On September 19, 2025, the Graduate Programs Office, in coordination with the Graduate Business Association, held its first ever soccer tournament, the Buff & Blue Cup. The soccer tournament was part of the Weeks of Welcome events organized by graduate programs that are being held to welcome incoming students and welcome back continuing students.
The Buff & Blue Cup featured eight teams playing in a 7v7 tournament. It was structured as a knockout bracket, with all teams playing at least two games and the finalists playing three games. Teams were allowed a maximum of 10 players, and all players had to be current GW students or alumni and had to have a combination of male and female players. Students were able to sign up collectively, as a team, or sign up as a 'free agent' and be assigned to a team, space provided. In the end, six teams were registered, and we were able to create another two teams from the free agents.
The tournament was held at Boeing Fields at Long Bridge Park in Arlington, VA. The first games kicked off in the morning and the tournament wrapped up in the early afternoon. The final was contested by MBA Mavericks and FC Blaze. The MBA Mavericks were composed primarily of second-year AMBA students along with one student from the MS in Project Management and MS in Sport Management programs, respectively. FC Blaze was one of the teams constructed of free agents and had a number of degrees represented, including the Global MBA and Healthcare MBA programs, Interdisciplinary Business Studies, Business Analytics, Accounting Analytics, MS in Management, and a Mechanical Engineering undergraduate student.
Overall, 70 students played in the tournament, with both undergraduate and graduate students participating. Twenty four different degrees/majors were represented, including players from thirteen different graduate programs within the GW School of Business. Along with the School of Business, there were players from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the Milken Institute School of Public Health, the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, and the Graduate School of Education and Human Development. Along with some beautiful weather and a day of soccer, the tournament provided an opportunity to meet and network with students from across the School of Business and GW. Truly, the day was marked by camaraderie and sportsmanship, as most teams included players that had never met until that morning and everyone was encouraging and supportive of each other despite a wide variety of previous experience among the players.
The championship match was won by MBA Mavericks, who beat FC Blaze 5-4. MBA Mavericks jumped out to an early lead, and were ahead 3-1 at half time of the final. Early in the second half, MBA Mavericks extended their lead to 4-1 before FC Blaze made a strong comeback, scoring two unanswered to make the score 4-3. MBA Mavericks scored the winner as time ran down, but FC Blaze made the last few minutes by scoring again, themselves. In the end, MBA Mavericks were able to hold onto their lead to win 5-4. As champions, the MBA Mavericks were awarded First Place Champion medals and got the honor of lifting the Buff & Blue Cup trophy.
Along with this recognition of the champions, individual performers were recognized. The Performance of the Tournament went to Claudia Sanz (MBA Mavericks, MS in Sport Management); who scored the game-winning penalty for her team to win their semi-final and reach the championship match. We had co-Goal of the Tournament winners in Tendai Brett Sambo (MBA Mavericks, Accelerated MBA) and Henry Polk (FC Blaze, MS in Business Analytics). Both scored beautiful, long-distance goals in the championship match.
Along with the players, we had a number of friends and family attend. The Graduate Business Association helped sponsor the event and provided food, water, and the jerseys worn by the players. We also had staff and volunteers from the Graduate Programs, Fowler Career Center, and Undergraduate Programs offices in attendance. So far, feedback has been very positive, and we hope that we can make this a regular event.
A huge thank you to all in their role in organizing and executing the event.
From Graduate Programs:
- Janiece Morton
- Hope Hall
- Jeff Peden
- Stefannie Aguilar
- Dejah Royal
- Shekina Roberson-Burge
- Sagarika Susarla
- Chazha Seboni
- Jay Thapa
From Graduate Business Association:
- Kabeelan Athirathinam
- Claire Martin
- Edwina Wang
- Vishal Ghavri
Special recognition to Graduate Program Managers who served as referees:
- Ali Mwanundu
- Vanessa Ramirez
- Paul Regis
