The biggest Basketball Game of the Weekend was in…Corpus Christi?

DSA News
March 17, 2025

Corpus Christi, Feb. 25, 2025 — For many UH students on the weekend of February 22, the #8 Iowa State Cyclone versus the #5 Houston Cougars was set to be the most important basketball game of the weekend. However, for UH student Alex Gonzalez, the most important basketball game of the weekend for him was Texas A&M versus LSU. Specifically, the Texas A&M and LSU’s men’s basketball sport club and intramural teams being played at Texas A&M Corpus Christi in the Dugan Wellness Center.

The National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA), hosts collegiate tournaments in various sports that culminate in a national competition where they crown a champion. Unlike organizations like the NCAA or NAIA, NIRSA focuses on a different audience of collegiate sports athletes.

“NIRSA is intramurals and clubs; it’s not varsity athletics,” Program Director of Rec Sports & Family Programs at UH Kelsey Cato said.

NIRSA provides opportunities in sports for students looking to compete at a recreational level who might not want to commit their energy to becoming a full-fledged college athlete. However, these opportunities do not simply stop at  being a player.

“There are professional development opportunities for campus recreation professionals; there are student officials and volunteers,” Cato said.

One of those student officials, Alex Gonzalez, alongside Cato, attended the NIRSA Region IV basketball tournament from February 21 to February 23 at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The winner of this tournament obtains a bid to compete and represent their school nationally. However, the teams are not the only ones looking for a bid, as the tournament is also used to pick out exemplary student officials to accompany the teams on the national stage. This includes Alex, and when asked about his chances of making nationals, he defiantly answered: “No chance .”

To be fair, Alex is barely into his second semester as a college student. In fact, he only started officiating when he got to UH. Many of the officials he shared the court with this past weekend have officiated high school, college, youth and more. Alex was among a group of seasoned veterans while he was by far the youngest official at the tournament. So, it came as no surprise when his scores reflected that inexperience. Being nominated to be at a NIRSA regional tournament was already an accomplishment. Many of his peers let him know that the low grade was nothing to be discouraged about, but in truth, Alex appreciated the low grade.

"I liked being treated as just another official,” Alex said. “I was chosen to come here. I wanted to be graded the same way, and I was grateful that I did. I scored a little bit lower, but I was hanging with everyone else as a freshman."

With a mindset like this, it is no wonder Alex had so much to say about his time at the tournament. From watching film on close calls to exaggerating hand signals to showcase confidence, Alex could discuss all his learnings for much longer than the interview allotted. Out of everything that was said, there was one key takeaway that he emphasized heavily. Something so simple that he could not believe he overlooked it.

What originally started as a simple job (Alex assumed he was volunteering to officiate, not knowing this was a campus job last semester) has now heightened into a passion. With a newfound perspective on his craft, it will not be long before Alex can be found officiating at the national level.

"At first, it was a cool little campus job, and then I started having fun with it,” Alex Gonzalez said. “I go to NIRSA, and I see how far officiating can go and the opportunities that come with officiating a NIRSA tournament. Now, I want to turn officiating into a consistent thing. I want to keep coming back to NIRSA; I want to get to where these people [the other officials] are. If I could get there, I think that'd be really cool for me."

Written by Vi Tran - Marketing Program Manager – Campus Recreation – Student Affairs.