The NIRSA Regional Basketball Championships, which will feature twelve exceptional sites this year, are just around the corner! Participating teams are hoping to secure a bid to the 2015 NIRSA National Basketball Championships, which takes place April 17–19 at North Carolina State University. Winning teams from each regional championship will be entered into the NIRSA National Championships for free and earn a travel stipend—based on required travel distance—to Raleigh.

Want a chance to take on the nation? Contact the tournament director in your area for more information on registering for a regional championship.

Registration for the 2015 NIRSA National Basketball Championships opened January 12 on IMLeagues and teams have until April 6 to sign up for one of the four divisions: Men’s Club, Men’s Intramural, Women’s Club, and Women’s Intramural. And with an institutional registration, your institution could get a full 2015 NIRSA National Championships package—including team registration, program recognition, a university staff individual onto the tournament staff, and a top official invited to work the tournament and attend the official’s clinic.

Ben Strunk—Competitive Sports Coordinator at North Carolina State and the Tournament Director—is “excited to host the Annual NIRSA National Basketball Championships in 2015 for the last year at NC State.” NC State, he says, is “currently in the planning process to make this year’s tournament bigger and better than ever before. In fact, the tournament will expand to 96 club and intramural teams from across the country this year. The goal is to provide an incredible championship experience for every participant and to provide a unique development and learning environment for our staff and officials.”

The NIRSA Championship Series’ commitment to professional development for all players and rec professionals means there will be a strong focus on official’s training at this year’s NIRSA National Basketball Championships. Co-Director of Officials David Gaskins explains that “The NIRSA National Basketball tournament will assemble over 50 of the brightest intramural officials in the nation with a goal of improving skills for each and every official who attends. Each official will have games videotaped with a voiceover from one of the clinicians and receive a spreadsheet which summarizes every evaluation comment made throughout their experience.”

Doug Shows, an NCAA Men’s Final Four official, “will kick things off with the opening presentation at the Thursday night dinner, and the intensive training clinic on Friday will include sessions from a variety of collegiate and professional officials and supervisors. Numerous previous camp attendees have subsequently progressed into the collegiate and professional ranks,” says David. If you’re an official interested in working the national tournament, you can qualify by officiating at a NIRSA regional tournament or by completing the at-large application process.

And make sure to follow #NIRSABBall, @NIRSAChamp, and @NIRSAlive on Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date with all the photos, game highlights, play-by-plays, and exciting buzz throughout the season!

 

For more information about NIRSA Championship basketball, please contactNIRSA Director of National Sports Programs Valerie McCutchan.