As the new year begins, it means one thing–iBall. iBall, also known as intramural basketball, pits classmates against each other for the sole purpose of crushing each others hopes and dreams of winning that famed orange “I-BALL CHAMPION” t-shirt.

iBall teams, known for their pointless names and wildly varying degrees of caring, cover all walks of life within a 4-5 year age gap. Some have been on a team for 3.125 years, while others are just in their first season.

Junior Tyler Gross, captain of the “White Mambas,” the winners of the freshman-sophomore iBall league last year, has some keys to success. “[The] secret to success is to building a team stacked with talent,” says the seasoned-like-Lawry’s veteran of the league. “Nobody could stop us, everyone could score on our team.  I don’t believe we had a weak link.”

While there are many who make a team with the hopes of lifting the orange t-shirt, a 50/50 blend of polyester and cotton, hand-made in judge johnson’s office, others focus more on having fun. Senior Vincent Montabon, whose team is sadly not named “Monty’s Mounties,” is a newcomer to iBall this year. “The name ‘Montaballers’ was rejected, so we settled with Concrete Ideas.” As with most iBall team names, it was an inside joke between he and his teammates. Though it’s his first year, he’s still finding ways to have fun. “We won our first game. It was pretty fun,” said Montabon.

Though the season is already underway, take any chance you get to be on a team next year, and strive for the shirt. It’s something you won’t regret, especially when dreaming about the championship. Junior Tyler Gross puts it well, “Everyone has 1 goal: to get the coveted shirt cementing yourself in history as an iBall champion.”