First Homecoming Cup at Rhine-Waal University
Over 200 students celebrate new sport event
Homecoming Cup is a multi-sport relay race that includes canoeing, sprinting, bicycle parkour, and scaling a four metre wall. Though held for the first time ever, the 2015 Homecoming Cup drew over 150 participants and dozens of spectators to Rhine-Waal University’s campus in Kleve.
Kleve/Kamp-Lintfort, 27 October 2015: Rhine-Waal University’s annual orientation week saw the grand premier for an exciting new sport tradition: The Homecoming Cup. Thirty student teams of five entered the relay competition, vying for the best time through a number of physically demanding challenges.
The race began in canoes on the waters of the Spoy Canal, which divides the Kleve Campus. In pairs the students had to paddle 80 metres to the central campus bridge. Once at the bridge, the baton was passed to the team’s sprinter, who had to run 400 metres around campus. The baton was then passed to the next team member for a challenging bike parkour. Following the parkour was the final and most difficult challenge of all: a 4x8 metre wooden wall that the whole team had to scale.
“The real challenge was getting each team member over the wall. Fortunately, two members were allowed to wait at the top and help the others scramble over the wall,” said Julia Gessler, third-semester student in the Science Communication and Bionics programme.
Finishing in first place was the international team FATALITY! led by student Wonder Gumise, which won free tickets to the General Student Committee’s Homecoming Party on the following day, as well as a 30 euro certificate to the trendy student bar Wohnzimmer in Kleve and a 20 euro bookstore certificate. The prizes were presented to the team by Peter Wack, the senior chairman of the supporting organisation ‘Hochschule Rhein-Waal Campus Cleve e.V.’ In addition to medals for the top three teams, FATALITY! also took home the 2015 Homecoming Cup trophy for proud display in the Faculty of Technology and Bionics.
The first-annual Homecoming Cup was a huge success and was the largest sporting competition ever seen. Lead organisers for the competition were Dr William M Megill, Professor for Bionics with a focus on Biomimetic Materials; Peter Garzke, head of University Sport; Julia Ilg, Commissioner of Tutors; and Sana Sarrazin, tutor-coordinator. The competition was made possible by generous financial support from the supporting organisation Hochschule Rhein-Waal Campus Cleve e.V.
The idea for the Homecoming Cup originally came from the United States, where universities and colleges celebrate the long-standing ‘homecoming’ tradition each semester to welcome students back to campus.