warwick games

(Photo 1 by Dihui Photography. Courtesy of Siang Huat)

 

Hwa Chong Institution, Saturday, August 24, 2012 — It wasn’t a school day but students were slowly streaming in to Hwa Chong Institution at 7am on Saturday, August 24th. Such dedication – especially from university students during their holiday break – could only be worth it for a good cause, which this year’s Warwick Summer Games (WSG) definitely was.

WSG is an annual full-day sporting event organised by the Singaporeans from the University of Warwick, open to local students studying in UK universities. This year’s WSG is the fourth one running, and attended every year by hundreds of Singaporeans studying in the UK. Traditional sports such as Floorball, Basketball, Netball and Touch Rugby are usually played between teams from various UK universities, giving each university points that culminate in overall score by which the WSG championship is awarded.

Highlights of this year’s WSG include the addition of Frisbee as the sixth sport, plus the addition of Monopoly Deal and Scrabble to this year’s WSG to engage a wider audience with non-sporting preferences. This year’s WSG committee also brought WSG a significant step forward by collaborating with charity Children Aid Society (CAS), pledging to donate proceeds from the WSG registration fee and drinks sold on that day to CAS in a bid to make WSG more meaningful and give back to the local community.

Singaporeans from other UK universities provided their support by fielding teams for various sports. After intense rounds of games from 10am all the way to 5pm, Floorball and Frisbee were won by Warwick teams, while Manchester won Basketball and Netball, Leeds won soccer, Touch Rugby was won by a mixed team comprising of students from different UK universities.

As for the non-sporting events, Goh Yi Hui from Imperial was the champion of Monopoly Deal and Ben Chow from UCL took the first prize for Scrabble. The overall championship was awarded to team Warwick. However, all participants were champions of the day through their generous contribution to Children Aid Society, enthusiasm for their game and sportsmanship.

Outside the sporting arena, the spirit of friendship and generosity were evident, as friends volunteered to spend their day at WSG doing often thankless tasks as referees or photographers. It was heart-warming to observe the many reunions of friends from various UK universities as well.

Sponsors like the Overseas Singapore Unit, Contact Singapore, the Social Development Network, National Youth Council, Public Service Division, Prima Taste, Young Changemakers and PUB contributed greatly to the background work and logistics essential for the event to succeed. Despite minor administrative hiccups, the magnanimity of everyone involved ultimately made WSG a success and blessing both for the participants of WSG and CAS.