As May rolled in and finals week crept closer, students hurried to finish the last set of assignments and prepare for exams, but even amid the whirl of academics, many students still made time for one thing: intramural sports. 

Currently, on the north side of campus, just west of Elmer Gray Stadium, lie the intramural fields, where students gather for weekly games – games that one might think determine the difference between life and death. 

Hordes of people circle the fields watching, cheering for their friends, yelling at referees and gasping at plays. 

Intramural sports continue to fuel culture within the campus community, with university administration acknowledging the growing support and planning to expand the intramural fields.

Shirley Makolo, sophomore nursing major from Mansfield, and Caroline Myers, freshman nursing major from Princeton, enjoy going to the games to support friends. 

“It’s exciting because most of my friends participate,” Makolo said. “It’s fun going and watching them, cheering them on. It’s just a fun activity to get people together.” 

Myers agreed, saying she enjoys simply going to watch. 

“I’ve never been great at sports,” Myers said, “but I enjoy going and supporting my friends, seeing them do good or just enjoy themselves playing the sport.” 

While many students like Myers and Makolo watch from the sidelines, more than 1,100 students compete as players. 

And this is not a strange ACU phenomenon: Millions of college students in the U.S. play club, intramural and recreational sports.  

Clubs, friend groups and people with a simple mutual interest in sports join to compete in games and tournaments. 

Studies have linked recreational sports participation to reduced stress levels and improved mental health, particularly among students balancing heavy academic workloads. 

A journal article by Tyler Prochnow, “Intramural sports social networks and implications for college student physical activity, sense of community, and retention,” found significant evidence that participants in recreational sports have a greater sense of community and retention to the university compared to non-participating students. 

At ACU, intramural participation includes anything from basketball to flag football to pickleball to volleyball. Each sport offers two leagues: champion and recreation.  

Champ is for competitive teams, who are in it to win it, and rec typically draws teams just looking for fun. The league provides space for anyone to play, meaning intramurals are not limited to former high school athletes. 

IMLeagues is the heart of intramurals. Students can create or sign up for teams on the app or website of IMLeagues, where schedules can also be found.  

Dante “Gator” Hibbert, director of intramurals and club sports at ACU, emphasizes the community aspect. Hibbert said intramurals are a source of enjoyment for friends. 

“It’s the best thing on campus to do with your friends, have fun and still be competitive,” Hibbert said. 

During each season, teams play once, occasionally twice a week, with games typically lasting an hour and providing students with a space to forget about academics, Hibbert said, labeling intramurals as an escape. 

“I think that students should play intramurals,” Hibbert said, “because I think intramurals is the ultimate getaway, from classes, from everything.” 

Hibbert’s assistant, Darius Thompson, built on the community aspect of intramurals, saying it is a big part of campus life.  

With intramurals being a melting pot of majors, clubs and classification, Thompson said it is a great way to meet new faces. 

“This also is another way of interacting with other students here,” Thompson said. “We have half of the student population participate in intramurals, so it’s just a good opportunity to do that.” 

Thompson started as a student in undergrad, then became a referee, and now is the assistant director of intramurals. Thompson said intramurals were integral to his time at ACU as a student. 

“I wasn’t in club,” Thompson said, “but intramurals were vital to who I was as a student.” 

When Thompson was hired as a referee, he played on the zebra team – a team made up of the referees. Thompson’s first game he ever refereed was a flag football rivalry game. 

Knowing student turnout will be high and games will be heated, the intramural directors schedule rivalry games to take place in the third week of each season. 

Thompson said he enjoys refereeing rivalry games because the energy of the games feeds off the large crowds. 

“It is my favorite thing to do: to sit in the middle of the field, stand there at the captain’s meeting and not see the fence,” Thompson said, “to just see people.” 

One core memory Thompson recalled was during the Sigma Theta Chi versus Ko Jo Kai flag football game, when a group of sophomore Siggies drove up in a truck, yelling and honking. 

“They made a huge scene, and it really pissed off the Kojies,” Thompson said. “It just made the environment that much better.” 

Another highlight from refereeing rivalry games for Thompson was after the 2025 Gamma Sigma Phi versus Galaxy flag football championship, when the winning team had a rather loud and bright celebration. 

“There were fireworks spouted off campus right after the game ended,” Thompson said, “which is fun.” 

The university administration has acknowledged the importance of intramurals to campus life and plans to accommodate the growing support for intramural sports with new fields. 

Kevin Campbell, senior vice president for operations, said a new field for intramurals has been in the works for six to seven years. 

“Students are more proactively communicating to us the importance that intramurals is playing,” Campbell said. 

They also found a correlation between intramural participants and a more positive view of the university within their studies.  

“One thing that stood out to us was that our students who love intramurals are raving fans about ACU,” Campbell said. “The people who are most likely to tell everybody how much they love ACU are students who are heavily involved in intramurals.” 

Campbell spoke about the environment at intramural games compared to that of other universities. He said if you go to intramural fields at other institutions, the only people nearby will be the players themselves. 

“And at ACU, it’s that plus spectators, plus animals,” Campbell said. 

Campbell said they are looking to build fields that will not only benefit intramurals but also add to student experience by adding a big screen for score keeping and for movie nights. 

“Next time that our basketball teams are in the playoffs, we’d set up a big LED screen,” Campbell said, “so they can pile onto the lawn and watch.” 

The long-term goal is to foster more opportunities for student connection.  

“We want to create an outdoor green space where students can play Spikeball,” Campbell said. “They can do all kinds of things, you know, not just play flag football on that field.” 

Construction is expected to begin in 13 months if the administration can raise enough funds to cover the expenses. 

The week of April 20 marked the last week of soccer, with only tournament games left to be played. Next up is softball season.  

Students rallied last weekend to play a one-weekend tournament of slow-pitch co-ed softball – where spectators piled in the stands, cheered for their friends, yelled at referees and gasped at plays, marking the final intramural season of the spring semester.