By Kathryn Harriman
Thongs, kilts, speedos and blue hair. Those are just some of the styles business students donned this past Thursday in the quad for Ryerson’s Undergraduate Business Games team tryouts. Competing for a spot on the eccentric 36-member team is a test not only of ability, but of school spirit.
Thursday night’s tryout was seemingly just to see what students are willing to do to support Ryerson. Team hopefuls competed in three major events: a guy and girl clothes swap; a tug of war where the loser falls into a mount of spaghetti; and a game where contestants had to find a condom in a bowl of flour.
Covered in flour and slimy pasta, some participants jumped into Lake Devo to wash up after the events. “They later took showers,” explains Marta Solysiak, a third-year business student and first time participant. “Even that was kind of crazy.”
“We really want to show other schools how much spirit we have,” added Reta Damouni, a third-year business management student and event coordinator. “The people who showed up so far are great.”
Students from any of the four business programs are eligible to participate, and so far, Damouni admits that selecting the team will be a tough decision.
This is Ryerson’s fifth year competing in the UBG, a nation-wide event created in 1991 for Canada’s leading business students. More than 20 schools are expected to compete in this year’s games, which are being hosted by Carleton University, from January 17-19, 2003.
The games are both academic and athletic competitions. Those chosen will sign up for events on a first-come, first-serve basis. Hockey, soccer, debate, jeopardy and wheel of fortune are examples of a few of the events held in previous years. But the most coveted victory is the school that brings home the spirit cup, which is awarded to the school that shows the most school spirit throughout the weekend.
Ryerson coordinators are confident that this year will be a great success.
The last award was won two years ago during the ‘wheel of fortune’ competition. A year before that, they brought home the creativity cup. “Hopefully this year we’ll take over something,” said a confident Damouni. “We’ll take over the spirit cup. We really want to show the other schools how much spirit we have.”
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