2024 Sailfish Cup winners celebrate their victory. Photo courtesy: Wilma Ritzén
Sailfish Cup, an olympic style set of games, has become a beloved tradition at Palm Beach Atlantic University in the past three decades. This February students came together, working around the clock to make it the best year yet.
This year the 29th Sailfish Cup had over 100 students participating. Sailfish Cup is one of PBA’s oldest traditions featuring three days of competitions between the residence halls.
To make the weekend possible, both students and staff spend hours preparing and putting together props and backdrops for the events. Activities vary from music videos and dances to basketball and a parade.
Josiah Lange, the captain of Watson Hall men’s team, participated in Sailfish Cup for the third time. He became a captain this year, wanting to be more engaged with the competition.
“There is a lot that goes on before the cup in terms of preparations. We have to make a banner, decorate a car and decorate an entire backdrop for the lipsync. Those things take time and are hard,” Lange said.
Lange said he spent over 40 hours in preparation for the event. As the captain his main tasks were to brainstorm and come up with ideas for the different competitions as well as help decorate the banner and backdrop. Another key element was making sure enough people in his residence hall signed up for all the competitions.
“I would say it is hard to make people participate. Many guys want to participate in sports, but it is harder to make them participate in dance-off and lipsync. I still think the guys who do it find a lot of reward in it,” Lange explained.
He said even though he has spent most of his time preparing the weeks before Sailfish Cup, it is all worth it. He explained he gets a rewarding feeling of accomplishment when he sees everything on stage.
“Sailfish Cup is more than just the fun events we do, there are a lot of things that go behind it. It takes planning and many hours trying to make something look good even if you are not an artist. Personally, I just give my best shot and try to make everything look as good as possible and hope for the best when it comes in front of the judges,” Lange said.
He said the best part is to meet new friends. The main reason why he thinks it is worth spending time on the preparations is that he can build a community with lifelong friends.
“I think Sailfish Cup gives an area for students to be creative and it also gives students who played a sport in high school a chance to get back to those hobbies for a weekend just for fun,” Lange said.
Jay Alilin, a junior at PBA, was one of the referees during Sailfish Cup. The referees review the rules and regulations for all the events. They also help with advertising the events to all the students through Instagram and other social media platforms.
“I hope a lot of freshmen attend the event and really fall in love with the campus culture. I also hope to see a lot of upperclassmen lead the freshmen,” Alilin said.
Aubrey Laughlin was another referee over the weekend who participated in Sailfish Cup for the first time, her favorite event was the volleyball game.
“Sailfish Cup really benefits the PBA community because it brings people together and as a freshman, you get to know the people you are going to be living with and studying with for the next four years,” Laughlin said.
Lange is very excited to see what’s in-store for this year’s winners.
“It is a lot of fun when you win. There is a huge party afterward and everyone is just on cloud nine because everyone has had adrenaline pumped out. You are in so much suspense when the results come out,” Lange said.
By Hedda Jarhall