They enjoyed both the weather and attendance
Everyone could really try their hand. Dozens of competitions, great interest of students, desired weather - this is how the Sports Day organized by the Sports Centre of the Silesian University of Technology, which took place on May 18th , can be summed up in a nutshell.
- We fervently prayed for the weather - says Dr Krzysztof Czapla, professor of the SUT, director of the SUT Sports Centre. - The day before it was raining heavily, so we were prepared for two weather variants. However, we all breathed a sigh of relief, because competition in the open air, even on the beach volleyball court, is very interesting. This immediately resulted in a great turnout - there were a lot of people from the beginning. After all, that's what it's all about.
As part of the Sports Day, a Sports Festival was held in several facilities, combined with the Championships of the Silesian University of Technology. Dozens of various competitions have been efficiently prepared in a small space. For lovers of team sports, there were volleyball and 3x3 basketball courts. Individually, everyone was able to take part in such disciplines as badminton, bicycle obstacle course, simultaneous chess or archery.
There were also ingenious competitions, treated with a grain of salt. Queues of interested students lined up at the target service, tug-of-war, horseshoe throw, and goal-scoring stations.
- Every year we prepare something new - says prof. Krzysztof Czapla. - We make sure that it is not boring, that routine does not creep into this event. In recent years we have added bridge, for example, which has been very successful. We try to delete difficult and tedious competitions from this day.
Students, as well as pupils of the Academic Secondary Comprehensive School of the Silesian University of Technology, who also took part in the event, did not need to be motivated to compete. However, there were also prizes for them - but they had to compete in several stands.
- Tokens were collected for completing each of them - explains prof. Krzysztof Czapla. - After collecting five, a meal was provided for each student as a reward. In the case of ten collected tokens, the athletes received T-shirts. It is a combination of something pleasant and something useful.
The award received by the Sports Centre was a pleasant surprise. Prof. dr hab. Marek Gzik, chairman of the Sejmik of the Silesian Voivodship, presented prof. Krzysztof Czapla with a cup for "Exemplary work for the development of physical culture among students of the Silesian University of Technology".
As part of the Sports Festival, many disciplines were also competed for the Championship of the Silesian University of Technology.
The day started with the final game of the men's basketball championship. The best team of our University after four exciting quarters was Danonki, defeating Dream Team 65:46.
- It's a great satisfaction - says Tomasz Szewczyk from the winning team. - We meet regularly every Tuesday to play and practice. We approached the final on a fun basis, but of course we wanted to win.
The winners played in the line-up: Piotr Wilk, Piotr Holeksa, Kamil Żebrok, Maks Kołodyński, Wiktor Chmura, Jakub Sibik and Tomasz Szewczyk.
In addition, there were also competitions in cross-country running, rowing ergometer, arm wrestling, squash, barbell bench press. The winners of all competitions received cups and occasional t-shirts.
Many fans also gathered a football match played at "Orlik" next to “Mrowisko”. Teams of students and professors competed there. After a great match, a few interesting plays, but also a fierce game, the professors won only after penalty kicks.
- We managed to defend the result from last year, although then we were a bit lucky - says Dr Eng. Grzegorz Ścieranka from the team of professors. - This time we were leading in the match 3:1, but in the end, we were a bit weak, and the youth kept their strength and made up for the result. Penalties are a lottery - in the end we won them.
The results of that day, however, were of secondary importance and receded into the background.
- For several years we have been trying to make physical education classes enjoyable - sums up Prof. Krzysztof Czapla. - With us, the student does not have to worry about whether he will, for example, complete a long-distance run. Coming to classes is not supposed to cause them stress, but pleasure. That is why we focus on presence and activity. It's the same with Sports Day. Despite the day off, there was no compulsion to come here. However, we managed to stimulate students to take part in this beautiful sports competition.
Martin Huć
Photo: Martin Huć
