by Annabelle Leung
Viola, AS President!!
Born This WEIS – the 2024 edition of Sciences Po’s annual inter-campus sports competition saw historical achievements, most notably credited to Le Havre campus athletes. An introspective interview with AS President, Viola del Corona, runs us through the entirety of events and matches held in Nancy. She describes in detail LH’s pathway towards our podium victory. The fact that a list is required to entail all accomplishments in this article also demonstrates the significant progress in sportsmanship that our campus has undergone, which has ultimately paid off.
WEIS prizes by LH!
5 trophies:
• Prix d’Ambience (first place)
• 2nd place Table tennis
• 2nd place Cheer
• 2nd place Foot f
• 2nd place Foot m
Semifinals
• semis for Volley (4th place)
• semis for Rugby f (4th place)
• playoffs for Basket m (4th place)
Upon arrival at the sports facility – straight after an 8 hour bus journey – the restless weekend of competitions commenced. Viola recalls her own participation in Female Basketball, Football and Rugby.
‘The second day was pretty intense for female sports because there was the entire football tournament all crammed into one day,’ she recalls, reflecting the intensity of physical activity due to the time constraint of 3 days. Nevertheless, Viola acknowledges that events including the official opening ceremony, the barathon, and club night organised by Nancy’s Bureau des Sports (BDS) were populated with students of all campuses. With a rap song featuring LH PROPA members Gabriel & Sara performed live, the atmosphere at the club night was undeniably pleasant. It underscored conviviality and enjoyment after strenuous competition.
When asked about her favourite event, Viola chuckles as she expresses her satisfaction with the female Football team’s accomplishments. “We got to the semi-finals, which was amazing because then we won against Poitiers … at the final — like I just started crying … a bit of it was because of how tired I was […] the emotions were just incredible’.
Female football reached 2nd place overall. (image: Football F team – shot by Thomas Funkleder)
Viola noted, though, that members “didn’t even expect to go past the group phase. This is actually something that was common to most sports.” This is evident in male Football, where Ryoma’s goal in their 3rd round propelled LH into the semifinals for the 1st time in history. More astounding was that this happened while player Anis was carrying an injured hamstring. His persistence on the field, along with the others, carried them all the way into Football M Finals, again for the first time in history.
‘I never expected us to go this far… I’m so happy’, expresses Taiga Shitara, captain of the Football team.
LH WEIS Football M team – shot by Thomas Funkleder
The Football M team got their first ever win last year against Dijon, during Minicrit 2024. Previously the LH team had never made it past the group stage.
Another achievement of the season was bagged by the cheerleading squad; LH placed 2nd overall.
This notably occurred despite the lack of coaches provided to the LH Cheer team, an advantage that some campuses possessed. The increase in frequency of cheer practices seemed to pay off in the precision of movement and accuracy of jumps, as seen in playback videos.“Our team has worked so hard for WEIS and I’m really proud of all of us! We’re going to keep our minicrit plans a little secret for those outside the cheer team, but expect the biggest, boldest, and brightest performance our campus has seen yet,” hints Noelani Aung, co-captain of LH Cheer. WEIS’ stunts included Noelani’s clock stunt and Nicky’s suspended front flip, both completed without a trace of sweat and drove supporters into a standing ovation towards the end of the performance. (image: Noelani’s clock stunt – shot by Thomas Funkleder)
In addition to the conventional lineup, this year’s surprise sport was table tennis. LH representatives Hugo and Sara took the trophy home with 1st-Runner Up. Likewise, there was a lack of resources due to campus budget constraints. A conversation with Hugo informs that ‘there’s not much preparation…to the extent that we actually did not have our own rackets and table tennis balls for Sara’. Nevertheless, his highlight of the day was the LH v. Menton match.
“We were losing by 10 to 7… the opponent only needed 1 single point to secure the victory. However, with a bit of luck…. we secured five consecutive points, and we beat Menton by 12 to 10… it was a very memorable moment for me.” Hugo plans on taking periodic advantage of the table on campus to foster the development of technique. (image: Hugo & Sara v Nancy – shot by Thomas Funkleder)
Lastly, it is important to note that LH received commendation for athletic sportsmanship, albeit some mishaps construed by other campuses. Viola compliments her AS team, expressing gratitude for Orso and Madhava for communicating with French logistics. She also notes that campuses “loved AS… the whole delegation received a lot of compliments from Nancy saying that we were really respectful … something to be really proud of I think.”
Le Havre placed 3rd Overall in WEIS 2024.
(image: AS Le Havre from left to right – Orso, Madhava, Viola, Yasumasa, Mathilde, Nodoka, Anya) – shot by Thomas Funkleder
Le Dragon Déchaîné 