Daniel Karp soaks in cheering from the crowd and on the field whenever he suits up at William Paterson. But he doesn’t play for an NCAA team.
“My friends and I refer to ourselves as half-washed-up athletes,” said Karp, a sophomore studying broadcast journalism. “We have retired from organized sports to intramurals, where the style of play is different but the competition feels like it has our entire lives.”
Lots of students who have played organized sports their entire lives don’t make the cut for NCAA competition. But they can’t just let the game go after years on the field. They are drawn to the unique appeal of cold, blustery nights of football and sun-kissed peak of spring softball. So, they turn to intramurals to stay active, build friendships, and get one last chance at glory.
“Intramural sports give people a chance to continue to play the sports they love,” said sophomore Brian Montiel, who won an intramural soccer championship this fall with his colorfully named team, the Roaches. Montiel also played football this fall and plans to play basketball in the spring semester. “My plate can feel kind of full at times with school,” he said, “but something about getting out there and playing, it’s just genuine fun.”
What’s most fun to these athletes is pursuing a championship. The stakes aren’t as high as an NCAA title. Yet still they practice, strategize, and try to develop chemistry in order to earn bragging rights on campus. “We draw up plays all the time,” Montiel said. “At any level, having a game plan makes playing that much easier. And when what you draw up works, everybody puts on a smile.”
Montiel’s teammate on the Roaches, Giuseppe Gallo, captained the team and demonstrated the seriousness with which intramural athletes approach their sports. After a loss early in the Roaches’ season, Gallo gathered his teammates to iron out the team’s flaws. “What are we doing wrong?” he asked them. “I know we are a better team than what we just displayed. What needs to change?” The players agreed they needed to work on spacing, patience, and communication. The Roaches won their next game, 8-1.
Karp not only plays intramurals but also referees them.
“It gets really serious,” he said. “You start to see a whole different side of people. You definitely see a change in mindset, and their mannerisms make it seem like the players are pro athletes. I notice it more as a referee for sure. It’s funny, you hear the cheering and yelling from the bleachers, and suddenly my job becomes a little harder because I have an audience.”
Gallo cited another benefit.
“Your world gets a bit bigger when you play intramurals,” he said. “Faces become more familiar around campus, and relationships begin to develop.”
