To build and develop a culture of sports in the college, IIT Patna is currently hosting a few events in athletics and sports. These include badminton, table tennis and football. The spirit, together with the energy that fills the atmosphere as the five teams (the four BTech years and MTech + Ph.D.) compete with each other, is incredible.
I was witness to all the matches of the TT tournament. Being a decent TT player myself, almost managing the cut in my year’s team, I could truly appreciate the heat and ferocity with which the players were playing. I could feel the pressure on the players as they hit every single shot of every single rally, with the crowd roaring and cheering in delight, at the beautiful game.
It is a similar story for every other game and athletics event. I am on the football team, and playing for and representing our year is a lot of fun. It gets even better when you are not that good a player. The matches are not of the usual one and a half hour duration, but of 50 minutes. A few matches remain in the league stage and we are fighting hard to secure a place in the final. The thrill of your friends rooting for you as you play is unrivaled. Beating the best team in the tournament so far, comprehensively, was the biggest moment for our team. We are looking forward to reaching the final as I write this. The 4×100 m relay was the talk of the college as the third year displayed an immense presence of mind and concentration, with all the four team members dashing like thunderbolts, bagging the first prize.
The best part I like about these intra-college games is how they manage to bring the whole student community of the college together, and how they serve as perfect ice-breakers between the students of different years.
Playing against your seniors, or your juniors for that matter, helps one create a friendly bond against one another. Even though the rivalry during the games is intense, one cannot deny the fact that at the end of the day, everyone is a winner. That also shows in the clean hugs and handshakes at the end of any game, because “when the one great scorer comes to write against your name, he writes not whether you won or lost, But how you played the game.”
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