Something new offered to James Buchanan last year by Mrs. Breanna Grove (Faculty) was the aspect of intramural sports. In these sports, students form their own teams and compete during Activity Period twice a week. They compete in “tournament-style” games where their team is placed in a bracket; the team who wins the most games wins the tournament.

The Intramural sports offered have been limited to dodgeball currently, but Grove plans to expand in the future.

“Whenever I was getting interviewed for this position, I brought up the idea of intramurals, so we wanted to try it here,” said Grove.

When Grove was hired, she wanted every student in James Buchanan, no matter the athletic ability, to have the opportunity to participate in a school sport and be active. At the schools where she student-taught, they played intramurals there and she wanted to try something new at James Buchanan.

“They [intramurals] are more students who want to participate in sports, but not varsity sports,” said Grove.

Intramurals aren’t as much of a commitment as varsity sports are. As well as only being twice a week during school hours, they also are no-cut sports. By having no cuts, it relieves the students of stress they may have for trying out for the sports. Students don’t have to worry about making a team as they are already guaranteed to be a participant if they turn in their team form before the sport starts.

“I really like that we can form our own teams with friends and play against other students in our school,” said Lizzie Pittman (12).

Intramural sports also takes away the competitive aspect that varsity sports have. They allow students to play amongst their peers and form their own teams, making the sports less competitive and makes it more enjoyable for all of the students.

“Even if you don’t want to play, we allow students to come in the gym and watch,” said Grove.

Anybody can come down and watch their peers play Intramurals. The students cheer and encourage the teams, making it more enjoyable for the players.

“When other schools do Intramurals they get a good response from them,” said Grove.

The Intramurals at James Buchanan have so far received a good response whether they be from the player or spectators. Grove hopes to continue doing more intramurals in the future as well as broadening the sports offered.