The University of Pécs Medical School Sports and Physical Education Center announced an online programme called Keep Active! to draw attention to the importance of exercise, which was severely restricted during the pandemic but is essential for our health. The grand prize of the competition, which took place in the spring semester, was handed over on 22 June in the new park of the Medical School.
The Keep Active! online programme was initiated by the UPMS Sports and Physical Education Center with the aim of encouraging students and university citizens to exercise regularly and promoting a healthy lifestyle. In the frame of this, applicants were expected to send video montages of up to one minute on which they could be seen playing sports at home or outdoors, showing that the epidemiological situation cannot be an obstacle to physical exercise.
- We received several videos as part of the initiative. There were those who organized home ping-pong tournaments for the family, others filmed their jogging, horseback riding, hiking, and one of our English programme students performed an extremely spectacular dance with fans in the assembly hall of the main building - said Zsófia Kovács, UPMS Sports and Physical Education Center.
A UP gift box was drawn every two weeks among the applicants, and in the end, a 50,000 HUF sports equipment voucher was drawn among those who sent the videos until 30 May. The lucky winner was Kornélia Réka Kacz who submitted seven videos during the semester. The student received the voucher and the accompanying certificate on 22 June, in the newly established park of the Medical School’s campus from Dr. Miklós Nyitrai, dean, and dr. István Karsai, head of the UPMS Sports and Physical Education Center.
- The period behind us has been full of challenges regarding community building. The Keep Active! initiative has taken sport to another level: it makes the community in which we work and where we want to achieve our goals more beautiful and better - said dr. Miklós Nyitrai. - I am convinced that in the coming period, in higher education and other areas of life too, the cohesion and creativity of these communities will determine which community, which university will become an excellent whole.
The dean thanked the students for their participation and the colleagues for their work in the project. As he put it, he is confident that the period that forced us to have such solutions will not return but if it does, we can see that there is a solution.