The All-University Games, an intramural athletic competition between schools, administration, and faculty teams is an NYU tradition. The event was hosted on Feb. 23 as part of NYU’s official spirit week, Violet 100. Since the establishment of NYU’s portal schools in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai a new team has joined the games. While NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) has been represented since 2013 this was the first year NYU Shanghai (NYUSH) was also present. The two schools formed one team, called “ShangiDhabi”, consisting of Shanghai and Abu Dhabi students studying abroad in New York this semester. On Century Avenue got an opportunity to catch up with the NYUAD Ambassador in New York James Gardener and NYUSH Senator Kylee Borger, to discuss how the team was made and how they performed at the event. When asked why Abu Dhabi and Shanghai were represented by one team rather than two individual teams, Senator Kylee commented, “Originally, only NYUAD had a team. There were several reasons for this. Last semester, the Student Senators Council (SSC) had asked the NYUSH Student Government if NYUSH wanted to field a team, but the SSC never heard back. NYUSH was not able to respond because we were in the midst of special elections to replace part of our Government’s e-Board, and the All-U games fell through the cracks. Kelvin Hu, NYUSH’s Student Ambassador in New York, was the first to bring to my attention the fact that NYUSH does not have a team. I spoke with the organizers about adding us, but since the brackets were already done, they couldn’t add us as our own team. Kelvin and I then talked with the Abu Dhabi Senator Patrick Wee and Site Ambassador James Gardener, and we decided to join forces and make one team representing Abu Dhabi and Shanghai.” While it is the responsibility of the NYUSH and NYUAD Student Government Presidents to decide the necessity of a school team and to appoint a team captain, Kylee said she was happy to help Abu Dhabi’s captain, James, prepare for this year’s event. One of the biggest challenges the students organizing the ShagiDhabi team faced was time; the absence of a Shanghai team had not been noticed until a few days before the All-U Games, and hence the formation of the team, as well as its color, logo, and mascot, was rushed. To reach the event on time, the team shirts had to be ordered as soon as the team was formed; Kelvin and NYUSH junior Luna Miao worked on the geometric designs that went on the front of the shirt, while Kylee, James, and Patrick worked on the design at the back of the shirt and coming up with the name “ShangiDhabi.”This year’s event involved competitions in basketball, volleyball, tug-of-war, limbo, air hockey, table tennis and dodgeball. The ShangiDhabi team did relatively well in the competitions, reaching the semifinals in air hockey and table tennis and the quarter finals in volleyball. “We had great teamwork and spirit with everyone being supportive of who was competing. Compared to the other schools, we didn't do too badly. We nearly placed in several events, which puts us at where the average school is”, commented Kylee.The team had about 15-20 students in total participating in the different competitions. James said, “It is difficult, however, when in total we have about 350 students in New York while other schools at NYU have far larger populations available. Given our size, I think we did well but it would be great to have supporters along rather than predominantly just players.” This event and the creation of the ShangiDhabi team is another stepping stone in relations between NYU Shanghai and NYU Abu Dhabi. “I think it is a sign of friendship and it might be a question that we ask moving forward as to whether we can continue to enter a team. The Shanghai and Abu Dhabi students are in similar boats, we are all study away students here in New York City and I believe building community between us enhances both of our schools. It gives us access to a whole new international community that in a lot of ways are very similar to ourselves”, stated James. This collaboration could lead to further Abu Dhabi-Shanghai joint programming in the future.Whether Shanghai and Abu Dhabi continue to be represented by one team or form two individual teams in the future will depend on the Student Governments of the respective schools. When asked about any advice they would like to give future organizers of the Shanghai and Abu Dhabi teams, Kylee said, “I would encourage future senators to be supportive of the team captains in helping to organize the games, while also having fun and participating.” James also recommended planning for the event earlier as hyping it up and advertising earlier could boost the number of students participating and cheering, along with encouraging the senators “to pressure for a non-midweek timing which excludes some students.” This article was written by Lathika Chandra Mouli. Please send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: ShangiDhabi via Facebook