NANYANG MBA

MBA OLYMPICS 2020

The MBA Olympics turned a decade old this year. Does Olympics 2020 ring a bell?

Five schools. 300 participants. eight sporting events. It was always going to be a day to look forward to. And boy, what an adrenaline- and laughter-filled day it was.

Conducted by the MBA cohort of Nanyang Business School (NBS), the MBA Olympics is a volunteer interscholastic one-day sporting event that gathers top MBA schools of Singapore – Nanyang Technological University (NTU), National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore Management University (SMU), ESSEC Business School (ESSEC), and S P Jain School of Global Management (S P Jain). Participants engaged in a friendly competition to build a stronger sense of community amongst fellow MBA participants while raising awareness for a noble cause. The beneficiary for this year’s event was the Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home. All net proceeds from the event were donated to this organisation, which provides love and support to the elderly.

This event also marked the beginning of the Dean’s Challenge, initiated by the NUS Dean, Professor Andrew K Rose. The Dean’s Challenge involves NUS, NTU and SMU each hosting an event of their own to create closer ties between the MBA participants of the respective schools.

The opening speech by NBS Dean Professor Robert Kennedy, and the exhilarating performance by the NTU Cheer Team, set the scene for the games. Those flips and somersaults definitely got everyone’s heart pumping on a bright and sunny day, perfect for sports. The event kicked off with the Dean’s Relay, which was part of the Track events and was followed by seven other sporting events: Badminton, Tennis, Table Tennis, Basketball, Ultimate Frisbee, Swimming and Football. SMU bagged the first gold of the day during the Dean’s Relay, while S P Jain came out the overall champion of MBA Olympics 2020.

Even though all the participants played to win the trophy for their respective schools, it was the friendships that were formed that day which will always be cherished. It was also nice to see that there were other people in different parts of this small island who were in the exact same shoes as us, and that helped create an instant bond. Networking is one of the most important aspects of any MBA participants’ journey and what better than to network with your peers during a day filled with laughter and sportsmanship.

An event for which the NBS participants had been preparing for three months was over within a span of 10 hours. But if you were to ask any of them, they would say it was all worth it.

Until MBA Olympics 2021!

NTU Cheer Team pumping the crowd and keeping the competitive spirit alive

Kickstarting the Dean’s Challenge with Professor Gerard George – Dean, Lee Kong Chian School of Business (SMU),
Professor Robert Kennedy – Dean,
Nanyang Business School (NTU) and Professor Andrew Rose – Dean NUS Business School

The Winning Team – SP Jain School of Global Management