Sporty time at VNR VJIET – SLAST Demystified
SLAST – the word is not there in the English oxford dictionary, yet it meant a lot for the sports-maniac students across all the engineering colleges in and outside Hyderabad. The three day sports fest that happened in VNR-VJIET was an event not only worth partaking but also worth watching. Carrying with it the slogan, “The harder you play, The harder it is to surrender”, SLAST undoubtedly had a large impact on the students, as the 3 days-1st, 2nd and 3rd of February gave the sporty students a mighty opportunity to compete with students from all over India, in a variety of sports while for others, a jolly time. The event had a host of games namely – Basketball, Volleyball, Athletics, Table-tennis, Throw-ball and Badminton. The participation was enormous and so, the fest turned out to be a grand success. With an extremely large campus and a colossal playing ground apart from an elegant sports complex and sponsors like SEW infrastructures, ETV-2 and Velgan, VNR is one college that could conduct a sports fest in such a regal manner.
Ranjith Kumar, a final year student at VNR and also the general secretary of SLAST proudly asserted, “This is only the second year of SLAST but the response has been voluminous. We have had students from Chennai and Maharashtra coming all the way to our college for SLAST. We have been working from the past 3 months for this and I am very happy for the way the fest has turned out. Above all, from the entire team of SLAST, I would like to especially thank all our sponsors for the assistance they gave us”. Sriram Talluri, a 2nd year student of VNR and also a member in the registrations committee said, “Last year, we had around 73 colleges, but this time we have 89 colleges and close to 3,200 participants, which is definitely an exponential increase comparatively. We are not collecting any registration fees. Only a caution deposit and the food and accommodation are free for the non-city participants”.
The badminton court. Credits: Libran Dranzer
One more factor responsible for the success of the fest is the ample sports facilities that the college bestows upon its students. The ‘Kode Venkatadri Chowdary sports complex’ in the campus of VNR is an example of the plentiful sports amenities in the college. The 6 year old complex boasts of an enticing badminton court, a table tennis court and a gymnasium (with all the required equipments of course). Venkatakrishna Chaitanya, a 1st year student of VNR, who is in the badminton team happily quips, “I am a professional badminton player ever since 6th std. but I had to discontinue the sport for a while owing to the pressure of my studies, but after joining VNR, I am back to badminton. There is a nice court and in spite of being a 1st year student, my seniors and my coach encouraged me to play and thanks to them that I am in the college badminton team. This college is very supportive towards its students. I owe my college a lot of gratitude for taking me back to my sport”.
Mr. Veeraswamy, the college coach for badminton affirms, “VNR instigates students to take part in a lot of sports. It has been four years since I have been a coach here and due to the students’ interest, I am always busy. Owing to an optimistic management and talented students, we have won a lot of prizes at local and national level. Last year, at the ‘central zone sports competition’, our students were runners-up, both in singles and doubles. Hopefully, this year we shall be the winners”.
The sports complex at VNR. Credits: Libran Dranzer
The physical director, Mr.Sreerama, who was in charge of SLAST, was all praise for the students, his colleagues and especially the management, who he claims were very co-operative and crucial in making the event a grand success. A student asked “So, what gave you the idea of an altogether exclusory sports fest?” and the director asserts, “A healthy body leads to a healthy mind. These days, some students are very busy in their studies and some others are idle. So, to divert all kinds of students from their regular astir, we decided to have an entirely different kind of zealous activity for students. Besides, our students have been winning medals and tournaments at central level, like, for instance, they won sports competitions at BITS Pilani last year, so we thought-why not have a sports fest in our college itself? That is how we have taken this approach last year for the first time”.
Even with the scorching heat, non-participating students did not back away from cheering for their respective colleges. Instead, they thought that it was their cheering alone that triggered the players’ mettle. Shouting a combo of slogans to exhilarate the representatives of their college, they not only motivated them but also enforced a sense of support and belief in the minds’ of the players.
Throw ball (girls) finals match. Credits: Libran Dranzer
Manasa Sindhu, a 2nd year student of VNR quips, “All the matches were very exciting. Added to that, in most of the games, VNR were the finalists and it was really amazing to cheer for them. We shouted slogans like ‘jeetega jeetega VNR jeetega’ and ‘coca-cola, pepsi-VNR is sexy’. We were all enjoying a lot!” M.Abhinaya of GRIET couldn’t agree more. “We got so engrossed in the matches that we never realized the heat. We put a lot of energy in shouting our jingles, yet we never knew about it, for at that time, the ‘spirit of the game’ and cheering for our college were the only things that mattered”. The winners in different events were as follows- Basket-Ball(boys)-SSN, Chennai, Basketball(girls)-GNITS, Hyderabad, Throwball(girls)-VNR-VJIET, table-tennis-SSN,Chennai.
The winners were given cash prizes, medals and merit certificates. All the participants were given participation certificates. The fest delivered a complete package of fighting spirit, entertainment, competition, inciting hurrah for colleges, elucidating the importance of sports and finally, making all the students ONE by bringing all of them on a common platform-sports. Over-all, it was a gala time for all the students. “Resplendent” is one word sufficient to describe the 3 magnificent sporty days at VNR-VJIET. Cheers to them!
More Information: SLAST Fest Official website, Blast at VNR SLAST Sports Fest
