Intramurals make students sports stars

Playing sports at Purdue University isn’t just for scholarship players.

Over one million people annually use the Recreational Sports Center, Purdue’s recreational facility. The Center offers four different areas, including informal sports, intramural sports, club sports and fitness/wellness activities.

The Center, open seven days a week, is free for all full-time students to use. It offers workout equipment, weight-lifting areas and basketball, racquetball, handball and squash courts in its 211,200 sq. ft. “It’s a place where people can go and use the place whatever way they want to,” said Brent Drinkut, a junior majoring in forestry from Indianapolis, Ind. “I just like going there and playing basketball with my friends.”

Besides informal sports, the Center offers recreational and club sports in which students compete with fellow Purdue students or with students from other colleges. Whomever the competition is, students like to compete with the best athletes.

“I think that you see some of the best high school athletes participating in intramurals,” said Andy Peter, a junior majoring in agricultural economics from Jasper, Ind. “I think that Purdue sports attract the above-average athlete.”

Peter participates in the intramural program, which offers team sports like basketball, flag football and sand volleyball. Along with team sports, the Center offers many individual sports like billiards, racquetball and horseshoes. In addition to those sports, the Center hosts six special events during the school year, including a home run derby, swim meet and sports trivia contest.

With all these benefits, the Center, which was the first university building in the United States to be built for students’ recreational sports, is popular with students.

“Every time I go in there it is always busy,” Drinkut said. “It’s just a good place to play sports.”