On the 11th of June we were able to organise the 3rd Gliding event again. 19 participants came that evening to have a flight in a Glider plane. We arrived in two groups to prevent people from waiting too long. The first group arrived at 16.45 and the second group at 18.45 hours.
The weather was amazing and well predicted, considering the rainy weather in the days before.
With John Horn as an excellent point of contact and the very enthusiastic volunteers of the Gliding Club helping us out, everyone had an amazing flight. For some it was on the shorter end, and some lucky ones had flights over 15 minutes. They were lucky with the wind and their pilot 😁.
For the 3rd year in a row we have had to move our Sports Day to another venue. Although the 2024 venue at the hockey field and Boortoren were actually really nice and giving the appropriate space, the hockey club could not find sufficient volunteers to assist us (eg to staff the bar). Thus we moved to the mixed field and the Stall. This provided the opportunity to use professional Jeu de Boules pitches which should give ample opportunity to the skilled players to show their excellence. Did they?
For still unknown reasons, except the info that quite some students had scheduled assignments and exam the week after, the turnout was lower than recent years. Nevertheless, those that were present showed a lot of enthusiasm, sportsmanship and skills. Some competitions were of quite high level.
Volleyball
In the end 4 teams played in the volleyball tournament. 3 of them were purposely composed. One of them was a mix of leftovers (individuals who did register without a team): “The other team”. “The other team” was occasionally assisted by players from the other teams and actually managed quite well. And even though they lost their last match in the qualifying round to GeoSERVity, they managed to turn that around in the final.
Results Volleyball
- The other team
- GeoSERVity
- Friends
- Reorganizers
Jeu de Boules
As already explained Jeu de Bules was played on official pitches under official surveillance of UT staff on pension. Official rules state that each match ends when one of the teams score 13 points and usually that doesn’t take long. But it turned out that most matches resulted in close competition and therefore took long to finish. Some teams actually finished only 2 matches while others finished 4. At least, that is what the notes from the judges tell us. The prize awarding ceremony however revealed that the judges had been unable to register or analyse the results correctly. When it was announced that Les Pétanqueurs had won, the North Coast Boules strongly objected, because they had played two matches, won both and one of these matches was actually against Les Pétanqueurs. In true sportsmanship both teams came forward to celebrate their win. A short visit to the venue had also revealed that the competitions took place in a friendly atmosphere, perhaps a bit too close to the bar 😉.
On the basis of the notes from the judges the correct result is listed below. If only positive and negative scores are taken into account, NC Boules should have won followed by Xing Xing and South Indie Boules (because they won their mutual match with Les Pétanqueurs).
Next year we’ll make sure that matches are shorter (7 points) such that more and equal mutual matches are registered, and define appropriate rules for determining the ranks. It however remains important for players to stay on top of their games and not get distracted by peripheral matters and alcohol.
Soccer
In contradiction to previous years, there were very few soccer teams registered. It is already a while ago that a staff team participated (probably because they have grown old), and thus the ‘competition’ was actually between 2 teams who played several matches against each other. It was nice to see that both teams had hired some female strikers into their teams and quite some beautiful actions were displayed. A final penalty shootout was won by team Avinash.
Running
40m
Even though we had reduced the qualification period to 1hr15 27 different athletes participated in the 40 m sprint and recorded 55 timings.
In the female competition 3 ladies participated and thus they all 3 qualified for the final. Amanda qualified as fastest before Kasandra and Ziwen. In the final the order did not change because Amanda gradually accelerated away from Kasandra. Ziwen unfortunately missed the final. The qualification order is also the final rank and Amanda is the new reigning female sprint queen of ITC.
In the males category competition was much fiercer. Finn, who did not qualify for the final in 2024 was determined and managed with a bursting 5.54s but was heavily challenged by Avinash (5.64s) and Stephen (5.66). The final was going to be thrilling. After a first nervous false start, all three were set again. At the go, Finn was slightly distracted, and Avinash took a small lead. Although challenged by Finn the whole 40 meter long, Avinash brilliantly took the glory. This means that Finn should hang around yet another year and try again in 2026.
- Avinash Reddy
- Finn Münch
- Stephen Mbengeni
Only few minutes after the 40m sprint finals 12 daredevils signed up for the 1 mile run. Including some participants in the sprint finals. Were they up for revenge? Yes, Finn did not want to lose this one and bursted away from the pack, right from the start. Initially followed by Avinash, but after tough soccer competitions and the victory in 40 m sprint his battery slowly drained. Soon Rishav and others overtook him. The only female who dared to start the 1-mile, Ziwen, took an appropriate decision to not try to follow the males. She took a steady pace to finish the 1 mile. Unfortunately the organization had difficulties registering who finished in which sequence. There were insufficient timings and now video or photo finish. Thus we only know who won, his time and the second and third position. Finn cleared the 3 rounds in 5min20 followed by Rishav and Brad who was challenged almost up to and including the finishline.
International Kids games
Ellen (PVI) and Aditi and Sara (ORBIT) had prepared all kinds of interesting International Kids games, but it appeared that in 2025 there were no (staff members with) children participating in the Sports day. Very unfortunate, but we’ll give it another try in 2026. @parents: mark the last Friday of Q4 in 2026 in your family calendars.
Badminton
In 2025 we set up a badminton court which was actually used throughout the sports day. Perhaps we should bring more tape to mark the official competition layout next time. But even without official size and layout many staff and students played badminton.
BBQ
Near the stall several BBQ's were setup and all participants enjoyed the delicious food served by the Sports Kantine UT. Under a slowly setting sun matches were discussed, prizes were awarded en energy replenished.
Photographs of all activities are available
