By Alyssa Whitney
The NIRSA Regional Basketball Championships are underway! At stake for the winners of these 12 tournaments are automatic bids to the NIRSA National Basketball Championships, which will be hosted by North Carolina State University from April 17–19. Teams will demonstrate their dedication, efforts, skills and sportsmanship in a battle for a chance at a National Championship title.
Over the February 6–8 weekend, the first in a series of 12 regional tournaments concluded at the University of Maryland, College Park. Jason Hess, Coordinator of Intramural Sports at the University of Maryland and Regional Tournament Director, recaps the event:
“The NIRSA Championship Series Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament at the University of Maryland featured 16 Women’s and 14 Men’s teams from Regions I and II. Penn State finished strong and took home the title for the Women’s Division, beating University of Virginia 45–39. The Men’s Division crowned James Madison University in a 42-41 thriller over Virginia State University. The teams, officials, and volunteer staff helped make our tournament a huge success!”
The anticipation for the National Championships is expected to grow even greater as we progress through the regional tournaments. In attendance at the University of Maryland, College Park tournament was NIRSA National Basketball Championship Tournament Director Ben Strunk. He adds that “it was exciting to be a part of the regional tournament and see the great work that is being done by NIRSA colleagues across the country to create a quality experience for participants, spectators, staff, and student officials. NC State looks forward to following the lead set by the 12 regionals to create an ultimate championship experience in April.”
Securing an automatic bid through a regional championship isn’t the only way to get in on the action at the National Championships! Registration for the NIRSA National Basketball Championships remains open and can be accessed through the online registration site. The deadline to register is April 6. Make sure your school’s best teams don’t miss out—there are options for men’s and women’s teams in both Club and Intramural Divisions and there was a waitlist in all four divisions last year!
And don’t forget that teams, spectators, officials, and NIRSA professionals can use the hashtag #NIRSABB or follow @NIRSAChamp on Twitter and Instagram during the events to share their experience or to see the action in real-time. Include NIRSA’s official Twitter handle @NIRSAlive in your tweet for a chance to be retweeted to the larger NIRSA community. Follow @NIRSAlive on Twitter, or like the NIRSA Facebook page, to stay up-to-date on all the latest NIRSA news, updates, and member insights before, during, and after your favorite Championship Series event is over.
For more information about NIRSA Championship Series Basketball, NIRSA Director of National Sports Programs Valerie McCutchan.
