Many students find themselves in the same boat in college — they no longer identify as high school athletes, and they want a way to continue to play sports and make friends. Many of these students at The University of Alabama turn to the Intramural Sports program. 

The University’s Intramural Sports program offers many sports, including pickleball, roundnet, table tennis, basketball, flag football, ultimate frisbee, soccer and volleyball.

Intramural Sports allows all undergraduate and graduate students, along with faculty and full-time staff members of the University to take part. Participants must simply present their Action Card, or a purchased membership (for spouses of faculty or staff only).  

Many students have never formally participated in the sport they sign up for through the University’s Intramural Sports program.  

That was the case for Josie Gillete, a sophomore majoring in economics and Spanish.  

Gillete joined the soccer team for the University Fellows Experience in the fall semester of her freshman year. She said she was drawn to intramural sports to meet new people on campus, while still playing sports without the commitment level needed at the high school, club sports, or NCAA level. She was particularly excited to join the University Fellows Experience’s soccer team, as she had not played soccer before. 

While Gillete and many other students have never played a sport formally before joining intramural sports, some students use intramural sports to continue their athletic careers past high school.  

Rogerio Fragale, a sophomore civil engineering major, found that intramural sports offered him the opportunity to continue playing soccer in a less stressful environment than he found high school soccer to be.  

“It felt like a more relaxed version of my club soccer with less practices,” Fragale said. “I was getting tired of all the practices in high school, so it was nice to be in a lower commitment [league].” 

Fragale also said he appreciates intramural sports for supplying him with an incentive to stay physically active in college. Fragale made friends on his intramural soccer team and would go run with them throughout the week to keep his fitness level up throughout the season.  

Dalton Counts, an incoming first-year law student, played softball and flag football throughout his undergraduate career at the University. 

Counts joined the Intramural Sports program his freshman year. 

“It was a fun way to get involved with new people, as well as somewhat stay athletically inclined at college, Counts said. “A lot of students like me choose to end their athletic careers in high school, but still love playing and competing.” 

While Counts doesn’t see himself continuing to compete in intramural sports while he is in law school, he said he found it to be a great stress reliever and avenue to let out his competitive spirit as an undergraduate student. He encourages students to join intramural sports teams and use the program as “a time to make new friends, try your best, but don’t take it too seriously.” 

Alex Boehm, a spring 2022 mechanical engineering graduate, played ultimate frisbee and volleyball through UA Intramural Sports while she was an undergraduate student.  

Boehm also worked for Outdoor Recreation at the University throughout her time at Alabama. Boehm and some of her coworkers would play volleyball together, and eventually decided to start a team through the Intramural Sports program after realizing they were “pretty good,” because they thought it would be much easier to find a court to play on if they were part of an organized league. 

“It was pretty contentious to get playing time on the volleyball courts in the gym,” Boehm said.  

Boehm said there was some level of organization necessary to correctly register a team, but that “it was a really easy process.” She said navigating the website and making sure there is the correct number of players on a team to avoid forfeiture is “worth putting up with to play” and to spend time with friends.  

All registration information, cost breakdowns, team rules and guidelines are available on the University Recreation website page for Intramural Sports. Students can take advantage of a free “Friday Night Series” in the fall semester or take part in paid league play beginning Aug. 17.