Intramurals are serious business at Neuqua

When you hear "intramurals" you probably don't think of team rankings, of "key players," of discussion boards.

Unless you go to Neuqua Valley High School and play intramural basketball.

I've been a way-off-the-sidelines, overhearing-in-the-kitchen observer of Neuqua intramurals for the past eight years and I've watched from afar as it grew from a sort-of good way to hang out with friends and play when you can (years ago when the games were at night and hard to get to) to a must-join, priority-of-life, competitive and (key words) memorable, fun part of high school.

The obvious example of how much fun a whole lot of kids are having in intramurals is the Facebook page created this year by a player -- a page many players are having fun looking at.

It lists rosters of each basketball team and the game schedule, notes that basketball intramurals is "definitely one of the most intense sports here at Neuqua Valley High School" and names "key players to maybe keep an eye on."

Comments are posted about matchups and games in the great tradition of sports radio post-game chat shows. Remember, now, this is an intramural sport.

Does the guy who runs this intramural program realize what he's got on his hands here?

"I do know and I boast about it quite a bit," said Neuqua physical education teacher Matt Fehrmann. "I'd put us up against any small college. The kids love this program."

Neuqua's intramural program got a boost five years ago when the school's Gold Campus for freshmen opened, providing an after-school gym where intramurals could dominate. Before that, it was difficult for students, particularly freshmen and sophomores, to return to campus in the evenings to play in games. (Main campus gyms overflow with extracurricular sports after school.)

A couple of other factors are at play too. First, the program offers a wide array of sports -- badminton, indoor soccer, flag football, powder puff football, table tennis, rock climbing, volleyball, basketball, bowling, hockey. All are co-ed except flag football and powder puff football.

Sports are added when the kids ask for them. Sports considered for the future include Frisbee golf, 16-inch softball, laser tag, paintball and bootcamp fitness.

"When the kids say, 'Can we start cricket?' the administration says yes, so we're starting this spring," Fehrmann said. "The administration backs us 100 percent."

Another factor is Naperville's well-documented competitive spirit.

"In the community we're in, it's so competitive, the kids play and practice these sports for years and years and then come to high school and it's so competitive, sometimes they can't play," Fehrmann said. "But, they're still good and they're still passionate about it, so they come out for intramurals and bring the competitiveness to the group."

The program works well on two levels -- both for the level of players who might not ever have considered trying out for a school sport, and for the players who play a school sport but either were cut or chose to drop a previous second sport in favor of their school sport and can still play their "old favorite" in a competitive atmosphere.

Sounds a little like life after high school. If these kids can learn now that staying active and competitive and having fun needn't be limited to "elite" athletic levels, that's a bonus. It costs only the $5 intramural fee and an open mind.

Basketball is perhaps the most competitive intramural sport, with 300 boys in two leagues: frosh/soph and junior/senior.

"They all really get into it," Fehrmann said.

Fehrmann has been in charge of intramurals for the past three years and has received calls from high school officials in other states who have seen the program's Web site and want to know how Neuqua's intramural program has grown so much. He says he recently was pleased to find out exactly how much some kids are into intramurals.

"I heard some freshmen ask some senior leaders what sports they play and the seniors said, 'intramural football,' " he said. "That's pretty neat for them, instead of saying 'no sports' to say 'intramurals.' "