Intramural Basketball on a Fast Break Since Fall Break

On Thursday, November 6, Calvin G. Gooding ’84 Arena filled up fast. Even on a weeknight, students poured in for a full slate of Intramural Basketball (IBB) games.

IBB attracts a mixture of varsity, club, and amateur athletes. On one side of the court, Women’s Club Soccer traded possessions with the “Haverford Basketball Team,” while Men’s Lacrosse competed against Women’s Varsity Soccer on the other set of hoops.

“When IBB is run well, it’s really an institution on this campus that people come together around,” co-commissioner Ben Zimmerman ’27 said. 

Zimmerman participated in IBB as a first-year player before stepping in to help run the league last season. He returned to the role of commissioner this fall alongside Ian Hochman ’28. Stewardship of IBB passes down through the varsity Men’s Basketball team: Zimmerman is a student manager, Hochman a player.

Amari Bryant ’26, who leads the “Haverford Basketball Team,” has been involved in IBB even longer than the commissioners. As a first-year, he learned about the league from a group of seniors he played pickup with. The “random team” he was added to adopted the name “Haverford Basketball Team.” Bryant has a new set of teammates now, but the name has stuck.

“When I came my freshman year, there were so many teams—like the sports teams, but also just like random friend groups—and it was just really cool to have that many people in the gym,” Bryant said.

After noticing a drop in participation last year, he has seen IBB return to being a place for “everyone to congregate.”

Zimmerman estimated that at its peak, there were two hundred people in the gym on a Thursday night in November—a remarkable turnout given the size of the college. There are 128 rostered players this season.

This IBB season runs from Fall Break to Winter Break, with games on Thursday and Sunday nights, and draws in offseason varsity teams as well as self-organized groups like the “Haverford Basketball Team” and the “Ben Norris Club.” In the 11-team league this fall, schedules are nine to eleven games, with two weeks at the end for playoffs. Men’s Lacrosse and Baseball are perennial championship favorites. However, Women’s Club Soccer is a new challenger this fall, and Zimmerman also touted Men’s Tennis as a contender.

Caitlin Chatterton ’27 got her teammates on Women’s Club Soccer on board to form an IBB team together for fun.

“I love playing basketball—I played in high school,” she said. “[IBB] is my opportunity to play here.”

Hoping to reflect the league’s intramural status, the commissioners aim for a middle ground between competitive and casual.

“We’re toeing the line between an official college game and something more serious than messing around at the playground,” Zimmerman said.

“I think there’s a lot of people that take it extremely competitive and super seriously, and then there’s a number of people that take it as something just to have fun,” said Chris O’Connor ’29, a Men’s Lacrosse player and the Students’ Council Officer of Athletics. “I think it’s really up to you on how serious you want to take it.”

He and Hochman have worked to ensure teams show up on time and have started the IBB Instagram account (@haverfordibb) to elicit attention and increase commitment. “We do as much as we can, as the two people running it, to make it legit: have refs there, have people score[keeping] there, and have it feel like a real league,” Zimmerman said. “I think the teams have really bought in this year.”

Some teams have begun showing up in coordinated uniforms, and a few “coaches” (athletes that might not be able to play, but want to support their friends on the floor) have appeared in full suits on the sidelines.

The commitment cuts both ways. As a referee, Zimmerman has gotten his share of complaints from players unhappy with a whistle, but he takes it in stride.

“Sometimes I get a little heat, but it indicates that people care,” he said.

Whatever others’ in-game opinions may be, O’Connor has been happy with the management of the league.

“I think basketball does a good job of running the scheduling and officiating in a way that makes the game fair,” he said.

As of November 25, the varsity Baseball (5–0), Men’s Lacrosse (4–1), and Men’s Soccer (3-1) teams sat atop the standings. The playoffs are just around the corner.

“[IBB] is definitely competitive, especially when it gets to the playoffs,” Bryant said. “I like that the sports teams treat it seriously, because it does make for cool energy towards the end.”

A new prize sweetens the pot: the winners walk away with 76ers tickets. Rewards aside, the competitive spirit of IBB has injected energy into Gooding. With the postseason looming, the stakes and the noise will only climb.