This year’ KDI School of Public Police and Management Sports Day took place on September 23^rd, 2015 to promote friendship through athletic activities. The chilly morning at the KDI School sports park quickly transformed into a warm and brisk day, filled with the joy and happiness of about 320 participants.

In his opening remarks, Professor Kwon Jung emphasized the importance and practical benefits of the exercise and expressed his hope that KDI School students would exercise more to enhance their physical fitness. After the opening speech, the event officially commenced with warm-up exercises conducted by Ms. Anna Nagornova (2014 MDP, Kyrgyzstan), followed by subsequent field events.

This year’s Sports Day included six field events: (1) Catch the tail, (2) Pinata (Bean-bag Throw), (3) Dodge Ball, (4) Soccer, (5) Relay Race and (6) Tug of War, all of which were complemented by energetic performances by team cheerleaders. The 320 participants included 10 faculty members, 200 students, 70 KDI School staff and 40 KDI staff. Four different teams (White, Black, Blue and Red) comprised of a mix of students, faculty, KDI School and KDI staff members of different ages, sex and nationalities participated in the rigorous, tough and enthusiastic competition.

The competitiveness among participants and the share of a common strong desire to win the competition was probably most evident during the Dodge Ball game, with the off-court team members arguably showing more enthusiasm, energy and willpower than their teammates on-court in terms of performance, thus playing an essential role in determination of the final result. This event illustrated how cooperation among team members can be fruitful. At the end of the fierce battle, following much effort and cooperation, the Black team emerged as the winner of this event.

The next event, Soccer, served in part to show the hidden soccer talents in KDI and KDI School and demonstrated sports do not distinguish in terms of gender or age. Although dominated by male students, female team members and faculty did not miss the opportunity to show off their skills. With such an eclectic mix of talent, it was clear that an arduous battle was pending. Not even extra time was enough to determine the winner, and it was necessary to go into a penalty shoot-out which determined the White team as the winner of this event.

The true test of teams’ strength came after the football game in the form of the Tug of War. Once again, coordination and cooperation among the team members were the determining factors in the final result of both, that event and the Relay Race. The Black team won the Tug of War while the Blue team was the victors in the Relay Race.

The overall results of the day’s proceedings were updated following the final Relay Race. Out of all the teams, the White team won first place with a total score of 580 points, followed by the Black team with a total score of 570 points, the Blue and Red teams were third and fourth respectively. The Sports Day was an opportunity for students, faculty members, KDI and KDI School staff to build friendships. In addition to1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th place prizes, everyone received souvenirs from the KDI School at the end of the ceremony and a number of raffle prizes were also won by lucky participants. Everyone was a winner on the KDI School’s 2015 Sports Day.

 By Kilton Jose Luis Lauter Portugal (2014 MDP, Mozambique)