From tampon hockey till boxing, freshmen had the chance on tuesday to meet with tens of sports that Nijmegen has to offer. The summery weather conditions made for a relaxed ambiance.

‘Kleng’, the plastic hockey sticks make a lot of noise when bashing into each other. The plastic boarding, mini-goals, and a hollow ball reveal that this isn’t ordinary hockey, but floorball. Victoria Halse (21) from Bergen in Norway already knew about the rather unknown sport, she says while walking off the field. ‘We used to play this during physical education in high school.’

Floorball comes as a new sport to many of the students walking around on the sports day today. ‘It’s a really fun sport. You’re even allowed to use your feet,’ tells Jolijn Bos (22) of student sports association Hot Shots Nijmegen. The introduction week is ‘super important’ for recruiting new members, she says. ‘Our association only has about fifty members and the throughput is big, since you’re only allowed to remain a member for one year after graduating.’

Students met with tens of other sports besides floorball. From exotic activities like beachtennis and tampon hockey, till ordinary sports like hockey or football. There’s something for everyone. Today the management faculty and internationals are up, the coming three days students from other faculty get their chance to play.

No alcohol

More than a thousand students walking around the Radboud Sports Centre is allowed according to the current corona restrictions. This is because the activities only include sports. Alcohol, entertainment, or anything tells that comes close to a festival are out of the question.

The restrictions don’t seem to spoil the fun. There’s a relaxed, festival-like ambiance on the sports fields on Tuesday, partly due to the sunny and warm weather. Students happily dive into the inflatable pool filled with boats and surfboards of Loefbijter and Aeolis.