By Giselle Cancio/Contributing Writer
Intramural sports are a hot commodity around the FIU community and registration has been steadily increasing by 10 percent each year.
“In just less than a decade, our registration has doubled in size, from 40 to 80 teams and I feel that is one of our biggest accomplishments,” Matt O’Conner, the Assistant Director for Intramural and Club Sports, said. “We don’t turn anyone down and are always trying to offer more leagues and divisions for the students.”
Starting in the Fall 2012, the Recreation Center switched over to online registration and it was resisted until just recently. Originally, only the team captain had to sign up and list the players. With the switch to IMLEAGUES.COM in the Spring of 2013, the team captain alongside each participant are required to create an account. Essentially, the team captain invites the participants to join the roster or the participant asks to join the roster.
“This online system is user friendly and looks kind of like a Facebook interface,” O’Conner said. “The best part is once you create the account; it is good forever which allows the students to play multiple leagues throughout multiple semesters.”
Once a team registers, they are set to play as long as there is a roster. Rosters have a limit of 20 individuals and people cannot be replaced unless a special circumstance arises. If the whole roster is not full, players can be added throughout the semester. For students who are not part of a team, they can sign up as a free agent so that the captains who are missing players can add them to their existing roster.
For the first time this semester, there is staggered registration. Instead of opening up all at the same time, sports will open up two weeks prior to the posted deadline date. IMLEAGUES.COM displays the sport, the available league and each division. The league is considered the group, i.e mens open, fraternity, sorority, womens open. The division is the times and days within the week the sport is played, i.e Tuesdays at 10 p.m., Mondays at 8 p.m.
Usually, games are played every day from 6 p.m. to midnight. Last semester, there was an unusually large amount of teams in certain leagues, causing unusual game times. Some games were starting at midnight because the intramural fields only supports four teams an hour. If the volume were to happen again this semester, the recreation center will consider adding 5 p.m. games versus the midnight games.
Currently enrolled students can play intramurals for free. Alumni and faculty and staff or not currently enrolled students can pay a $20 special intramural membership which is good for multiple sports throughout the semester.
There is a refundable fee per team called a forfeit bond which means as long as the team shows up to the games, the money is returned at the end of the semester. If the team forfeits a game, only ½ of the money is returned. If two games are forfeited, they are removed from the league and no money is returned.
Soccer, basketball and 4-on-4 football have a forfeit bond fee of $30, minor teams like kickball and dodgeball have a forfeit bond fee of $20 and individual sports have a forfeit bond fee of $5.
“In the event that a sport is not offered, students can propose it and if enough interest is shown, space time and budget will determine if the sport can be added,” Rob Fyre, Director of Recreation Services said.
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