Park is in the midst of an expansion that involves a stat tracking system as well plans for Highmark Stadium to become the new home to flag football.
“The most challenging part was trying to resurrect the culture of the intramural program,” said first-year intramural director Timothy Lyman. “While I was a student, it was big. Frankly, the right people were not put in the right positions here. I’m just trying to bring back the culture we used to have.”
Lyman was a former student at the University from 2003 to 2009. He found during his time as a student that the intramural program was not very extensive. The program had a lot of league play, but it was very informal.
“When I started in 2003, it had more of a club team feel,” Lyman said. “You showed up and got a shirt, and then you stayed on one team the whole semester.”
In order to bring back the culture, Lyman knew he needed something to make the program more substantial.
This spring, Lyman launched IM Leagues. It is a program made solely for intramural sports. Students can go to www.imleagues.com, where they can create an account using their Point Park email. After the account is created, a homepage appears that lists all of the sports offered during the semester. It also tracks seasons, schedules and statistics.
“An intramural player can come during welcome week, sign up and play in one or two sports,” Lyman said. “A player can have his or her whole career archived through the program. It’s crucial to bringing back the culture. We need something tangible that makes it something more than recreational.”
Senior sports, arts and entertainment management (SAEM) major Eric Stonebraker has participated in dek hockey all four years at the school. Stonebraker found IM Leagues an easy and accessible addition to dek hockey.
“Stats and scorekeeping have improved,” Stonebraker said. “We’re all signed up. We can see stats and team standings. I made myself captain, and I can post on the team wall. It made it more official.”
Sophomore SAEM major Taran Martin did not feel the same about IM League’s ease of use.
“It was a lot of steps to take…definitely a lot more than last semester,” Martin said. “I had to have my friend Paul help me through the site.”
Even though Martin had some issues with IM Leagues, he believes it will be good in the long run.
“I think it’s good because people want to know what their stats are,” Martin said. “They got really concerned about that [last season]. I know guys would want to compare how many touchdowns they had.”
Another key change Lyman hoped to make this semester was moving flag football from Greentree Sports Complex to Highmark Stadium. He was in talks with stadium officials to begin scheduling the sport, but the school recently denied a budget increase to secure the stadium for the spring. Lyman confirmed that he wrote it into his budget for the fall.
“It’s a real bummer,” Lyman said. “It was a great pitch to get people involved with the program, but we will be there at some point.”
Sophomore broadcast reporting and production programming double major Paul Daniels participated in flag football last year.
“Last year was a lot of fun,” Daniels said. “I just love playing flag football in general. The teams were competitive, and you won a gift card and trophy at the end.”
Daniels also looks forward to flag football being held in Highmark Stadium.
“It would be cool actually playing [on] a legit field,” Daniels said. “I like the fact that it’s outside. The complex was inside. It will give it a better atmosphere for the game. It’s also a regulation size field, so that helps.”
As for the spring schedule for the rest of the semester, dodgeball is Tuesday nights from 6-9 p.m., and the volleyball open gym is from 6-9 p.m. on Thursdays. Both sports are held in the gym on the fifth floor of the Student Center.
Due to the budget, flag football will not be held this spring.
Students can find out more information by going to the Intramurals page on Point Park’s website. Students can also receive updates at www.facebook.com/PlayPointPark or on Twitter @PlayPointPark.
