The Val Matteotti gym is usually erupting with the sounds of dribbling basketballs, hockey sticks clapping and shoes screeching. Lately though these sounds are heard less and less

Over the past few years administrators have noticed a decline in the amount of teams signing up for intramural sports. Lethbridge College has been known to promote healthy living to its students and intramurals have been a big part of that.

“Enrollment has gone down a lot, so of course we don’t get the numbers like we used to”, says J.P. Gentile, Lethbridge College Students’ Association campus recreation manager.

Over a decade ago the LCSA was turning teams away, with a maximum of 20 teams per sport but now they struggle to get more than 10. 

The most affected sport is arena football. The once busy schedule has now become drop-in only because a single team hasn’t signed up for it in the past two years.

Lethbridge College Student Jonathan Hirsh has been playing intramural sports since 2012 and thinks students being overloaded with homework have caused the lack of interest.

“From what I head [it] was academic reasons or they don’t want to commit to a team,” says Hirsh.

Others attribute the decline to being preoccupied with technology or a general disinterest in physical activity.