Homestead sports had a big spotlight during the winter season. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition has been brewing involving boy’s intramural basketball.

Teams are made, names are created, jerseys are designed and players are ready to compete in a nine- week long competition every Friday.

If you are not familiar with the phrase intramural, it is where athletes of all ages and sports go to compete freely without any stress or commitment.

“People like IBA so much because it’s a more relaxed version of basketball with no coaches and really no rules which makes the game way more enjoyable and fun for everyone playing,” Griffin Bowers, sophomore, said.

Bowers’ team, CuzinSubs, went 5-0 in the “regular season” but sadly fell short in the playoffs and lost in the second round. Although they didn’t win, it was only the young team’s first year in the tournament. “Next year, we’re going to come back even more prepared and we’re going to go all the way,” Bowers said.

Although most of the players knew each other prior, because of the diverse group of guys, they met many new people as well.

“My favorite memory was probably playing against people we weren’t familiar with,” Collin McGinley, senior, said.

This is McGinley’s third year playing intramural basketball and his team, team 12, ended up losing in the championship game.

“Although we didn’t win, we played hard the whole season and up until the end,” McGinley said.

Throughout the tournament, there were even some special guest appearances.

Steven Yang, senior, said his favorite memory was when one of Homestead’s trainers, Kyle, joined his team.

“He surprisingly did really well and fit right in and it was a lot of fun playing with him,” Yang said.

Homestead math teacher, Wolfgang Recht, filled in for some teams as well.

Although teams get a trophy at the end if you win, the games mean much more than the hardware. They also provide winnerws with bragging rights. Any chance they can get, the teams and players express how good they are. Many of the teams even created Instagram accounts to show off their victories and hard work.

“My favorite memory was when my team was winning the first round of the playoffs by 40 against (junior) Chuck Kobs’ team, and at one point (they) were beating them so bad they ended the game early,” Bowers said.

Although they are friends, Bowers will never let Kobs forget about this loss.

Intramurals is not only helping the boys work out, but also bringing people together.

“I enjoy playing with my friends and against other friends,”Jonah Bersell, junior, said.

“That is why Intramurals is so special because it’s a good and fun way to still play competitively, with the benefit of playing with who you want,” Bersell said.

Although all of these teams worked hard outside of their games, only one team can come out victorious and for the second year in a row, team “Pippen ain’t easy,” made up of Steven Yang, Malik Said, Joe Ollman, Tyler Miller, Adam Riese, Rocco Kelly, Aidan Esenberg and Aidan Ries, won it all.

“We just showed up and took care of business on the court” Yang said.