ISC 2023: Sporting excellence for a sustainable community

By Amirah Tee and Widad Shahirah

GOMBAK, 12 November 2023: The IIUM Sports Carnival (ISC) was held from 28 October 2023 to 4 November 2023 and was organized by the Council of Principals, co-organized by the Sports Development Center (SDC), in collaboration with Mahallah Representative Committees (MRCs).

This year’s ISC had the theme “Sporting Excellence for a Sustainable Community” whereby all 17 Mahallahs participated in ten sports, including indoor and outdoor sports in both male and female categories.

The aim of ISC is to promote the importance of having good well-being, quality education, empowering all sports persons, reducing inequality within and amongst people of different cultures, and creating inclusive societies. 

ISC is a centralized sports event organized by the Mahallahs once every two years as per tradition. Due to the unexpected occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic in previous years, the last ISC was held in 2019. Hence, ISC 2023 was duly anticipated with its comeback.

The spectators witnessed incredible athleticism, professionalism amongst those competing, and camaraderie. The athletes from each Mahallah competed in various sports such as road relay, netball, volleyball, chess, athletic events, table tennis, handball, football, badminton, sepak takraw, dodgeball, and frisbee. Their victories and defeats were celebrated and supported.

Assoc. Prof. Ir Dr. Khaizuran Abdullah, the Chairperson of ISC 2023, mentioned in his speech during the closing ceremony of ISC 2023, “Through this carnival, we have built stronger ties between our Mahallahs and created a more inclusive and vibrant university community. We have also demonstrated the importance of having sports in our lives and the many benefits that it can bring us.”

During the closing ceremony, the 17 Mahallahs participated in the marching competition with the theme “Pahlawan dan Sri Kandi Melayu”, there was a Citra Band performance, and silat performance by the IIUM Silat Mustang team. 

“Finally, I would like to congratulate all winners and participants in this year’s carnival. Every one of you is a champion. You have shown us what it means to compete with grace and humility and to support your teammates and opponents alike,” said the Chairperson.

The overall winner of ISC 2023 for the brother’s Mahallah category was Mahallah Zubair. Coincidentially, Mahallah Zubair was also the winner in ISC 2019, which makes them the defending champion for this year’s event. As for the sister’s Mahallah category, the overall winner was Mahallah Salahuddin. 

This event is one of many initiatives of the IIUM to expand and promote sporting excellence among students at the IIUM by instilling the spirit of good discipline, hard work, and teamwork through sports competitions.***