PCUGAMES@HOME 2021 REPORT
More than 160 Universities from 62 countries participated in PCUGAMES@HOME 2021
The 2021 PCU Games took place from 28-30 April 2021, hosted by the University of Antwerp. For the second time the event took place online as PCUGAMES@HOME, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead of the usual tournament with Futsal, Volleyball and Basketball competitions, four different activities were offered to students and sports offices worldwide.
The day before the start of the PCUGAMES@HOME – on 27 April – the yearly Yerun Sport Days Workshop was held, albeit digitally again. Sport professionals from 8 Yerun members debated on the continued impact of Covid-19 on university sport. Participants detailed their current local situation and specified how they are preparing for the 2021-22 academic year. Main conclusions from this workshop were:
- Some initiatives undertaken during the Covid-19 pandemic will stay on the program. A blended approach to university sports (combination of online activities/classes and live sports) is to be expected in post-covid future.
- University Sport is proving its place in the mental wellbeing of students.
On Wednesday 28 April the online PCU Games were officially opened by the PCU Games Council President Prof. Dr. Bahram Ghadimi (Iran) in a video greeting, welcoming all participants.
The next day (29 April) the PCU E-Sports Games was scheduled, an online FIFA21 tournament on PlayStation. With 56 participants from 28 universities in 16 countries, more than 200 games were needed do decide the 2nd PCU E-Sports Champion. Due to the difference in time zones, participants in the Americas played during daytime, while Asian students were finished only late at night. Defending champion Jonas_DC2 (HoGent University of Applied Sciences, Belgium) again made his way through the group phase and final round matches to reach the final, in which he beat SebyIvan99 (Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania) 2-0. Third place was shared between semi-finalists VoineaIulian (Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania) and Banthy15 (FASTA University, Argentina). Full results can be found on the PCUGAMES@HOME webpage. The PCU E-Sports Games will be incorporated in the program of the PCU Games 2022, which is planned on venue in Antwerp, Belgium from 27-29 April 2022.
During the PCU E-Sports Games, the official deadline passed for participation in the PCU Virtual Challenges. In the previous days and weeks more than 200 videos were uploaded by students worldwide to social media in order to participate in one of the three challenges (Futsal, Basketball and Volleyball). After a long day of counting all videos, on Friday 29 April, the PCU Staff was able to announce the final results, crowning the following champions:
- Futsal Challenge: Riccardo Conte (University of Padua, Italy)
- Basketball Challenge, Sergio Ursu (Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania)
- Volleyball Challenge, David Bloomer (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
A special mention goes out to the University of Macau (Macau) for participating with the largest number of students.
On this same day, the PCU Committee Games Council decided after considering all candidatures to award the 2021 Enrico Prandi Trophy to Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome (Italy) for the project “Vir(tu)al Olympic Games”, one of many initiatives taken by the Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome in order to keep the students together as much as possible and encourage a spirit of fair play, friendship and a sense of community. For a full text, please see the official announcement.
Finally, a tremendous amount of 151 Universities from 58 countries worldwide participated in the 2nd PCU Fair Play Initiative, the analysis of which will be published later this month through the PCU Committee website, and by email to all participants.
The PCU Committee would like to thank all students and University staff members involved in this year’s edition of the PCU Games for their participation and helping to spread the values of Fair Play and International Friendship through University Sport.
