Many students join the school of their dreams with unwavering motivation regarding… the diligent practice of a sport. However, it is not uncommon to get caught up in the pace of school! Between a group project and a afterwork prolonged, it can indeed prove difficult to practice regular sports. The question of an impossible love between business school and sport then makes sense.
Sports associations present in all schools
The richness of the associative fabric is often praised by schools. Among these associations, we find numerous sports associations: BDS, BDX, Raid… The dynamism of these associations makes it possible to have numerous sporting events within schools and create a real dynamic.
Among them, we can cite as an example:
- The ESSEC Raid: according to Alice, former communications manager, the ESSEC raid is “un intergenerational group of friends, brought together by a love of running, nature and raclette “. The association offers 400 participants two routes (35km and 70km) in the Vexin forests, north of Cergy-Pontoise. Many schools organize raids (EDHEC BS, emlyon bs, Centrale, INP, etc.).
Read also: Focus on the ESSEC EY Raid – An exceptional route for the 20th edition of the Hannibal Raid - The Kedge Bordeaux BDS: essential associations in many schools Sports Offices are traditionally defined as associations which aim to enliven the sporting life of the campus: organization of competitions, events, support of teams, fervent supporters, etc. Romain, president of the BDS of Kedge Bordeaux, testified: “ Lhe members of the BDS are all coaches of a sports team, so they take care of training, competitions, cohesion, etc. They are in fact 100% responsible for their team. So we don’t have any “external” coaches to help us, that’s the particularity of Kedge Bordeaux!
Read also: Interview with Romain, president of BDS at Kedge Bordeaux – BDS campaigns at Audencia BS
Schools conquering athletes
Many schools try to attract top athletes. To do this, they do not hesitate to create tailor-made programs.
GEM set up several years ago a “Grande Ecole Diploma for High-Level Athletes”, this e-learning program lasts between three and five years and allows you to adapt your academic pace to your sporting constraints.
emlyon bs has also launched a program for high-level athletes: the global BBA SHN and a partnership with the Tony Parker Adéquat Academy with the aim of attracting as many young talents as possible and promoting the school. Indeed, schools with high-level athletes in their ranks benefit from greater visibility, like Romain Bardet (GEM alumni) during the Tour de France.
10 famous athletes who (maybe) attended your school
- Marie-José Perec, ESSEC : consultant for the Team, Marie-José Perec is a three-time Olympic champion, in the 400m (Barcelona, 1992 and Atlanta, 1996) and the 200m (Atlanta, 1996).
- Pascal Gentil, ESSEC: double Bronze medalist at the Olympics (2000, 2004), the French taekwondo player also won Gold in the World Cup
- Tony Estanguet, ESSEC: triple Olympic champion and French flag bearer in Beijing, Tony Estanguet’s reputation is well established.
- Stéphane Diagana, ESCP : world champion in the 400m hurdles, Stéphane Diagana is now a consultant for France Télévision.
- Gwendal Peizerat, emlyon: ice dancer, the skater is world champion (2000) and Olympic champion (2002).
- Sébastien Chabal and Frédéric Michalak: these two rugby figures joined the emlyon bs eMBA this year.
- Clément Lefert, EDHEC BS : Olympic champion in swimming relay, this EDHEC student followed the finance course in Nice.
- Yannick Agnel, SKEMA BS : double Gold medalist in London in 2012 (200m freestyle and 4x100m freestyle relay), the former swimmer is now a consultant for France Télévision.
- Denis Gargaud Chanut, KEDGE BS : French climber, Denis practices slalom. He is single-seater world champion in 2011 and Olympic champion in 2016.
The numerous inter-school sports competitions
Coupe de France des ESC, derbies, Challenge Ecricome, OJO, Top Eight… there is no shortage of competitions that aim to bring different schools (or different campuses) into competition!
The Ecricome Challenge is an event that brings together 2,000 people for a total budget of €300,000! Three trophies, extremely coveted by the participants, mark this challenge: the sports trophy, the atmosphere trophy and the fair play trophy!
Sport in business schools, a dedicated category for the BC100
In order to distinguish these courses, we decided to create a “Sport” category for our BC100 list. You can already find out who won the prize in this category. To find out about the other winners in the BC100 Sport category, go here!
To find out more about sport in business schools, you can consult the 2019 ESC sports rankings
