Women's intramural basketball still popular

During intramural basketball season, the courts at the Wildermuth Intramural Center become jam-packed with sweaty male players shooting free throws, playing man-to-man defense and violently vying for rebounds.\nWhile observing the madness, one may catch a glimpse of something else: long, flowing pony tails, hairless legs and backs, and sports bras.\nDespite the abundance of men, there are several coed and all-female teams that also light up the scoreboards.\nThis season there are four teams registered to sororities in the women's leagues. There are 10 teams in the Division I category and 14 teams in the Division II category, according to the RecSports Web site.\nWomen's intramural and athletic programs are hardly new to the University. Director of Recreational Sports Kathy Bayless cites a report dating women's involvement back to the late 19th century, which puts IU as one of the front-runners in higher-education institutions to construct a women's gymnasium.\n"In 1890 the administration made a special effort to provide the necessary facilities and equipment for all female students to use and for the promotion of the Department of Physical Training for Women," she said in an e-mail interview. "In 1896-97, the expanding program moved to Mitchell Hall. The space afforded by the move made possible the offering of basketball in 1901-02 as the first athletic activity in the program."\nAfter more than a century, it is a program that is still going strong.\nSenior Liz Kauffmann, captain of the Division I team Club Soccer Ladies, has been playing all four years of her college career. She plays for both the all-female club soccer team as well as a coed team. Two years ago her club soccer team won the women's title, and they hope for a repeat this year.\nSince club soccer is a fall sport, the women use intramural basketball as a way to stay in shape as well as for something fun to do together as a team. \nBecause she plays both female and co-ed teams, Kauffmann has experienced both worlds that intramural sports offer. \n"Guarding guys is a lot more physical," she said. "It's kind of fun."\nDespite the lop-sided ratio of men's to women's teams, Kauffmann believes both divisions get treated equally and have just as much competition. \n"The competition gets pretty intense," Kauffmann said. "I really \nlike that."\n"There are teams with people who played in high school and are fairly talented," said senior Ali McCormick, captain of the Kappa Alpha Theta team, "and there are teams with people whom have never played. Both the male and female intramural basketball field has both good and bad teams."\nMcCormick has also been involved in intramural sports her entire career as a student at IU. She played basketball in high school and started participating in intramural sports when she realized how much she missed the game. She is also the current athletic chair at Theta.\nIntramural graduate assistant Eric Kammeyer said women's participation in intramural sports has been very steady the last few years, hovering around 30 teams per season.\nKammeyer said there were 61 coed teams last year. This year's number is 48, according to RecSports.