JOE HASENSTAB | ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
An app called REC*IT is a new way for students who participate in intramural sports to stay informed and connected with their teams.
The app works by connecting with imleagues.com—a website that works with universities to help organize intramural sports—and taking the information and giving it to the users.WWW“They serve as kind of the back engine behind the intramural sports program at Butler and also behind REC* IT,” REC*IT president David Oestreicher said.
The information on the app includes score updates and schedules for upcoming games and events. Oestreicher said the app’s ability to give users news in real time is important.
“We’ve seamlessly integrated into that software so that we can use that in real time as the engine that makes REC*IT tick,” Oestreicher said.
It also has a chat feature so players can communicate with all their teammates in one place.
The developers at REC*IT had been working on the app for over a year and a half before it debuted a few months ago. In that time, the app has already connected to more than 870 colleges across the country.
Although many universities have intramurals, many programs face a lack of funding.
“You would think because it’s such a popular activity for the general student body that it would get tremendous attention and funding,” Oestreicher said. “But typically, the collegiate rec sports community is actually vastly underserved, especially from a technology stand point.”
Oestreicher said he hopes his app will be able to change that, bringing new technology to students who participate in intramurals in the form of a free download.
“We expect that this is really going to spread,” Oestreicher said. “Because the intramural sports director on your campus is going to request for you to download it, and for you to use it, and to adopt it as a primary communication channel that gives them much more connection to the participant base.”
He also said what makes this product great for college students that it brings the information to students in the place they usually find it—their phones.