This year, the annual National Intercollege Athletic Games will be held at the National Sports University from April 27th to May 11th. On April 25th, in the lead up to the games, a flag ceremony was held at the front square of the NPUST Administrative Building. At the ceremony, NPUST President Chang-Hsien Tai presented the enthusiastic athletes and coaches with the school flag. Ten teams will be representing NPUST at the games this year with a total of 108 athletes striving to win glory for the school in track and field, swimming, badminton, billiards, tennis, judo, taekwondo, wrestling, woodball, and cycling.
President Tai encouraged the students, saying “every year as we host this flag ceremony, we can feel a strong sense of excitement in the air. You have all gone through long periods of training and now you will be able to demonstrate your talent in the arena. But you should not only be showcasing professionalism in sporting competition, you should also be displaying sportsmanship as you compete without arrogance in winning or discouragement in losing. As you represent the university, you should all recognize that your own honor wins glory for the school.”
Last year at the games, NPUST achieved its historic best medal count with 7 golds, 4 silvers and 4 bronzes. And in early April, the wrestling team already had one victory under the school’s flag, winning first place in the third level general men’s freestyle group. This year an important target for gold medals is the billiards competition, with hopes of seeing a repeat of last year’s success. The taekwondo general women’s group is another hopeful competition, with serious chances of gold in both the 53kg and 73kg groups. Expectations are high for the athletes, and hopes are that through the competitions they will be able to exhibit great sportsmanship and embody the university’s core value of “holistic education”. Hopes are also that the athletes will be able to go beyond their personal bests and set dazzling new records at the games.
