AUP Games
AUP Gives Back came to an end on Saturday, November 25th with the annual AUP Games. It was held in the basement of the American Church of Paris. GSC President Rose Brand, GSC Vice President Will Bisbee, USC Social Director Annamaria Deganutti, and Spots Liaison Chiara Amor worked closely in organizing the event. All of the proceeds from AUP Games go to The Association of Young Malagasy and Young People of All Origins (AJMJTO).
The association was created in November of 2007 by Joséphin Andriantafika, Hery Andriamahanina and Stéphane Rakoto Andriamparany in attempt to "regroup international young people, with a particular emphasis on young Malagasy, the association's goal is to promote sports and physical activity, and to encourage mutual aid between young people from prosperous nations and developing countries." Deganutti explained that they raised the money through the 3€ entrance fee, a decadent bake sale, and open donations.
The event was divided in half. The first hour consisted of various mini-games. One half of the gym played basketball, the other half played lightning and held a three-legged race. After half an hour, the games were switched out for volleyball, Queen of the Court, a futsal game, and Shootout. All games were headed by AUP Sport's team captains.
Image Credit: AUP Athletics
AMP or the Dance team were originally supposed to perform while the athletes got ready for the game. Luckily, Alfio Lococo, a freshman, performed 'Riptide' by Vance Joy acoustically during halftime. Austin Counihan won two tickets for next week's rugby game at the Stade Français during the free-throw competition.
Chiara remarks " it was a success but it can only get better in the future."
The basketball game was intended to be faculty and staff vs students but unfortunately, that did not work out. AJMJTO instead played against the students in a four on four (two men and two women on each team) game. Ashkan Shalbaf, the Athletics Program Coordinator, acted as referee and rotated the teams every two minutes. This allowed for anyone in appropriate gear, regardless of ability, to play.