By MIKE STROMME
Red plastic pucks were flying and the unique clink and clank of plastic hitting plastic filled the Sanctuary on Jan. 6 during an air hockey tournament hosted by CSI. Conestoga students took their turns at challenging each other atop the stage as fellow students filtered in and out. The arcade-like competition, Top 40 music playing through the loud speaker, complimentary cotton candy, and various tables set up by organizations and businesses gave the tournament an atmosphere reminiscent of a carnival or county fair.
The objective of the tournament was simple in nature, have the longest winning streak of the day and you’re the champ. The prize? The very playing surface used to defeat the competition. The NHL-themed air hockey table with an electronic scoreboard was awarded to the champion. The victor was Tim Runstedler, an accounting audit information technology student from the Doon campus. Runstedler’s winning streak of eight was enough to win the tournament, with the next highest being six.
“It’s a nice little prize for the new year,” said Runstedler. “I guess I can say, all the practising and competition with my three younger brothers paid off.”
In past years, CSI has hosted a variety of activities and events during the first week back from winter break. This included everything from live musicians and comedians to video game tournaments. However, this year CSI president Jeff Scherer said the organization decided to change things up a bit.
“(CSI event programmers) wanted to do something active, but they realized that with the cold weather, not many students would want to participate in an outdoor event,” said Scherer. “With the arrival of the winter season and the World Juniors freshly finished, air hockey was a suitable theme for an event.”
Similar tournaments were held at the Cambridge, Guelph and Waterloo campuses on Jan. 7.
Activities and events of this variety give CSI an opportunity to spread information on the services offered on campus. CSI, in addition to Toothworks Dental Clinic, DrinkSmart and the Doon Presbyterian Church, all had information tables set up at the tournament. All organizations work alongside CSI in various capacities.
“We have a sponsorship program that gives community businesses the opportunity to come in and advertise their products and materials to students,” said Scherer. “We try to have these services represented at appropriately themed events. For example, Counselling Services has a program built around mental health, so we schedule their space with our Mellow Monday programming.”
For future CSI events, visit www.conestogastudents.com, follow CSI on social media or download the CSI mobile app.
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