As a single mom of four kids, De White never got the typical college experience.
But this year, she got a sense of what it would be like when she got involved with Ivy Tech Indy’s new intramural sports club.
“This gives that feel of the people that you have in the dorm that you really have fun with,” White, who is 31, told Mirror Indy. “It gives you a sense of community.”
Ivy Tech’s Student Coalition for Organized Recreation and Exercise, or SCORE, launched in the fall. While the college has had sports teams in the past, they faded away in recent years.
When Alex Banks started working at Ivy Tech in 2024, he was shocked to learn that the college didn’t have intramural sports teams, especially because of Indy’s identity as a sports town.
“That this massive campus had nothing that spoke to sports or even fitness,” said Banks, who is Ivy Tech Indy’s assistant director for student life, “that was untenable for me.”
This inspired Banks to get an intramural sports program off the ground.
Throughout the year, the group has hosted intramural sports nights at Tab Recreation where students can play pickup games of soccer, pickleball and basketball. Students are encouraged to bring their kids or family members to come out and play, too.
Many Ivy Tech students have responsibilities other than classes, such as work, parenting or caregiving. But it’s important to Banks that those students still have opportunities to experience campus life and what college has to offer, especially because those moments were pivotal to his own college experience.
“I don’t remember every assignment or test. But I do remember the extracurricular life and experiences I had outside of the classroom,” Banks said. “Attending Ivy Tech shouldn’t mean that you have to forfeit that part.”
Play ball!
On a sunny Saturday in April, Ivy Tech students gathered on Tab’s field for SCORE’s biggest event of the year: a kickball tournament between two teams led by the student Latino and veterans’ organizations.
The event was a welcome break from finals stress for 21-year-old Juan Veras, who showed up to lead the student Latino group’s team.
Though Veras hadn’t attended an Ivy Tech sports event before, he was excited when he heard Ivy Tech was adding intramural sports.
“A lot of students know about student organizations, but don’t really come out to the events,” said Veras, outgoing president of the Student Organization of Latinos. “It’s a great way to get everybody to bond together and build relationships and friendships.”
Banks has big plans for expanding sports and recreation at Ivy Tech, and hopes to add more fitness options like yoga and even take students downtown for Fever or Colts games.
And now that sports have made a comeback at Ivy Tech, White hopes they’ll be around for years to come.
“It’s a golden feeling to know that you’re a part of something that’s going to last,” White said.
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
Claire Rafford covers higher education for Mirror Indy in partnership with Open Campus. Contact Claire by email claire.rafford@mirrorindy.org, on most social media @clairerafford or on Signal 317-759-0429.
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