The victories that can be obtained through sport go far beyond podiums and medals. Dedicating oneself to the routine of a sporting activity and developing strategies aiming at good results in competitions is something that can result in a much greater benefit than overcoming opponents: it allows the individual to overcome himself. Examples of this abound among the thousands of athletes participating in this year’s edition of the Brazilian University Games (JUBs) in Brasília.
Maria Eduarda Tendero, judo athlete and participant of the Brazilian University Students (JUBs). – Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
Judoka and self-defense teacher, Maria Eduarda Tendero, 22, from Rio Grande do Sul, did not obtain, in the 2022 JUBs, as good a result as in other competitions – among them the third place conquered a few years ago in the Copa Rio Internacional.
Dealing with frustration, according to her, is something that makes her increasingly prepared to face problems. “Judo has always helped me to be resilient. It is very useful for my psychology, teaching that there is always one day after another, and that there is a lot of good beyond the podium”.
About 5 thousand athletes are in Brasília for the six days of the Brazilian University Games (JUBs). – Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
The black belt’s history of victories includes an opponent who doesn’t wear a kimono and whose blows have, as a starting point, the psychological of their victims. “I was diagnosed with vitiligo about ten years ago as a child. As it is a disease related to stress, I saw in judo a possibility to control it”, the judoka told Agência Brasil, reporting having managed to stagnate the development of the disease in its initial phase.
“I had only been doing judo for a few months at the time. So I took the opportunity to use it as an anti-stress tool. I leave the mat light, even when I arrive feeling overwhelmed. The benefit is evident”, emphasizes the athlete who teaches judo for children and self-defense for women.
For her, sport also represented access to the physical education course at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). The pre-university course was paid for by her club, Grêmio Náutico União, which also paid for a complicated knee ligament surgery. “My family would not be able to afford these costs,” she said.
Obstacles
Gabriel Miranda, skater athlete and participant of the Brazilian Universities (JUBs). – Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
Dealing with everyday obstacles is the specialty of practitioners of another sport that, having become an Olympic sport, is also increasingly popular at JUBs: skateboarding.
“It is not by chance that, in the Street modality, the elements of the track, where we have to do the maneuvers, are called obstacles”, explains Gabriel Miranda, 22, a student in the 5th semester of history at the Federal University of Amapá (Unifap).
Gabriel says that skateboarding has been present in his life since he started practicing, at age 8. “It’s a necessity”, according to him, even in the midst of the pain resulting from the many falls he has already had.
“Skateboarding is a sport that has a routine with many more mistakes and falls than successes. In this way, it develops, in its practitioners, a particular way of seeing the world, whereby obstacles come to represent challenges to be overcome”, he said.
This need to condition the mental side to deal with difficulties and adversities made the athlete a more focused person on their goals, immediate or not.
“First of all, I’m a guy who doesn’t feel anxiety. And I have a constant feeling of having a horizon to pursue. I’m always focused on that and I don’t let myself get bogged down by things,” she explained.
cheerleading
Willy Dirita, cheerleading athlete and participant of Brazilian Universities (JUBs). – Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
Focus, discipline, balance, flexibility, a lot of training and perseverance are also fundamental for a modality that has gained space at JUBs: cheerleading, a sport widely spread through American films, with its “cheerleaders” performing choreographies and movements that mix artistic gymnastics, dance, circus, acrobatics, lifting, throwing and floor movements.
Everything requires, according to the athlete and coach of the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU), Willy Dirita, 25, “a lot of strength, balance, flexibility and working together”. The taste for “cheer” made him change the engineering course, which he started in 2015 “stimulated by the family”, for physical education, in 2018, three years after starting in the modality.
“In addition to being an athlete, I work and live from it. Cheer was nothing and became everything, both professionally and socially. My friends are all practitioners”, said the student who already has a history of three Brazilian and three Minas Gerais championships.
Electronic games
Cassiano de Góes, e-sports athlete and participant of the Brazilian Universities (JUBs). – Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
Among the electronic modalities that have been gaining ground in JUBs is the game League of Legends (LOL), which has, among its practitioners, the student of information technology at Universidade Potiguar (UNP) Cassiano Goés.
Known as “Cacá do Pálio”, he gained prominence at JUBs – and recognition, by being awarded as “best player” of the 2021 edition of the games – after a historic “pentakill”, obtained in the final, when, being the only remaining of his team, managed to defeat five opponents of the other team.
About 5 thousand athletes are in Brasília for the six days of the Brazilian University Games (JUBs). Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
According to him, electronic games represent a “true brain workout” to deal with the large amount of information that comes up all the time. Among his team members are also students of medicine, law and psychology.
He cites a study by his university’s psychology department indicating that gamers “develop quick thinking and spatial analysis,” which gives them faster response times. “We learn things faster”, says the student who is also a manager at a food company.
“I am recognized in my work environment as a person who is more likely to identify priorities, minimize time and quickly make decisions about food distribution and use. As LOL is a collective game, it developed, in me, team leadership, which also helps me when it comes to organizing my work team”, he added.
Talent
Ana Carolina Marques, participant of the Brazilian University Students (JUBs). – Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
From São Gonçalo dos Campos, javelin thrower Ana Carolina Marques, 25, has already won two national titles by the sport federation, in addition to a third place in the South American and 15th position in the world ranking.
In the midst of so many successful titles, the physical education student at Uninassau in Feira de Santana says that what enchants her the most is passing on all the experience acquired with training and experiences obtained thanks to sport.
“A lot of things shine in my eyes. In particular, children, training of athletes and social work. This is already part of my present and will also be part of my future, because I want other people to have access to what I had”, she said amid memories of travel and meeting other athletes that I admire.
She participates in a social project that encourages needy children to practice martial arts, athletics, capoeira and soccer in her hometown, where she returned after many years living in São Paulo, where she became a professional sportsman.
The student stopped competing in 2019, but was “motivated to return” by her hometown fans, who have always followed, albeit from a distance, her sporting exploits. “Today, in student games, I realize the dream of representing [oficialmente] my city and my state.”
By seeking “new winners” through the project she develops in partnership with the city hall of her city, the athlete believes that she will be able to “turn the future endpoint” of her career into reticence, by helping students and, by extension, those who surround.
“We have many talents, but having talent is not enough. We need structure around, especially the family. And sport can always help in this mission”, he concludes.
JUBs
About 5 thousand athletes are in Brasília for the six days of the Brazilian University Games (JUBs). – Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil
Organized by the Brazilian Confederation of University Sports (CBDU), the JUBs registered almost 8 thousand entries, including athletes, technical committee, health professionals and volunteers, for the current edition that will end next Sunday (25).
Athletes from 18 to 25 years old, regularly enrolled in a higher education institution and previously selected in the state selective, participate in the competitions. In all, 28 modalities are part of the sporting schedule of the event, including academic, Olympic, Paralympic and electronic.
