NPUST held its “Sports Day” activities on November 23~24, 2023 as part of the university’s 99th anniversary celebrations. Kicking things off with a campus road run on November 20 (Monday), NPUST faculty, staff and students demonstrated that they are close to the land, love to be active, and are full of school spirit. At 1:30 pm on November 23, the competitions had a lively start with six explosive field events and 28 track races. And as per tradition, a passionate tug-of-war championship and many other fun competitions kept the arena filled with excitement. Nearly 1,200 people from 27 academic units and 9 administrative units participated in the events.
The opening ceremony was held at 6:00 PM on the same day, with NPUST President Chin-Lung Chang presiding over the occasion. Continuing with tradition, special performances were put on by martial arts and cheer leading teams, and a creative entrance competition was held for faculty, staff and students.
This year, the two gold-metal athletes—Pin-juan Chang of the Department of Recreational Sport & Health Promotion and De-yue Lu from the Department of Biotechnology—served as the representatives when making the pledge to compete fairly and honorably. During the ceremony special awards were presented for “Excellent Performance in Sporting Events in the 2022 Academic Year”. Individuals and team representatives who achieved impressive results in major competitions in the past year were presented with rewards, and the honor was shared by all of teachers and students in the school.
In his opening speech, university president Chin-Lung Chang said, “the creative and energetic performances of the teachers and students is a demonstration of the enthusiasm and vitality of NPUST. With complete sports venues and facilities available on campus, our students are able to freely exercise and practice their skills. And so, this year at the National Intercollege Athletic Games, our students won a total of 7 gold, 5 silvers and 5 bronze medals. The Slow Pitch Softball team has achieved outstanding results for six consecutive years now, allowing NPUST to rank fifth in the country among non-sports related schools. These results are quite brilliant. I encourage all students to show good sportsmanship on the sports field—upholding the spirit of not being arrogant in victory nor discouraged in defeat, and giving every effort in the competition.”
Of the two student representatives, Pin-juan Chang won silver medals in the woman’s 800 meter and 1500 meter races at the National Intercollege Athletic Games in 2023, and a gold medal in the 3000-meter steeple chase at the 2023 National Intercollegiate Athletics Open. She was also selected to represent Pingtung County at the 2023 National Games. De-yue Lu, the second representative, is a member of the university table tennis team. In 2023, he won the gold medal in the men’s doubles at the National Intercollege Athletic Games for the second year in a row.
For the grand finale of the opening ceremony, the Competitive Cheerleading Team and the Martial Arts Team put on exhilarating performances, with the cheerleaders demonstrating their dance moves and acrobatic abilities, and the martial artists displaying a variety of technical skills in such practices as taekwondo, karate and judo. To get ready for the event, the members of the teams began practicing last semester, honing their superb skills and perfect teamwork, so that the entire audience would be able to enjoy the full punch of their performances.
The Sports Day activities at NPUST are always full of health, vitality and creativity. And this year, as usual, it was an opportunity to experience a wonderful time filled with youthful passion on the warm and beautiful campus of National Pingtung University of Science and Technology.
