From November 4 to 6, KISA, with the support of OASIS and IRT, hosted the 2011 International Sports Festival. This was the first international sports festival of this scale wherein ten events were organized by the KISA volunteers: athletics (track and field), badminton, basketball, cricket, tug-of-war, volleyball, football, table tennis, rock climbing and billiards. Each of the sports was associated with multiple events for male, female and mixed divisions.

 

The events were open to not only the undergraduate students of KAIST but also to KAIST graduate students and the international residents in Daejeon. Most of the events were held in various locations on the main campus with the exception of rock climbing, which was held at the Rock Climbing Wall in KAIST's Munji Campus, which is a 10-minute bus ride away.

 

The events were filled with intense competition but were also equally enjoyed by the spectators and the participants. Motivated to win, teams and individual participants played well but made sure to have fun while doing so. The sports festival culminated with a closing ceremony, which included the distribution of awards to winners and a dinner for all competitors and spectators, on the following Monday night. Serving as more than just an athletic event, this festival allowed different countries to show their own pride by sending representative teams to team sports like football, and also allowed people from various countries to mingle and play together.  

 

I myself participated in four of the events and can agree that although it was probably the most grueling weekend I have had since coming to KAIST, it was one of the most fun, too.  From the festival, I was able to meet friends, old and new.  The fun will not stop there as many of the athletes have decided to make sports clubs to continue playing the sports that they participated in during the festival. 

 

Although there were a few hurdles such as last-minute location adjustments for certain events as well as minor injuries sustained by the participants, overall the festival was a great success with a general consensus that it was a nice and relaxing break from the typically busy and boring weekend spent studying. KISA looks forward to organizing another Sports Festival next year with, hopefully, an even larger turnout.