If you are a Trinity student who has questions about our in-school intramural basketball league and the changes for this year, look no further: Jimmy Backes, intramural basketball coordinator, spoke with ECHO to try to answer all of them. There have been changes to the league this year to hopefully make this league more fun and organized and to bring Trinity students closer together.

One of the biggest changes for this season of intramural basketball is the shift from teams made up of Trinity’s house system to the students being able to create their own teams. One main reason the league has gone back to student-choice teams is because of the high number of upperclassmen teams forfeiting. They hoped that going back to student-choice teams would lower the number of forfeits.

Another issue Backes mentioned was pandemic-related. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the league’s teams were student-led. Things changed after the pandemic, though. Once intramural got back after the hiatus and started running again, the league started having gym-time issues. The gym time issues were caused by the various sports that use the gyms here at Trinity during this time of the year, including ice hockey, archery, and basketball teams. For those reasons, they had to start doing two house leagues for the last couple of years.

The second most asked question is had the league have more people sign up this year with the student-choice teams than there have been with last year’s house system teams? The answer is yes, they have had more kids sign up this year, though not by a substantial number: Only 10 more players this year than the house system league signed up.

Backes mentioned the changes have worked so far this season, citing the fewer number of forfeits compared to last season. Backes also said they will be able to get a better feel if the changes work in this season’s upcoming tournament.

If you have any questions about the league, contact Mr. Jimmy Backes.