The intramural sports season for winter 2017 is in full swing at OSU. This term, the Department of Recreational Sports is offering 17 different intramural sports and events, ranging from the classics, such as football and soccer, to innovative activities like inner tube water polo and goalball.

One of the most popular intramural sports offerings each term is the basketball league, and this term is no exception—there are over 1,000 students on more than 200 teams participating in the men’s, women’s and co-rec divisions of the league.

At its core, the basketball league is a means for OSU’s Department of Recreational Sports to cultivate a healthy environment at OSU. According to the department’s website, one of their guiding principles is to provide “experiential learning, physical activity, and social connections that foster a fun and welcoming environment where individuals thrive.”

Ragen Venti, a member of fraternity Alpha Tau Omega’s team, highlighted the physical activity, social connections and fun atmosphere that are part and parcel of the league.

“It’s a lot of fun, and a good way to get some exercise and meet some cool people,” he said, “Last year… one of the teams in our league all wore short shorts and Hawaiian shirts and they would do Globetrotter [tricks] the entire game,” he added with a laugh.

Like all of OSU’s intramural leagues, the basketball league is not just available for students to participate in, but also for all faculty, staff and affiliates with Recreational Sports Memberships.

Colin Cole, a graduate student playing on a team of graduate students and staff, said that his team has been enjoying their experience in the league.

“It’s been great. It’s been fun, overall the refs have been good, everyone has been respectful,” said Cole, “It’s good to play with the same group of people—you get to bond, you grow and you get to know how you play with each other.”

The name of Cole’s team, the Social Justice Warriors, wonderfully reflects the spirit of fun, friendly competition that is at the heart of the league, as do many of the team names this term (We Thought This Was Climbing, Jeremy Lin Fan Club, and Aggressive Salmon are just a few more examples).

Teams can participate in the men’s, women’s or co-rec leagues, based on their players; and each of the leagues offers A- and B- level divisions, making it open to players of all levels of experience.

Winnie Lee, a student playing in the co-rec B-League, says that playing in the league gave her an opportunity to develop her basketball skills.

“I only played basketball with my cousins growing up, so being on an IM team let me actually learn how to play. My friends like to keep stats so it’s cool to see how we’ve progressed through the years,” she said, “I always tell [people] that it’s fun to just shoot around… I also try to teach my friends how to play and when they start shooting around, they start enjoying the game.”

The league runs until early March, when the best teams will enter into a playoff to determine who gets to take home the bragging rights. But for now, students, staff and faculty from all teams are already taking home good experiences and a new appreciation for the game.