A day of recreation where members take a fresh breath, connect and re-energise
The doorways leading to clubroom 103 usually or rather, mostly echoes with either brainstorming sessions, executing ideas or meeting deadlines. But, for a particular day – every year, the members pause while the energy is shifted from echelons to recreation.
What can now be coined a tradition is the annual YESers Futsal tournament, an intra competition where each Executive Body member of the club has a team of their own. The idea and message behind this initiative? It lets our people breathe, laugh and bond outside of the club’s hectic yet eventful schedule all year around. The true magic of the tournament begins while all are seated inside a room and the official auction for the players begins. For a moment, the atmosphere turns chaotic yet the warmest of memories are made when the bids are placed and colleagues turn to outbidding the other with the singular purpose of having their own dream team. As the auction ends, the head-to-head is then on the field, where friends turn opponents and members turn teammates.
With the very first kick-off in motion, there is no hierarchy but teammates who fight for their own and a connection is forged even outside the decorum within a senior and their underlings. Members play shoulder to shoulder, celebrating even the smallest of wins while laughing away the biggest of blunders made – for this day is when all is kept aside and it’s all fun and games. One wouldn’t be wrong to say that it’s not just about the title to be won but the energy that means everything.
This year, the female category is something worth mentioning. The remarkable participation and the spirit they brought along, automatically uplifted the entire gallery with cheers all around and celebrations long before any scores were made. This here also brings a message of YES! and its members fostering the culture of inclusionship, ambition and the sense of shared ownership which extends well beyond the spheres of professional structurism.
As the matches progressed, the competition heightened, having two teams, the GS and the Treasurer’s facing off in the finale. With tensions rising and the gallery outpouring in cheers, team GS finally made it through taking the championship home! And the celebration that followed? It’s as if the journey was never towards the trophy but instead the memories that it created – the bruised knees, constant banters and the last moment comebacks made.
Days like these are when we are reminded of why YES! matters beyond the professional mandates it adheres itself to. When members share experiences well beyond the usual routine, it quietly deepens the trust one has for the other forming bonds and the club slowly transforms from just an “organisation” to what feels like our safe space. And to the members who made the day as eventful as it was, here’s to more of this where we live for the moment and play it off just as hard as we work to pull it all off!