Wilfrid Laurier University kinesiology students ventured out west this weekend to take part in the 13th annual Kin Games hosted by the University of Calgary. The competition pits faculties of 31 universities against each other in athletic, academic and spirit contests in a battle for Canada-wide supremacy.
“It’s definitely the best we’ve done in my four years here,” said Emma Lang, a Kin Games captain from Laurier. “We finished top ten in the dance, made the semis in lacrosse and top four in the academic challenge.”
Laurier sent 24 students to the three-day competition. While there, schools took part in a tournament for two of four possible sports.
Laurier ended up playing lacrosse and belly-baseball, a variation of the school-yard-favourite kickball.
Another fourth comes from the academic challenge, which required four members of each team to apply kinesiology-based knowledge towards questions to earn their team points.
However, this year’s challenge saw a different take than past years.
“[University of] Calgary completely revamped the academic challenge,” said George Hall, another Kin Games captain from Laurier.
“This year they did a three round system at the track, rock wall and swimming pool.”
The challenge incorporated questions into obstacle courses, which ran at three venues.
Laurier’s team made the final round of six. Along the way, Glassford and Kanmacher had the fastest time in the rock wall portion of the challenge.
For the dance contest portion, Laurier’s team dressed as rodeo clowns and performed an almost three minute routine they created themselves.
“We basically killed it,” said Lang about the team’s dance.
The final 25 per cent of the team’s score is based on spirit, which explains why most of the returning participants are having trouble speaking.
“The entire time everyone’s cheering, like our whole team doesn’t have their voice right now,” said Hall.
For the most part, according to Lang and Hall, the event is a weekend-long party. But having a good time isn’t the only result of the Kin Games.
“It’s a great way to bring the community together,” said Lang. “You get to make hundreds of new friends and expand your network.
It’s also a great way to check out other school’s facilities and learn about grad programs.”