Student-athletes shine in the 2017 National Intercollegiate Athletic Games

The 2017 National Intercollegiate Athletic Games (NIAG) kicked off on a grand scale on the evening of May 6 (Saturday) at National Taiwan University (NTU), where Vice President Chien-jen Chen and Minister of Education Wen-chung Pan gave welcoming remarks in the opening ceremony. Both encouraged the student-athletes to display more of their athletic prowess during the competition, which is considered a preamble to the upcoming 2017 Summer Universiade, the Asian Games, and the Olympic Games. Chen and Pan also expressed gratitude for NTU’s full devotion to offering an athlete-centered program. Also present at the ceremony, Dr. Pan-chyr Yang, president of NTU, was very grateful for the support from the Ministry of Education, whose valuable resources helped the student-athletes transcend their limits and deliver stellar results. Dr. Yang also advised all participants, especially those coming from afar, to take a tour around the grounds, including visits to the beautiful campus, NTU Art Fest and other activities.

This year marked the second time for NTU to hold the NIAG, which ran from May 6 to 10. Joined by a total of 16,000 participants (including athletes and non-athletes) from 161 universities/colleges, the event featured 16 sports. Up to 12 of these sports will overlap with those played in this summer’s Universiade in Taipei. In this regard, the student-athletes enjoyed the chance to reap fruitful results after hard work of training, and make adjustments accordingly in preparation for the international intercollegiate event.

“Pursue your dream along the Royal Palm Avenue; transcend yourself during the Games,” the slogan of this year’s NIAG, added more exuberance as well as a NTU-specific touch to the sporting event. Two mascots, Yeh-pao [Palm Boy] and Chuan-mei [Azalea Gal], welcomed guests and helped promote the games as ambassadors. The cute duo was designed to represent the University’s two symbolic plants — royal palm tree and azalea. The event also went green, with an eco-friendly, carbon-cutting environment built to reflect the core concept of “Greener Environments for Healthier Generations.” The icing on the cake was the theme song of the 2017 NIAG. Produced by Taiwanese pop star Ian Chen, the bandleader of F.I.R., the song was co-written by NTU students and those from other universities.

Also Included in the sporting extravaganza were artistic activities such as NTU Art Fest and NTU Music Festival, as well as an international academic symposium on college athletics. The symposium was held on Sunday, May 7, followed by a workshop. During the symposium (from 9am to 5pm), scholars from nine countries (i.e. Australia, Cambodia, India, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand) delivered talks on international experiences, the current promotion of college sports and the marketing strategies thereof.

The post-symposium workshop on the same day (from 6pm to 8pm), featured four national athletes of Taiwan exchanging their experiences. These distinguished speakers were Hsing-chun Kuo (weightlifting), I-ching Cheng (table tennis), Chia-chia Chuang (taekwondo) and Wen-ling Chen (wrestling). The quartet unveiled the life of an elite athlete by sharing their behind-the-scenes episodes about how they grew up and got trained. During the workshop, young athletes also received constructive suggestions through the stories.