A team of students from DeGroote School of Business is taking home the Queen’s Cup after placing first at last weekend’s 26th annual MBA Games hosted by the Schulich School of Business at York University, the defending champions going into this year's games.
The DeGroote team won the top prize over teams of MBA students from 22 other universities competing in three categories – athletic, spirit and academic – at York’s Keele campus and other Toronto venues from Jan. 3 to 5. About 700 MBA students competed in this year’s games, the largest annual gathering of MBA students in Canada.
The 2014 MBA Games winners from McMaster University's DeGroote School of Business
The win earns McMaster University’s DeGroote, which hosted the 2013 MBA Games, the right to host next year’s MBA games in their home city. Teams from Schulich won the 2013 MBA Games and the 2011 MBA Games.
“MBA Games is an event that DeGroote looks forward to each year and we were fortunate enough to put together a team of 40 talented MBA students to compete in this year’s games,” said DeGroote co-captain Lesleanne Blakeley. DeGroote co-captain Matt Wilusz added that “Planning and organizing the team began in the summer, with regular team practices and bonding leading up to the weekend-long event. We couldn’t be happier to see that the team’s hard work has paid off.”
Schulich did a fantastic job in hosting MBA Games this year, said Blakeley and Wilusz, who are excited to have the Queen’s Cup back at DeGroote and can’t wait for the next MBA Games back on their home turf in 2015.
Along with the overall Queen’s Cup win, the DeGroote team also won in the athletics category, which included soccer and volleyball games. The team from the Ivey Business School at Wester University won in the academic category, which included case competitions in marketing, strategy, finance and sustainability. In the spirit category, which featured a cardboard boat race and a scavenger hunt throughout the city of Toronto, the team from the Alberta School of Business at the University of Alberta placed first.
The MBA Games also featured a community component. The team from the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University was the top Inside Ride fundraiser, contributing $25,000 of the total $50,081.33 raised on behalf of the Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation, a national charity that provides support to families and children with cancer.
“MBA Games 2014 was an experience of a lifetime, not just for me, but for the entire Schulich contingent,” said Schulich team captain Bopanna Chodumada. “Although we didn’t win the games this year, we will take back the learnings and experience and come back as a much stronger team next year. Kudos to the organizers for pulling off this amazing event. The winning mindset never changes.”
Meghan Iley, Richard Boivin and Beth Nuniam, co-chairs of Schulich’s organizing committee for the 2014 MBA Games, thanked the corporate sponsors and case competition judges. The co-chairs pointed to the energy of the competing students as being contagious. The competitors cheered not only for their own teams, but for others as well. There was fantastic camaraderie between competitors.
This event would not have been possible without the support of the title sponsor National Bank, as well as sponsors Canadian Tire, CITT and Microsoft, and our supporting partners Toronto Sports and Social Club, CGA Ontario and Thirty Below,” the co-chairs said.
The theme of the 2014 MBA Games was Connect the Dots, referring to the age of interconnectedness and a universal awareness of global issues that foster the creativity needed to address business challenges and promote innovation.
For more information on the games, visit the MBA Games 2014 website, Twitter page @mbagames2014 or Facebook: MBA Games 2014.
The following is a list of the schools that participated in the 2014 MBA Games:
- Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba
- University of New Brunswick, Saint John
- Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa
- Rotman School of Business, University of Toronto
- Goodman School of Business, Brock University
- Ivey School of Business, Western University
- Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo
- Schulich School of Business, York University
- John Molson School of Business, Concordia University
- Rowe School of Business, Dalhousie University
- HEC Montreal
- Lakehead University, Thunder Bay
- Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University
- DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University
- Queen’s Business School, Queen's University
- Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University
- Sobey School of Business, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax
- Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University
- École des sciences de la gestion de l’Université du Québec à Montréal
- Université Laval, Québec City
- Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta, Edmonton
- Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia
- Royal Military College, Kingston