By Joshua Ryan Salaveria
With the recent win of the College of Business Administration in the intramural games, the largest college in our university continued its rampage marking the fourth consecutive year of being overall winners. Mind you, there were talks of apprehension in our college as to whether we can still continue the winning streak after gaining the perpetual trophy last school year. Even our dean reminded us during the pre-game pep talk not to be complacent and to never assume a sure win.
It’s unfortunately not surprising to hear some derogatory comments against CBA after this year’s win.
Some accusations were hurled at the players for supposedly being unbecoming of a proper sportsman.
It seems people are connecting our win because of cheating. I beg to differ. We didn’t win because of some malicious plan to deceive the games. We won because, other than having a relatively larger talent pool, we developed a strong support system for our players over the years.
I guess it’s an advantage that we were taught how to manage people.
Yes, others are also good at this aspect mostly from experience or just merely natural talent. A CBA student, on the other hand, is faced almost every semester with different theories and best practices about how to handle certain cases in human resource management. In other words, others know it but we thrive in it.
One thing that we know by heart is that, for an organization to achieve its goal, there must be a sense of unity within the group.
The overall goal of the college was translated into individual goals so that each one would have a stake in winning the game. Thus, rather than relying on the idea of camaraderie, our leaders find clearer and definite ways of making an individual’s goal in line with the organization as a whole. Simply, we’re just good at giving perks and incentives.
It’s not just about getting good players. It’s about making sure that your players are in the condition to play good. Support teams are made for every sport so that when there is a problem encountered, solutions are swiftly made. We exploit every advantage. One of which is that we have a considerably large population. Thus, we made multiple committees to cater each specific need of our athletes. We had a food committee that woke up in the wee hours of the morning just to buy supplies for the day. They came early to the playing field, even earlier than the players themselves. They were often the last to leave in the evening. We had a task force made to tally our scores and update our students on what games were next and which were on going. Our students knew where to go next. We didn’t rely on the first aid provided by the Red Cross. We formed our own first-aid committee. Cheering and transport teams went handin-hand in making sure that there were supporters in every game the college played even in far-flung venues. Each of these committees made their own subcommittees. Each individual knew their job.
There was constant communication between athletes, their appointed committees and the council. Even the teachers were given specific teams to look after. A concise division of responsibilities and authorities were made and explained to all the teams and committees. This shortened the time lag it took for the college to respond in any situation. We made it sure that everyone knew who to look for in every situation.
Communication is key in every organization.
So please don’t say that we didn’t deserve our win. We literally shed blood, sweat, and tears for that trophy. We won because we put considerable effort in ensuring it. We had a goal—and we made a plan on how to get it. Here’s a suggestion to the others: it would be better to use the post-intramural time to find out where you would need improvement for your own college. Evaluation meetings may be cumbersome but it has its benefits. Even now, people within CBA know that they still have weaknesses that they must correct and I assure you, it will be corrected. Winning is not just about sweating your guts out in the field. It’s about making everyone understand their stake. It’s about making sure that performance would always be optimal. It’s about constant communication. It’s about strategy.
