FJCU Tug-Of-War: A proud tradition made even better

2019-01-15 • Student Life

An FJCU favorite: students cheer on their classmates
 
The Fu Jen Catholic University 2018 Tug-of-War Competition made its annual return! Organized by the Office of Physical Education each year, the tug-of-war is a campus tradition, usually held during the FJCU Homecoming.
 
Day Division competitors are divided into two categories: Category A for students enrolled in the Department of Physical Education, and Category B for students enrolled in other programs who register in the competition voluntarily. This year featured fierce competition between twenty teams; when the dust had settled, it was the students from the Department of Occupational Therapy that emerged victorious.
 
Associate Professor Chien-Chun Wang said that the semi-finals for Category A were previously held during FJCU Homecoming celebrations. However, with the sports field under renovation and the many other friendly competitions scheduled that day, the tug-of-war was delayed this year. He also pointed out that since PE courses are now based on classes, it means that students already know their teammates since they share other courses together. This familiarity means they act more as a team during competition, which boosts their performance.
 
The Day Division was not the only one hosting a tug-of-war; the School of Continuing Education also broke with tradition by expanding their own competition. This year’s SOCE competition was organized by the Program of Sport Recreation Management. It was widely promoted in advance and featured other activities, too. Created this year was the position of Tug-of-War Ambassador, where each team elects one of their members to the position of team leader. The event therefore attracted a fair bit of attention and created an atmosphere even more energetic than in the past. In the end, it was the SOCE Department of Religious studies that claimed victory.
 
The main coordinator of the SOCE event was fourth-year student, Li-I Lin, who discovered that the event went practically unadvertised online in the past. She poured in lots of energy into creating an online fan page and making sure more students knew about the event this time.
 
Ms. Lin said that preparations for this year’s tug-of-war began during summer vacation. While there were many difficulties along the way, like understaffing and finding sponsors, close cooperation with businesses and sponsors meant more activities, greater interaction, and more student interest this year.