Join an official high school team, or don’t play at all. For many Palo Alto High School students looking to play a sport at school, those are the two options. But what if there was a third choice?

Verde urges Paly’s Associated Student Body to organize intramural sports, which would allow students who want to play various sports — ranging from basketball to pickleball — to exercise, compete and have fun in a low-stakes environment.

Some students have already formed intramural teams and begun competing informally. Senior Ivan Ijzerman and his friends created a league called “Eight O’Clock Ball,” where Paly students come together to casually play basketball.

Ijzerman said that Eight O’Clock Ball has increased his interest in basketball.

“I’m not much of a basketball player, but getting out there and playing with my friends definitely got me more into the sport,” Ijzerman said. “Also, I know that people who are not able to play on, say, Paly’s team are still playing out with us and having a good time.”

With ASB-endorsed intramural sports, students like Ijzerman could find a community in an environment that is less daunting than Paly’s official varsity and junior varsity teams. Additionally, they could try out a new sport that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to play, without the pressure and time commitment that comes with being a student athlete.

“It’s super fun to be able to play a sport where there’s no money or risk involved because it’s not like you’re competing for a club or high school team,” Ijzerman said. “There’s no consequences if you lose or win, but the games do definitely get competitive at times and it’s fun because everyone has their own style of play.”

While students can and should keep playing sports independently, ASB has the opportunity to bolster the benefits of current attempts at intramural sports by providing the resources needed to host a sports league. For example, Eight O’Clock Ball currently runs into problems with securing courts to play on.

“In recent months, we haven’t been playing as actively as we used to because we don’t have access to public facilities like the gym. … the hoops are always up and we are forced to play outside on the tennis court because it has lights,” senior and Eight O’Clock Ball member Max Schrage said. “We really have a lack of access to places where we can entertain our hobby.”

Additionally, students like Ijzerman feel that associating intramural sports with ASB can increase the number of people positively influenced by team sports and physical activity.

“Right now, Eight O’Clock Ball is focused mainly just on one group of friends, and I think ASB-run intramural sports can bring together people who weren’t friends before,” Ijzerman said.

ASB-run intramural sports would provide the Paly student body with a fun, healthy way to socialize and gain new experiences, and Verde suggests that such a program be put in place.