it is they’re here to stay competitive, they can still compete. A lot of them played sports in high school or they want to try a new sport. We have a lot of opportunities for people to try new sports or kind of still play the sport that they grew up playing.”

As volleyball and 5v5 basketball finish up their intramural schedule this semester, there are even more sports up next on the fall schedule. Pickleball, 7v7 flag football, 4v4 soccer and sand volleyball all start this month. Registration has already passed for these sports but it’s something to keep your eyes on in the future if you’re interested in participating in intramurals down the line.