Northern Kentucky University began using IMLeagues in fall 2011 in order to keep intramurals organized and to make it easier for students to monitor which sports they are involved in and sign up to join a team.
Jeremy Chipman, coordinator for intramural sports and outdoor adventure programs, was hesitant to use the software at first, but he loves it now and said it has made his life easier in many ways.
“I was approached a couple of years ago about IMLeagues,” Chipman said. “It was starting off at probably 50-75 universities across the United States and now it has bloomed all the way up to 200 universities.”
Chipman said it is a great way for students to interact with each other and organize their teams. Participants can also check their schedule to see when they play and check out all of the rosters.
“To me, it’s a smaller version of Facebook where [students] can communicate with one another and get on different pages,” Chipman said. “It also helps with free agents. If someone doesn’t have a team, they can sign in and actually contact people that are in need of players.”
According to Chipman, IMLeagues also makes his job easier because he does not have to do everything manually.
“It is freeing up time for me to be able to focus on other things,” Chipman said. “There would be hours of me putting in the leagues and who plays who. It has been a nice addition for the intramural program.”
Chipman said in the past he would have to get every student’s ISO number and email address and it was difficult having to chase them down. But with IMLeagues, “it is like they are actually doing the work for us.”
This year, IMLeagues added a single sign-in technique. Students now have to sign in with their NKU username and password. Then participants can click on the NKU link and find all of the sports that are currently offered.
“In the past, we would have information on the website, but now [students] can just sign in to one page and all of the information is right there,” Chipman said. “We update it nightly as to who won and who lost and what their record is.”
Chipman said there was a big push this year for a sportsmanship rating. Participants have to have a certain rating in order to make the playoffs combined with going to a captain’s meeting.
Fraternities and sororities have a director’s cup, where they play for points, whether it be participation, wins/losses or playoffs. They will be able to see all of their points on a daily basis, according to Chipman.
In terms of payment, Chipman said, as of right now, students cannot pay for the sports online. They have to come into the Campus Recreation Center and pay at the front desk or at the intramural office.