Intramural program draws OTC students

OTC students have game.

Students from the Lebanon and Waynesville centers have formed intramural basketball teams that square off in weekend games.

The idea for the league came from two students, Blaire Wade at the Lebanon Center and Marcus Gamble at the Waynesville Center.

“Marcus contacted the Student Government Association in Lebanon and asked if we were interested in playing basketball,” said Wade, who played high school basketball at Stoutland and is the only woman playing in the league.

“I love basketball. I really wanted to do it. Marcus and I had conference calls on where to have the games and it was on from there.

There are two teams made up mostly of former high school players, except for Gamble, who played several years of college basketball at Missouri Valley College.

The two teams met for the first time at the YMCA in Lebanon, which provides a referee and use of the scoreboard.

“It’s exciting and I’m excited,” said Rosalind Pride, director of the Waynesville Center. “It’s been two years that we’ve been trying to start this. Marcus and Blaire made it happened. It’s not every day you get a group of guys to travel 30 miles to play an intramural game. It says we’ve got spirit.”

Isaac Gillen, who played basketball at Lebanon High School for four years, is a member of the Lebanon Center team.

“It’s fun. It’s kind of like a real college with intramurals,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll do better against Waynesville than we did in high school.”

The Lebanon Center team beat Waynesville on Saturday.

Wade would like to see teams formed at the other campuses and centers in the OTC system.

“We’re challenging Springfield, Richwood Valley and table Rock to form teams. We hope they can come in and defeat them as well,” she said.

Wade said having the league and playing gives students a sense of pride.

“They just don’t want to go to college,” she said. “They want to go to a place where they’re involved in something. This is a place where they can do that. It’s a great way to get people connected and make friendships.”