Students who enjoyed playing flag football and recreational basketball in the past will now have to live without those pastimes.
The Illinois Valley Community College board of trustees has approved a proposal to cut the intramural program, which coordinated those activities.
According to Tracy Morris, vice president of student services, the decision was made primarily due to lack of student participation and an overall lack of state funding.
“We had considered early on just not doing flag football for next year due to students getting a little overly competitive,” Morris said. “Without flag football, if you look at the numbers, the participation is very, very minimal.”
Funding for the program in 2011 was $2,500. The primary cost goes to an intramural coordinator and minor supplies. Intramural athletics are not funded through the student activities fee, but through the athletic department.
Flag football in 2011 had the most participants with around 40 students signing up to play. Basketball followed with 35 individuals, including faculty members, who signed up.
Beyond that, students did not really sign up for activities like euchre, volleyball and soccer.
Another factor in the decision to reduce intramurals was the construction project for the Community Technology Center and reduced state funding for higher education.
Should the budget get better, plans could be made to restore funding for the program.
Should students want to participate in activities, they can contact Morris in the Counseling Center to discuss hosting events as student activities and use campus space and equipment to coordinate a time for those activities.
Morris urges students to look into getting involved on campus, possibly by forming organizations with students for similar interests.
“Our intramural athletics struggle because students don’t have the spare time to participate between classes. A lot of students drive themselves and work, so we’ve lost some of the active campus audience. Research has shown that students who get engaged in something in college extracurricularly do better in their academics.”
Baseball coach Eric Pinter had coordinated intramurals before the position was cut.