LCC offering intramural hoop league

By Michael Leek
Sports Editor

Intramural basketball has begun at LCC. Whether you are a faculty member, student or alumni, you can join a team.

LCC Men’s Head Coach Mike Ingram and LCC Athletic Director Greg Lattig have started an intramural basketball league for the first time in 25 years at LCC.

Ingram said he has been hosting open gym sessions for a while, but have not been getting a lot of students to come in.

“I just wanted to make sure that our open gym time is being utilized, so I said let’s try and bring in intramurals,” Ingram said.

Games are played on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. until noon. The teams play two 18-minute halves and as of right now, play twice a week.

Lattig and Ingram are using this time as a pilot program for intramural basketball and are testing the waters.

“Once you get into you realize there are a couple things you need,” Ingram said. “You need a scorekeeper and you need referees. We weren’t really prepared for that.”

Despite some of the things they weren’t prepared for, Lattig said the program has been going well.

“I’ve been watching some of the games and they’re very competitive and the students look like they’re having fun,” Lattig said. “Those are the two most important things, so we're excited and want to build on it.”

The players agreed. Jerome, a student at LCC said the games have been fun.

“I love basketball; I grew up playing all the time,” Jerome said. “Having the opportunity to play here at LCC for fun is good and I’ve been enjoying it.”

Jerome said he found out about intramural basketball through an email and was immediately interested in playing.

There are currently four teams and Ingram said he is still looking for more players to add.

“We might tweak the days because it is in the middle of the morning at 10. It might have to be something we do on a Sunday to get more players in,” Ingram said.

Ingram said the intramural program is showing there are students who still want to get in the gym and play.

“We used to have basketball classes that were really popular for a long time, but it kind of went on the wayside a little bit,” Ingram said. “It’s been good for the students coming in and it’s been good for more. I love basketball and I love interacting with students and athletes that love to play.”

Lattig and Ingram said they want to have the program go right through March and have a championship game.

“I’m hoping to have a survey out and ask the players if they want to go through spring break or all the way through March,” Ingram said.

Games have already started but Ingram said players can still join. Just bring in a student or alumni ID and Ingram will put you on a team.