Sunday is no longer a day of rest, at least for one college senior.
After living the college life for three consecutive nights, John Zanzarella ’08 actually sets his alarm so he can wake up in time to get to the Rec Plex on Sunday to participate in intramurals. It’s basketball season now and Zanzarella’s last chance at a coveted championship T-shirt.
“Intramurals have been a huge part of my life at Fairfield,” he said. “It gives high school athletes a chance to stay competitive and active in all sports whether they played them in high school or not. Playing intramurals is a great opportunity to make friends and spend time with your friends. My roommates at the beach are all kids I met playing intramural basketball as a freshman.”
Zanzarella is not alone. The intramural department saw 2,848 people participate in the 2006-2007 academic year.Naturally, there are students who participate in more than one sport. Out of the 2,848 total participants, 1,444, or 45 percent of the undergraduate student body, were unique participants.
Click to read more about Sports Clubs at Fairfield
Director of Recreation Phil Palumbo credits much of the success to his staff.
“I believe that we are successful because intramurals are run by the students,” he said. “Our IM staff, with our graduate assistant, supervisors and officials, deal directly with the students and because of this we are able to more quickly respond. We are able to react quicker to student concerns.”
Participants, like Zanzarella, also give the intramural staff high reviews.
“The Fairfield intramural department goes beyond just making a schedule,” he said. “They keep statistics, advertise games of the week and do other fun things that give students a reason to try hard and take intramurals seriously.”
The intramural department has seen a 10 percent increase in the amount of total participants so far this season as well as a 12 percent increase in the number of teams.
Palumbo said that Fairfield’s intramural department can compete with just about any school in the country mainly because of the variety of sports offered.
In an effort to broaden its field of participants, the intramural department tries out new sports yearly.
This spring, it will give arena football a chance. Last year, it offered 22 sports, but Palumbo said that number will be closer to 25 this year.
“A lot of the other schools will count men’s A basketball, men’s B basketball and co-ed basketball as three sports. We count it solely as basketball,” said Palumbo. “Also, I don’t know of any schools that do anything with men’s and women’s lacrosse or women’s field hockey.”
Assistant Director of Recreation John Paladino agreed with Palumbo.
“I think we have as much, if not more, to offer than the big schools with a more hands-on approach,” he said. “We have John [intramural graduate assistant] and supervisors contacting team captains before games to confirm the schedule.”
In a December 2006 issue of the Daily Orange, Pierre Hahn wrote an article lamenting the woes of the intramural department at Syracuse University.
“Even though many people would love to play, they do not know how or when to sign up,” he wrote. “The reason is a lack of advertisement from Recreation Services, which organizes all intramural sports.”
Boston College graduate Brian Mulcahy ’07 has been to Fairfield and has seen the intramural process in action.
“I love how thorough the Fairfield University intramural program covers its leagues,” he said in an e-mail. “It’s very impressive.”
The intramural department is currently in the midst of two of its most competitive sports: 5-on-5 basketball and floor hockey.
Palumbo said he expects student interest in intramurals to continue to rise.
“The more kids hear about it, the more they want to participate,” he said.
Palumbo may be right as the most popular intramural sport, softball, is still to come later in the spring.
Last year, 612 students participated.
“Softball is by far the big one,” said Palumbo, “It’s a social thing, especially the co-ed divisions.”
Twenty percent of all intramural participants are females, and co-ed softball is the sport where female participation is the most evident.
Registration for softball and other spring sports begins on Feb. 25.
Leave a Reply