Asian Connection, the intramural league offered specifically to cater to Saint Louis University’s growing international student population, got underway this week.
On Monday, Sept. 28, a larger-than-expected group of students showed up for the initial ping-pong challenge at the Simon Recreation Center. The students were from a mix of ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. This mixture goes along with one of the league’s goals, to welcome and encourage more interaction with SLU’s international student body.
“There was a good turnout . It was a good mix of both international and American students,” Jimmy Pan, a senior, said.
Pan, who won both of the matches he played, is excited for the rest of the league.
“I got those first two, but there is still a long way to go. It should be fun, though,” Pan said.
Sam Kelner, the Club and Intramural Sports coordinator came up with the idea for the league.
“When I heard how many international students we were going to have, I knew I had to get them involved,” Kelner said.
So far, he is pleased with the reception of the league.
“It took a little while for people to sign up, but once word got out about it, we got more participants. Monday was great; we had 28 kids show up for ping-pong. I think there will be even more this weekend for badminton.”
Ping-pong and badminton are only two of four featured sports in the league. Basketball and sand volleyball compose the rest of the lineup.
Wednesday night, Sept. 30, the Rec Center hosted the first basketball games for the league. Both men’s and women’s leagues exist for basketball.
Shaojie Wen, a senior from Foshan, China, plays basketball in the league and also helped Kelner develop the league during the summer.
“Sam asked me and a couple other Chinese students if we thought an international league was a good idea . he even let us help pick the sports,” Wen said.
“I think the response has been good so far. It is popular with the Chinese students because of ping-pong and badminton.”
Wen said that he did not feel there was a communication problem between the players and the intramural referees. He said that the players all know the general rules.
During the basketball games on Sept. 29, a group of Asian students was playing a pickup game of volleyball on the opposite court. The group was preparing for the sand volleyball league, which began Sept. 30.
As of right now, the basketball and volleyball leagues are small, compared to the participants in ping-pong and the expected amount for badminton. Wen feels that the league just needs time.
“Right now, I think more and more students will sign up with each game that is played,” Wen said.
Badminton will take place at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3 on the rec center basketball courts. On Monday, Oct. 5, the league will sponsor more ping-pong action.
