A team of MBA students from the Schulich School of Business finished in second place overall at the 2012 MBA Games this past weekend. Hosted by The Alberta School of Business in Edmonton, the Schulich team finished first place in the Stantec – Ernst & Young Strategy Case Competition and second place in the Operations Management Simulation. In athletic activities, the team finished second place in volleyball and third place in both volleyball and inter-tube water polo.

The MBA Games is an annual business competition that brings together the largest gathering of MBA students from across the country to compete in academic, athletic and spirit activities. The theme of the 2012 Games asked students to focus on taking business “Into the Future”, encouraging students to be forward-thinking and come up with pioneering solutions to the challenges they encountered.

“All 40 members of the Schulich team competed with intellect, creativity and determination throughout the MBA Games to help us achieve our second place finish,” said Schulich team captain, Will Duggan, Athletics Director, Graduate Business Council.

“With the help of our coach [Schulich MBA marketing instructor] Joe Fayt, the academic team demonstrated why Schulich has the best MBA program in Canada and the athletic team showed strong teamwork and communication, demonstrating the leadership skills Schulich graduates are known for,” he said.

“The friends we gained, the relationships we forged and the memories we created in Edmonton will last a lifetime. The Games were an excellent opportunity to put into practice what the MBA is really about.”

The MBA Games began in 1988 at Queen’s University.  Each year since 1997, the Games have been hosted by the defending champs. Since 1996, Schulich has proudly hoisted the Queen’s cup three times – in 2003, 2004 and 2010.

In 2011, Schulich hosted the Games and focused on taking the competitors “Back to Basics”, to remind students of the importance of business fundamentals, learning from the past in order to work towards a prosperous future. The School also added a new component to the Games with the introduction of the Spirit of the Games award. Given to the team that demonstrates the highest degree of spirit throughout all competitions as judged by the teams themselves, it provides an exciting new way to promote and encourage the camaraderie and spirit that has made the Games a highlight of many MBA students experience over the last two decades.