State Gym’s courts were filled on Saturday with students cheering on one another in a basketball tournament held specifically for Chinese students to encourage interaction between each other. The annual event was sponsored by the Chinese Students and Scholars Association.

“We host this every time in the fall. This is the third year we are doing it,” said Xilu Wang, junior in electrical engineering and vice president of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association.

Eight teams with a maximum of 10 team-members competed in five on five games. After a small group phase the weekend before, the tournament had its semi-finals and final game on Saturday.

Friends of the players crowded around the courts to watch the games.

“This gets Chinese students more interactive. Most of the Chinese Students don’t have many American friends,” Wang said. “The start is very hard, and they don’t have much to do. So we just want to come up with some things It’s just for fun.”

Next to table tennis, basketball is one of the most popular sports in China.

“Lots of people like playing basketball in China, and when they study overseas, they would like to have a chance to play basketball with their friends. We would like to give them that chance,” said Yuan Ma, senior in finance management, activity minister of the CSSA and participant in the tournament.

The teams organized themselves. Different groups of friends signed up to play against each other on the court.

“As long as you were Chinese and a registered Iowa State Student, you were good to go. Our goal is to get a better life for all the Chinese students,” said Xiaolong Wang, senior in supply chain management, president of the CSSA and participant in the tournament. 

With more than 2,000 Chinese students studying at Iowa State it is impossible for them to know a majority of international students from their country. This tournament, along with the other activities organized by the CSSA, provides a platform for them to meet those students. 

“We know each other through basketball and we learn to know each other deeper, it is a special [event] for us. All the members are usually good friends, and they like to fight with each other in the basketball court,” Ma said.

As the seconds ticked away the shouts grew louder and more urgent and with the final buzzer Yuan Ma and Xiaolong Wang’s team, who called themselves “The Dreamers,” won the tournament with a final score of 44 to 36.

“The tournament has grown popular in the Chinese Student [and Scholars] Association, but we are actually able to do a lot of other activities this year. We had enough players this year, but we will increase participation,” Wang said. “And so maybe next year it is time to open the tournament to the public, hopefully, if we have enough people, time and money to organize it.”