Drew Richard/arichard@mail.smcvt.edu/Staff Writer
In recent years, the only intramural sports at St. Michael’s College have been basketball and hockey, leaving students with a lack of athletic activities to choose from.
This year, St. Michael’s College has opened up a new position for someone to organize intramural and club sports and create new events. Student Success Advisor Lou DiMasi is taking over the job.
“It takes things a little while to get going, but the hope is with this new position, [intramural sports] will be increasing significantly this year and in future years,” DiMasi said.
Kerri Leach, associate dean of students and director of Student Activities, explained how exciting this will be for students.
“Lou’s job is to think about intramurals outside the box, as well as some of the traditional stuff,” Leach said. “He is going to specialize in big events. He knows how to run an event.”
Leach is looking forward to DiMasi taking intramural sports in a new direction. She expressed how much this position was needed in the past.
Students have come and gone without playing intramural sports or contributing to school events. According to Leach, this was simply because of the options.
“Students want stuff to do, students like to play,” Leach said. “We will experiment with competitive and fun games. Trying to get everyone involved.”
Leach hopes this will attract more students to the school, especially considering recent drops in class sizes.She encourages students to give their opinions on the events and intramurals available.
One of DiMasi’s major goals is giving all students the opportunity to find something they like to do.
“We hope to create a new intramural system such as leagues and sports tournaments throughout the calendar year,” DiMasi said.
Leach and DiMasi came up with ideas for intramurals in the future. These include basketball, volleyball, soccer, flag football, dodgeball, and even weekend wiffle ball tournaments.
The budget for intramurals will be much larger this year because of the increase in sports offered. In the past, the budget was not prioritzed because of the low attendance rate for intramurals.
“That’s something that we are starting to work on and figure out, how the budget works, how the formats and leagues will run,” DiMasi said.
“I’m excited to see where intramurals will be headed,” Tavion Barrio ‘25 said. “I’m excited to be participating with students I don’t usually see outside of class.”
There will be an opportunity for students to get jobs through intramurals, by managing events or refereeing games.
Leach said they are planning on providing prizes, awards, T-shirts, and food at events.
“We will try and figure out how to get a budget for that,” Leach said.
Both Dimasi and Leach are looking forward to bringing more activities to students this year. Besides intramural and club sports, they envision games like spikeball and table tennis on campus.