“This was one of the best hockey teams I’ve played on,” says team Captain and ARCC student, Randy May.

May’s enthusiasm mirrors the findings of the National Institute for Sports Reform which reports that the unprecedented popularity of sports in the United States has resulted in approximately 16 million athletes in intramural or interscholastic sports after having, as May did, started playing around the age of six.

May continued to play hockey through his sophomore and junior years at Champlin Park High School for the Junior Gold league and, like many students entering two-year colleges, didn’t realize there would be an opportunity for him to continue playing after high school.

“Kids deserve to have the opportunity to continue playing after high school,” says Tom Johnson from the Inver Hills Community College Recreational Activities department. Johnson began and manages the metropolitan area intramural hockey league which currently includes five community colleges. “We would like more community colleges to join us,” he says.

To encourage other community colleges to participate, Johnson is assisting with the 2007 National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) Annual Conference & Recreational Sports Exposition April 18-21, 2007 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

May however needed no encouragement to lace up his skates again. Having sat on the bench his senior year in high school, he was ready to hit the ice again when, having attended ARCC for nearly a full semester, he saw the poster recruiting for ARCC’s intramural team.

“Playing on this team was one of the best experiences in my life,” says May. “Everyone on the team was just great.”

The “everyone” May refers to includes 19 male teammates and the one woman on the co-ed team, Bailey Eisinger who played Varsity hockey for Princeton High School prior to coming to Anoka-Ramsey Community College.

May plans to try out for the St. Cloud State University club team, where he plans to transfer from ARCC.

Intramural Sports at Anoka-Ramsey
Intramural sports offer something for everyone and are a great way to meet new friends and enjoy competition. Anoka-Ramsey Community College Student Life Office schedules activities throughout the year including: badminton, billiards, basketball, chess tournaments, flag football, fun-walks and runs, golf, hockey, ice-hockey, soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball and more.

For more information about ARCC intramural sports, visit www.AnokaRamsey.edu of call 763.433.1243.