By Emma Deo
Athletics are a key part of Plattsburgh State, but not just at the NCAA level. Students also have the opportunity to play in intramural basketball and co-ed outdoor soccer leagues on campus. This year, intramural soccer is seeing less interest.
“The recreation department definitely relies on word of mouth to gain interest in intramurals, but there are also flyers around campus to try and increase involvement,” said Kevin Abbondanza, who oversees the intramural soccer and basketball teams.
The soccer league is composed of just four teams this season: The Northern Warriors, Ice Spice Elite, Soccer Team and Sock Shifters FC. Turnout is much smaller than previous years. Last year eight teams were registered.
In addition to the small team pool, games have been forfeited because teams have been unable to get enough players to both scheduled games and friendly scrimmages.
The limited size of the league this year means every team will advance to the playoffs, meaning that teams will no longer have to earn their spot in the postseason, making the league less competitive as a whole.
“We try to recruit more players, but with intramurals, you need a whole team, so it’s hard to group people together who don’t know each other,” said Andrew Moore, sophomore intramural soccer player.
As the league gets smaller, perks are slowly disappearing. Moore began playing in his first year on campus when the league had more teams. The larger league allowed them to play more games in a week than just the regular season contests that count toward playoffs, but after losing players to graduation, numbers just were not high enough anymore.
Issues could snowball if involvement doesn’t pick up.
“It’s hard because if nobody wants to play, I’m just going to try and do something else,” Moore said.
Moore has been playing soccer for as long as he can remember and was originally interested in playing soccer at the Division III level.
“Over time I realized I wanted to focus more on school, so I compromised and started to play intramural — which I don’t have to commit my entire college experience to,” Moore said. “It’s just fun.”
The flexibility and lower commitment of intramurals make them appealing to many students, but this also presents challenges in maintaining team consistency and commitment.
While Plattsburgh offers a variety of club sports like rugby, cheerleading and tennis, intramurals offer students an option where they can play against their peers and stay on campus, rather than traveling to play against other universities. Intramurals also offer a lower commitment compared to full programs or clubs.
Kevin Hicks, sophomore intramural soccer player, attributed the lower participation to a lack of advertisement. Although the outdoor season has already started, he has thought about ways to spread the word about the indoor season to increase involvement.
“I think it might have to do with outreach, but it’s definitely not about people’s interest in playing soccer,” Hicks said.
Intramural basketball hasn’t started their season yet, but in the past, they have not experienced participation issues.
“Basketball is always huge,” Abbondanza said. “We’ve never struggled to fill teams.”
With an average of 15 teams per season and rosters of about eight players each, intramural basketball maintains these numbers through immense student interest.
Intramurals are an opportunity for students to keep sports a part of their lives. If student interest continues to decline, it could leave current members without a place to play.
Students can sign up for intramural soccer at the recreation desk in Memorial Hall’s second floor. Even though the season has already begun, late registration as a free-agent is available throughout the season.
