University Games 2008

Uni games were held this year in Rotorua hosted by Waiariki (Why-reek-ee), on the North Island and about 16hrs away from Dunedin. I opted to join up with a carpool in order to see as much of the country as possible- and to save a bit of cash; domestic flights are not exactly cheap. The drivers were Dee and David of the Karate club, and joining us were Toby and (for part of the trip) Nick from debating. The drive went well enough, Dee and David have some sort of awkward history together, so they argued like a bitter married couple for most of it- usually entertaining. We spent the night each way in Wellington at a cute backpackers right near the ferry terminal, no complaints there. The ferry itself was a lot of fun- a three hour trip we made around midnight on the way up and mid-morning on the return. We (read: David) got somewhat lost on the way home and ended up adding 3 hours on the way to Wellington for a “scenic” roadway. All and all, it was….interesting.

(Coming into Picton on the South Island, the Interislander Ferry)

There is a local beer called Tui with the slogan “Yeah, right.” So all of their ads are quite witty. One in particular states: “Uni Games are about the sports. Yeah, right.” How true! It really was just an excuse for university students from all over the country (and some Aussies) coming together and, excuse me, having a shit-show. It was amazing that people competed and did athletic activities (let alone walk) after some of the nights they had.

One night, the competitors were able to able to do the street luge (http://www.skylineskyrides.co.nz/index.cfm/ssr_luge) for a reduced price. It was such a blast! It was dark, and pissing rain so we were completely soaked before we even started. The track we did was the intermediate I think, but it was fun to race other people down and splash through the puddles (read: flood) of water on the track.

There were 4 girls water polo teams present: Otago, Auckland, Victoria and AUT (Aussies). The only other time I played such aggressive polo was in Puerto Rico against their Jr. National team. Aggressive is not the right term- try vicious. First of all, there were no nail checks, which was painfully apparent when I would get out of the pool with my neck and chest covered in bloody scratches. Secondly, several players from Victoria and Auckland compete for NZ on an international level- which didn’t stop them from scratching and clawing anyway, but they did it while scoring.

We played well enough, considering we had never played as a team prior. The first game unfortunately reflected that and we got stomped, while looking like we were lost in the pool. Originally, we had a 13 person team, which turned into 7 for various reasons. I had been diligent with swimming regularly before the Games, but many did not and playing Ironman took its toll on several of the girls. The second and third games went really well, we played more like a team, pulled out some good plays, and won. During the semis and finals, both our lack of subs and some seriously atrocious referees resulted in the glamorous position of 4^th of 4. May I add that I am not just being a sore loser by blaming the refs- all teams (including the men’s) were loudly complaining about inconsistent and blatantly bad calls being made on the deck. I only added that because one of our players was rolled for throwing up her hands when a turnover was called where there shouldn’t have been (the girl on the other team commented on the bad call as well), which resulted in a 6 on 5 situation against us for the remainder of the game.

(Some of the Otago polo team in between games)

It wasn’t all as bad as it sounds, although we all were really gutted about that game. Overall, though, the polo was fun. I learned some new tricks and drills which will be fun to try out at UR.

Luckily, we only competed 2 of the 3 days, and I got to spend the third watching the Downhill MTB competition. The weather did not cooperate and rain was pissing down all day. The race was originally scheduled to be on the National Downhill track, but they moved it to prevent trail damage. The course was again shortened after a warm-up run to “Exit Track” which was a sad 1:40min long through torrential downpour and without any big jumps, drops or obstacles. As it turned out, a XC rider on a XC bike won the DH race- which was disappointing I’m sure for guys on their long-travel rigs who had to pedal on the shortened track. But, I ended up running along the trail in between riders with two other observers and got to see some really cool bikes/riders- not to mention completely soaked. I can’t complain too much.

(Some of the DH bikes, and Chris' Superlight (white) before the race and the rain)

(after the race, during the rain)

There were opening and closing ceremonies with bands and lots of shouting uni students, and one night I even won an oversized T-Shirt at a bar. Oh, and Rotorua smells like sulfur.

(The roadtrip gang! Toby, David, Dee and me)

(At the closing ceremonies, wearing our Otago team vests: Matt, Chris, Dee and me)