Students interested in playing LSU competitive sports face delays in joining intramural sports this month because of setbacks from Hurricane Gustav.Intramural registration for flag football has been delayed until Sept. 15-17. Flag football jamboree will begin Sept. 18, and flag football games start Sept. 21. Kickball play begins on Sept. 18. All other dates can be found online or in the University Student Recreational Complex magazine, URActive.Students interested in playing intramural sports can start their own team or join existing teams. Intramural registration fees range from $5 to $35.Part-time students are required to be members of the UREC to participate in intramural sports. Students who opt to join existing teams can use the new free-agent program to be anonymously put on a team this year. The free-agent method is a change from when team captains would pick players at a meeting. The registration form for all sports is available on UREC’s Web site, lsu.edu/urec. Registrations are from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 15-17, Sept. 22-24, Oct. 13-15 and Nov. 3-5 in Classroom 1 in the UREC. Team captains then pick game times based on availability and pay fees to Guest Services.  Megan Cockfield, pre-nursing freshman, said she would be interested but has “no idea” which intramural sport she would play. Tim Marlowe, mechanical engineering freshman, has not played intramural sports at the UREC. He plans to join football and soccer teams.Intramural sports are popular among fraternities and sororities, but the UREC “pushes others to feel open to play,” said Tricia Milford-Hoyt, assistant director of marketing and membership.  Katie Lasalle, sociology junior, said she might play intramural sports at the UREC. “I do sports with my sorority,” Lasalle said. Teams are typically scheduled to play four games in a semester. After the conclusion of the season, teams are put into brackets for the championship.UREC’s most popular sports are flag football, soccer and volleyball. Other intramural sports include racquetball, table tennis and kickball. William McGehee, third year law student, said he has played intramural football and softball. Since last semester, the professional staff director for “Intramurals, Sport Clubs, and Camps” resigned, and the department was split into two positions, “Leagues and Tournaments” and “Sport Clubs and Camps.” This change brought on three major leagues, team tournaments and individual tournaments, said Noble-Bates Young, kinesiology junior and team leader for the intramural department. Major leagues created include 7-on-7 flag football, 11-on-11 soccer and indoor volleyball. Team tournaments include dodgeball, kickball and 3-on-3 basketball. Individual tournaments in tennis, racquetball and table tennis are offered. These tournaments invite LSU teams to play other SEC university extramural teams. The winning team gets a gift from the opposing school such as Final Four tickets, said Young. Other changes this year include online streaming of intramural championship and video on demand after games. These changes will be available later this fall. Rules for jamborees will also be finalized later this fall. Next fall, no intramural fees will apply because of a Student Government grant to the UREC, according to Milford-Hoyt. UREC officials predict this will increase intramural members and the amount of games, according to the UREC presentation for an open forum Jan. 30. There are typically around 7,500 registered individuals for intramural per year, according to Tamara Jarrett, director of UREC. “Intramurals are an exciting way to meet students with similar interests,” Jarrett said. Divisions are designed to offer what a student wants depending on a social group or competitive group, Jarrett said. Sports have men’s, women’s, mixed doubles and co-recreational divisions, according to URActive. Participants are not allowed to be members of more than one team per division. New basketball divisions were created to cater to different groups of students for disabled people and basketball for people more than six feet tall.  - – – -Contact Mary Gonzalez at [email protected]