Inaugural Olympics

Last night, we hosted the first annual Student Olympics at Kirkwood’s Rec Center. It was a chance for our Student Senate, KAPS, and Student Ambassadors to get to know each other while relieving some stress from school. The two groups that I work specifically with is our Student Senate (inter club council, student body leadership team) and KAPS (our student events staff/programming board). We combined our groups to form our team for the Olympics to go up against the mighty Student Ambassadors. The Olympics were set up with a variety of contests: Basketball, Volleyball, Dodgeball, Ultimate Frisbee, and an Obstacle Course. The Senate & KAPS team decided we needed to look the part and wear some type of uniform and somehow we decided on wearing the color pink in an effort of throwing off our opponents. The prize? We found an old trophy in our basement and decided it would be more authentic if we left the loose screws and dust just the way they were. We did manage to make a new display for the front displaying the year and groups involved. (the photo shows the Senate & KAPS team holding the trophy prior to the start of the Olympics. As you keep reading you will see this is the closest we got to taking the trophy home with us.)

The stage was set. 6:00pm was the official start time and it was decided we would start with basketball. We had 10 or 15 minutes before tip-off and both squads looked the part. The Ambassadors (wearing black) were having an open shoot around on one side of the court while the Senate & KAPS team had an organized layup drill going on. During the warm-up time, I had a nice “around the back and under the leg” layup (without traveling) that looked good. I was also hitting the 3’s from the outside corners. I was ready to go and was feeling confident I could lead the team in scoring on the night. Sadly those open 3 point shots in warm-ups would be the closest to scoring I got the rest of the night.

We played two 10 minute halves of basketball and stopped the clock every few minutes to rotate players. The Ambassadors scored first before our very own Josh Schilling made it rain from 3-point range to take the early lead 3-2. Between several turnovers and missed shots by both teams, the Ambassadors pulled away for a 14-7 halftime lead. The second half went a little better for us than the first half, but we were never really able to get back in the game and fell in the first game 19-11.

Ambassadors - 1
Senate & KAPS - 0

We switched courts for volleyball (the net was being set-up while our basketball game was going on). We decided to play a best of 3 game match with each game played to 11 points. The first game looked like a continuation of basketball as we lost 11-4. The second game however felt like the turning point as we rallied for an 11-4 win of our own. It was down to the deciding game 3 and Sharon Blanchard (our housing coordinator) and I walked on the volleyball court for the first time looking to get the Senate & KAPS team a victory. We were up early by 4 or 5, but a late rally by the Ambassadors got them back in the match. An energized Ambassador team slammed the ball over the net in the end to seal an 11-9 victory in the second event.

Ambassadors - 2

Senate & KAPS - 0

Event 3 on the night was Dodgeball. We laid out close to 10 balls on the center court line and decided rather than a set 5 or 6 players on each team, we’d let everyone play. 17 players wearing pink on one side, and 17 players wearing black on the other side. The game begun and the orange balls began flying in both directions. I was one of just a handful of players left on our team when three balls came at me within a second or two. I managed to dodge two balls, but felt another one brush my foot somewhere along the way. I don’t know if the ball hit my foot directly or if it bounced off of the ground first, but I thought I’d be a good sport and take the benefit of the doubt. I walked to the sideline knowing that I was out and was no longer of value to the Senate & KAPS dodgeball team. With a variety of rules being followed and broken by both teams it was down to just a handful of players on each team. Similar to the first two events, the Ambassadors got the last shot and knocked our final player out. The celebration was on as the Ambassadors clinched the third game and officially ended the Senate & KAPS team’s chances of the Olympics Victory.

Ambassadors - 3

Senate & KAPS - 0

We decided to skip the Ultimate Frisbee event due to time and moved on to the final event of the night, the obstacle course created by Sharon Blanchard. 9 different “mini-races” where each participant had to tag another member of their team to move on to the next stage. From a 200 meter run with a mouth full of marshmallows to a three legged race, we had a variety of things to do. The thing we didn’t plan for was the Pogo-Stick competition in the middle of the relay. The pink team got hoppin’ on the pogo stick first and was halfway done when the black team got to that point in time. When Carley (Senate & KAPS team) got done hopping, she was asked to wait, allowing the black team to catch up (since they had to wait to get the pogo stick). This possibly penalized the pink team a few second (which might have cost us the win) and slowed our momentum. When it came to be my turn (running down the court and popping a few balloons), I was a few seconds back. When our anchor runner finished just a second or two behind, we knew we had been shut out on the evening.

Final Score:

Ambassadors - 4

Senate & KAPS - 0

Regardless of possible dodgeball rule violations, controversial volleyball hits, and Pogo-Stick confusion, we lost fair and square and we lost four games to none. I obviously wanted the Senate & KAPS team to come away with the victory, but the fact that we had 3 close games (and an 8 point “blowout” loss in basketball) made it respectable. It wasn’t about wins and losses, but rather about team chemistry. Not the team chemistry you see on actual sports teams, but the chemistry our groups needed to get to know each other better. I think all three organizations benefited from the night of fun and I think it might have sparked similar events in the future. Perhaps years from now we can look back and remember the inaugural games in 2010 with three clubs participating. Maybe soon it can be several more campus organizations competing for gold; let’s just hope the next time the team in pink can come away with the victory ;-)

The Senate & KAPS team (in pink) and the Student Ambassadors (in black)