The Rector's Sports Day (held on 14 May) offered staff and students at Charles University numerous opportunities to burn calories at various sports venues in Prague, Hradec Králové and Plzeň. This year, the event was organised by the Department of Physical Education of the Faculty of Arts of Charles University.
Traditionally, the Rector's Sports Day, held annually, offers something special. In total, participants this year could choose from more than 60 sports activities, including a number of eye-opening options. In Prague you could try Kanjam, a sport similar to disc golf, which was on the programme in Hradec Králové. In the east of Bohemia, they are fond of sports "specialties" - this year they offered for example Ringo or Taebo, croquet and pétanque, or you could also rollerblade or ride on scooters. And traditionally, the Chvojno Run could not be missed. In Plzeň, on the other hand, they decided to organise a non-traditional position race for swimmers. And a novelty in Prague was yoga relaxation utilising, at intervals, a gong.
Logically, most of those interested in movement played sports in Prague, where 14 of the school’s 17 faculties are located. And it was not only the students who had fun; members of the management from the rectorate and some deans also joined in, taking part in the Tetrathlon. “As organisers, we came up with a bold proposal this year,” explains the head of the Department of Physical Education at the Faculty of Arts, Věra Hrazdírová.
The disciplines were chosen as follows: team movement, medicine ball throw, long jump), and orienteering run/walk.
Eight teams, including the Rector's Office and the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Hradec Králove, took part in the tetrathlon and the best in the final evaluation was the team of the Faculty of Law, ahead of representatives from the First Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Arts, who collected the same number of points. “We are pleased to have won the cup, but I would certainly not overestimate it. It was a surprise for us as well!” said Professor Radim Boháč, winning-team member and active participant.
“The important thing is the atmosphere of the whole event, and in this respect, great thanks goes to the Faculty of Arts for the way it prepared the whole day. For example, I appreciated the fact that it was not only purely athletic, but it was necessary to involve thinking and team strategy. I think that students should not just sit with their heads in textbooks but should also be active as well as the representatives of the university. We were also glad for the opportunity to be out in the fresh air and to be able to encourage each other with other teams,” the dean said.
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University Tetrathlon. PHOTO: Michael Neumann, FTVS.
The University Tetrathlon took place at the Hostivař Sports Centre, where more than half of Prague's nearly 30 events took place. Eight different venues in Prague were used for sports, and an orienteering race was held in nearby Uhříněvs. Hradec Králové offered ten locations for all sports enthusiasts, while five sports venues were available in Plzeň.
"On behalf of the Department of Physical Education of the Faculty of Physical Education of Charles University, I can say that we were honoured by the organisation of the Rector's Sports Day, which was unconventionally held on a Tuesday. We did not choose the traditional Wednesday because of the previous two holidays, which disrupted and shortened the teaching schedule of many courses at the faculties of CU. Therefore, my colleagues and I were concerned that the turnout would be smaller. However, the offer of sports, physical activities and certainly the very favourable weather attracted sometimes unexpected interest of the athletes,” Věra Hrazdírová summed up.
