LBS, Sports and Competitions

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LBS brought a Big Red Bus, well stocked with 'supplies' for the weekend

Last week saw the end of MBAT 2011, a European sports tournament hosted by HEC in France. Many schools participated, including Manchester, Said, Judge, IMD and INSEAD. In all, over 200 of us traipsed over to Paris via Eurostar armed with LBS branded sports bags, jackets, and sweat bands.

The tournament was one of the highlights of what has already been a great year. The first full day of games began on Friday and featured with an awesome performance from the LBS band. The games continued on Saturday with a few important semi-finals & finals, and ended with a party in Paris. Overall, LBS came second.

I first heard of MBAT from various MBA blogs during the application process. One or two people painted a picture of an awesome event tainted slightly by LBS. The implication being that at LBS was at times overly competitive/loud/­­unsportsman-like. I don’t know how widespread such feelings are. But I have a few thoughts on this issue nonetheless.

Intense concentration from the team

Everyone is competitive: After playing some rugby, as well as the tournament’s coolest sport (Chess), there was plenty of time to watch other teams. Whether it was rugby, football or chess, I saw teams tackling hard and fighting their corner. People from all schools openly shared their frustration at times; frustration at the opposition; frustration at referees.

Do LBS (or any other school for that matter) systematically complain more than everyone else? Is the school more arrogant? Does it systematically push the boundaries of what’s allowed on a sports pitch? To answer, I’d like to step away from the school badge, and look at the individuals involved.

LBS comprises people from multiple countries/cultures and of varied personalities. The applicant pool overlaps significantly with that of other European schools. Is it sensible to think that in 10 months, a diverse group of fundamentally ‘good’ people are transformed into spoiled, uncompetitive individuals? Could this happen across sports as diverse as Table Football and Basketball? You can guess my opinion.

The issue reminds me of the undergraduate university admissions process. Oxford and Cambridge were perceived as a little elitist, arrogant, etc at undergraduate level. If you look for it, you’ll find plenty to back up the assertion. But having seen some of my friends attend these universities, it’d be crazy to make claims about the whole student body. My friends were perfectly normal from the age of 11 to 18. Why would they be fundamentally changed by 3 years of wearing an Oxbridge hoodie? They may leave being proud of the school they attended, but they’re not fundamentally different people.

In summary, I don’t believe there’s much difference between the average LBS, HEC or INSEAD student personality-wise.  Across all schools, some people desperately want to win. Others just desperately want to get back to the bar.

Great view from HEC campus

Perception of large groups: LBS’ representation at MBAT is strong. As a result of the size of the programme, we can field more teams, in more sports. Common sense says that with greater numbers, you’ll find more instances of both good and bad behaviour. A bigger group will inevitably be louder, and perceived as rowdier. Whether it’s the USA or Manchester United fans, large groups often struggle to get a lot of love from outsiders. Particularly if they’re proud of the group to which they belong.

Perception is reality: I think students and alumni are genuinely unnerved by a sense that the school isn’t liked by others in Europe; namely because there’s no animosity towards other schools here. There are no pep-talks at which we discuss plans to dominate competitive sports in the coming year. There are no weekly lectures on how to politically out-maneuver non-LBS alums in the workplace. We didn’t bring the Big Red Bus over to MBAT in order to overshadow other schools (we just wanted something that could hold enough snacks & beer).

However if other schools perceive us to be overly competitive, etc. then all actions are automatically seen though that frame. Not only that, people will actively seek evidence of the school being so.

A video clip of the weekend is below: