January 21, 2015

SECU Blog from Abroad: Day 4

Competitors get final instructions before beginning a game in a CUS facility in Torino. SEC students are able to access these facilities while studying at the Politecnico di Torino.

By: Torie Johnson
SECU (Twitter: @TheSECU)

Competition … A Universal Language (Tuesday, January 20, 2015)

Intercollegiate athletics is a uniquely American endeavor. Competing in sports against students from another university as determined by some sort of national body is virtually non-existent abroad. But, competition is world-wide, and I found it fitting that on the final day of our visit in Torino, we learned about the competitive sports opportunities available to SEC students studying at the Politecnico di Torino.

SEC students participating in the engineering exchange program have access to Torino’s Centro Universitario Sportivo (CUS). The CUS is a comprehensive recreational sporting organization that provides opportunities for students and local citizens to participate in various “recreational” activities like basketball, golf, skiing, tennis and swimming. There are several facilities in Torino with courts, weight rooms and dance studios, and CUS organizes group outings to the coast for sailing and the mountains for tandem sky-diving.

Although there aren’t always trophies to win or medals to award, being first is always the goal. To be the first person down the mountain or to touch the wall in a pool is the aim of each competitor. And the SEC students, who are encouraged to wear their university colors while in Torino, bring the same spirit to their CUS activities as their intercollegiate counterparts do to NCAA competition.

We won’t be here to know for sure, but we hope each time an SEC student comes in first, or leads a team to victory, his or her conference companions will send up the familiar chant: SEC … SEC … SEC.