The SNU Athletics Club and the Student Council cooperated to organise the Sports Festival that takes place every semester. This semester, the festival started in October and will continue on through November.

Content

“Mens sana in corpore sano,” translating “A sound mind in a healthy body,” is ascribed to the Roman poet, Juvenal. This adage provides the foundation for widely-accepted notions that exercise positively influences academic achievement. Despite this common conception, the importance of sports and exercise is often ignored and debased in Korean society, especially in Korean high schools and by parents of Korean high school students. The SNU Sports Festival, which takes place every semester, attempts to actualise this adage in the students. SNU has a particular interest in enhancing the students’ stamina and physical well-being, and therefore promotes this event as the SNU President’s Sports Tournament (총장배 구기대회).

Poster of this semester’s Sports Festival

The Sports Festival takes place over a course of two months, as most disciplines involve numerous matches to choose the teams or individuals for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals. In the Fall semester, the festival takes place during October and November, when the weather is a perfect balance between the scorching summer heat and the harsh winter winds. Therefore, the Sports Festival is an opportunity for students to soak up the remains of the summer sunlight and the cool pre-winter breeze.

The whole student body, including undergraduate and graduate students, and also the faculty members may participate in any of the nine different sports tournaments, including basketball, baseball, football, badminton, tennis, table tennis, track and field, swimming, and marathon. While the latter six sports competitions are performed individually, the basketball, baseball, and football matches involve team performances. In SNU there are approximately 50 departmental teams scattered throughout the college departments, and the Sports Festival is one of the very few opportunities for them to come together in a field other than the academics. Furthermore, the festival strengthens the teamwork of the departmental teams as they train for months for this major tournament.

Soccer 301 (Department of Computer Engineering Football Team)

The principles of this event are:

• 1.It will not impact classes
• 2.Purely male student-centered activities are discouraged, and programmes in which female students participate are promoted
• 3.There is a greater significance and emphasis on participation than on the results of the tournaments
• 4.Selecting which sports are involved is contingent on the students’ interests (and may differ annually)

This semester, the opening ceremony of the Sports Festival was held on the 5th of October in the SNU Gymnasium (Building 71). Fun and active events were prepared for the students such as “SNU All Star Games” and “Mini Basketball Match” for basketball lovers, as well as “Mini Matches” for volleyball, football, and badminton fans, and a rock-paper-scissor game against the Dean of the Students, who also attended the ceremony. Abundant prizes such as a gift card from the SNU Sports Shop were also prepared.

Rock-paper-scissor game with
the Dean of the Students
during the Opening Ceremony

Basketball shooting game
during the Opening Ceremony

However, for those who missed out on the opening ceremony, there will be another event on the 26th to the 28th of October, where students may participate and learn about new sports. Activities such as “Mini Archery”, “3:3 Basketball”, and “Baseball Speedgun”, will be set up on the field in front of the Administration Building.

Through this festival, SNU illustrates the importance of sports in our daily lives. Not only does physical exercise enhance mental and physical health, but also builds soft skills such as teamwork, sportsmanship, and communication, which are essential and valued life skills.

Women’s Basketball match (October 2, 15)

Men’s Basketball match (October 2, 15)

Swimming competition (October 17)

First round of the Baseball match (October 3)

To keep track of the dates, locations, and results of the upcoming tournaments, please visit https://www.facebook.com/snuathleticsdivision?fref=ts

Ongoing competitions: • Football: October 3 - November 6
• Baseball: October 3 - November 3
• Basketball: October 1 - November 5

Upcoming competitions: • Tennis: October 26 - 30
• Table tennis: TBA
• Marathon: TBA
• Track and field: November 4 - 6

Competitions that have been completed: • Badminton: October 8
• Swimming: October 17

Written by Hye Bin Lee, SNU English Editor, hahahybes@snu.ac.kr
Reviewed by Eli Park Sorensen, SNU Professor of Liberal Studies, eps7257@snu.ac.kr