UDST celebrates International University Sport Week

University of Doha for Science and Technology (UDST) recently held its International University Sport Week (IUSW), hosting a series of entertaining and engaging sports activities across campus. The week was an opportunity for the UDST community to participate in a diverse range of team games and physical exercise, helping to highlight the enormous role that physical activity plays in a healthy lifestyle.The dynamic five-day event coincided with the Unesco-recognised and globally renowned International Day of University Sport (IDUS), organised by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), of which UDST holds Platinum status.Dr Salem Al-Naemi, President of UDST, said: "IUSW is more than just a celebration of athleticism. We use sport as a platform for our University community and the wider public to come together, be active and have fun. It is part of every culture, and a powerful tool to encourage positivity, performance and teamwork. We have such a vibrant culture at the University that we celebrated for an entire week, meaning more people had the chance to participate.This reflects UDST’s commitment to health, wellness, and community engagement, and one of the reasons we are FISU Healthy Campus award winners. By bridging the gap between sport and academia, we aim to inspire future generations to adopt an active and healthy lifestyle, setting the precedent for post-secondary educational institutions in Qatar.”The resounding success and overwhelming positive feedback from last year’s inaugural IUSW ensured that this year's programme was equally as inclusive and exciting. Capturing the hearts of the audience, the Fun Olympics took centre stage - a friendly contest with 23 participants, each representing their country in games such as tug-of-war and lava rock.On the sideline of IUSW, Tony Martin, manager of sports and well-being, spoke to Gulf Times and said: "It’s a great experience for students, we teach and train them and they run all our events. We use our full time staff as mentors and supervisors. It is important for a country where sport events are at the fore, we are giving practical experience to these students.We are looking at what is called a co-curricular record, which allows for students when they show leadership in activities outside the classroom to be recognised. What happens is that employers expect that students are going to be good academically but what they are really looking for is leadership and team players who can work in organisations. For UDST wellness and wellbeing is crucial and important not only for students but also for faculty and staff. We are internationally recognised as the only FISU holder of a Platinum healthy campus in the Middle East and GCC. So it is very important to our campus, our president, and our board that we look at the wellbeing of students and our whole campus community. We have a multi-cultural campus and this event gives them an opportunity to compete. We are a strong academic campus but we believe in balance, we have fabulous facilities and a dedicated student affairs team. We try to make available to them any extra-curricular experience.”Mayar Mokhtar, a 4th year Human resources management student said: "It’s a great event that unites students from different countries. We represented our country Sudan we ranked second in female tug of war. It’s a fun event where all the students come together and enjoy the games and get a little break from our studies. Sport is very important in our life, UDST focuses on our physical wellbeing through various activities and among them fun Olympics.”Hussain al-Kharraz, a 2nd year data and cyber security student said: "My team represents Qatar in the fun Olympics. It is extremely fun, fascinating and magnificent, my team played well and our female team won the first place in tug of war. These fun games helped me to better manage my time and come to enjoy myself after I finished one of my academic test.” Al-Kharraz concluded.