The Martlet

Debate, case presentations, flag football, ancient Japanese war-games and some of the best looking suits known to undergrad—the Jeux du Commerce (JDC) West competition is the Superbowl for business students. The annual three-day event, held last weekend in Edmonton, brings hundreds of young business majors together from programs in 11 universities across western Canada every year to compete against one another in athletic- and academic-orientated competitions.

“It was amazing, the last two years have been the best years [UVic] has ever had as far as results go,” says Andrew Hall, co-captain of this year’s team sent to represent UVic’s Peter B. Gustavson School of Business. “The amount of energy in the room when UVic placed a student first, second or third in an event was like nothing I’ve ever felt before,” he says.

Hosted by the University of Alberta’s School of Business in downtown Edmonton, the competition tests teams of students in the areas of debate, athletics and social skill — with all three categories relating in some way to the chosen theme for 2012: “Fuelling Productivity”.

“Words won’t do it,” says the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada (CGA) in an orientation video on the competition’s official website. “You’re told to be strategic; use strategy, be productive [and] use management as if these word’s alone will provide a solution . . . [but] word’s don’t do anything, people do.” Last January, UVic placed in the top three of four academic categories — including two first place victories, one for “Not-For-Profit Business Strategy” and another for Accounting. They added four more podium finishes to the tally this year, also receiving the highly coveted “Participation” award given to the school that shows the most enthusiasm and sportsmanship.

Hall, who attended the competition twelve months ago during his senior year in UVic’s Entrepreneurship program, says his experiences at the JDC West have improved his business skills tremendously.

“I’ve evolved from a networking perspective; it’s great because the academic competitions are actually presented to other students as well as academic experts,” he says. “It’s a little bit better that way than being at school; it’s nice to have a bit of feedback from people who’ve been in the business.”

The JDC West academic portion features challenges that include parliamentary-style debates on business-related issues taken up from The Economist, case presentations in front of corporate executives, and mini-competitions in fields like Human Resources and Entrepreneurship.

Dallas Cullen, a third-year UVic Commerce student who competed on the event’s athletic side — playing flag football and Yukigassen (Japanese for “snow battle”) — also appreciates the event’s hands-on approach to undergraduate business education.

“Honestly, I’d say it’s probably the most memorable university experience I’ve had,” says Cullen. “It was so cool to see between eight and nine hundred students so enthusiastic and fun to be around,”

“The sports were still really competitive,” he says. “But everyone was really sportsmanlike about it.”

Having spent the majority of the weekend whipping tennis balls at SFU yuppies and surly looking students from the University of Saskatchewan (they take no prisoners on the prairies), Cullen and his teammates saw the JDC West competition culminate on the frosty Yukigassen courts — a game borrowed from ancient Japan that combines snowball-fighting, dodgeball and capture the flag.

The basics of Yukigassen are straightforward to those of us who braved mild concussions and possible infertility playing “Wall-Ball” in middle school.

Unlike “Wall-Ball”, Yukigassen is organized and officiated, and while the traditional version is usually played with snow balls, the JDC West players had to use tennis balls due to the mild weather.

“It’s pretty big in Japan,” says Cullen. “There are bunkers set up on a small field and you start with a bunch of tennis balls. You throw them at your opponents . . . and try to get the flag.”

Cullen credits the UVic delegates for the outstanding gamesmanship maintained throughout the weekend and their ability to keep pace in the highly competitive atmosphere noticeable both on and off the field.

“We were going hard at all the events,” he says. “But after the games we’d always shake hands and congratulate each other.”

Hall was particularly happy with his team’s display of professionalism over the weekend, commending them for representing the university in a classy manner by keeping their celebrations under control.

“Just like at any business conference, whether its student or professional, there’s alcohol served,” he says. “There are sometimes mistakes made, but luckily UVic didn’t have any of those and [for that] we’re proud . . . it’s one of the reasons why we won the participation award.”