With over 1,000 MBA students from across the globe meeting at HEC Paris for the 'MBA Olympics', Surabhi, Full-time MBA participant, shares the team's reflections on MBAT 2026.
When most people think about an MBA, they think about lectures, case studies, networking events and recruitment opportunities. When I first came across mention of MBAT, while researching MBA programmes and speaking with Warwick alumni, I thought it just sounded like an exciting sporting event on top of the more business-focused opportunities. What I didn't realise was that it would become one of the most memorable experiences of my MBA journey.
For 24 Warwick MBA students, MBAT 2026 became far more than a tournament. It became three days of competition, culture, travel, friendship, resilience and memories that will stay with us long after graduation.
Hosted annually by HEC Paris, MBAT (MBA Tournament) is often described as the "MBA Olympics". Bringing together more than 1,000 MBA students from leading business schools across Europe, MBAT combines sport, cultural performances, networking opportunities and social events into one unforgettable weekend.
Looking back, what stands out most is not just the medals or the results. It is the people, the stories, and the way a group of 24 students slowly became the Warwick Warriors.
Discovering MBAT
For many members of the Warwick contingent, MBAT first entered the conversation after our classmate Hemanth learned about the event during a sports industry networking event in London while speaking with students from Oxford.
What started as a conversation quickly became a much larger project involving team recruitment, logistics, budgeting, training schedules and coordination across multiple sports.
The more we learned about the scale of the event, the more exciting the opportunity became.
Aaron, one of the first students to sign up, explained:
“I've always played sports and I enjoy connecting with people outside of a purely business environment. Sports help you build relationships in an incredible way, and MBAT gave us the opportunity to represent Warwick while meeting people from around the world.”
For Ali, the attraction was the opportunity to represent Warwick against some of Europe's leading business schools.
“As an athlete, it was an honour to represent Warwick at such a high level. I wanted to contribute using my strengths and help Warwick perform as well as possible.”
Before long, 24 students found themselves preparing to represent Warwick on one of the biggest MBA stages in Europe. For weeks before travelling to Paris, our lives revolved around MBAT. WhatsApp groups were filled with practice schedules, team selections, travel plans and last-minute logistics. MBAT didn't begin when we arrived at HEC Paris. It had already started weeks earlier in Coventry through countless training sessions, planning meetings and shared excitement.
Nothing prepared us for the scale of MBAT.
There were more than 30 activities including football, cricket, basketball, volleyball, badminton, tennis, padel, pickleball, CrossFit, relay races, chess, poker, board games, esports, dance competitions and cultural showcases.
What amazed me most was watching the same people appear everywhere.
While some universities arrived with delegations of more than 150 students, Warwick had just 24.
That meant the same people were constantly moving between sports, supporting teammates, attending networking events and representing Warwick across the tournament.
At one point, members of the Warwick team found themselves moving between basketball, football, cricket, rugby and volleyball fixtures in the same day while others were simultaneously competing in tennis, table tennis, chess and several other events.
One HEC volunteer joked that every time they visited a venue, they somehow found another Warwick student competing there.
Ali summed it up perfectly:
“Because our contingent was relatively small, many of us competed in multiple events. It was physically demanding, but also incredibly rewarding.”
The evenings were equally memorable, featuring networking events, themed parties and even a silent disco.
One of the biggest lessons MBAT taught us was adaptability.
No matter how carefully we planned, reality looked different. Schedules changed. Fixtures clashed. Matches ran late.
With a relatively small delegation competing across numerous events, balancing participation, energy levels and team deployment became a constant challenge throughout the weekend.
Success rarely came from having a perfect plan. It came from being willing to adapt when circumstances changed.
As Hemanth later reflected:
“If I had to summarise MBAT in one phrase, it would be controlled chaos. We were constantly balancing participation, performance, and energy levels. Learning how to make those trade-offs in real time was an experience no classroom could replicate.”
Every member of the Warwick contingent left MBAT with different memories.
For Aaron, the defining moment came on the football pitch.
"We were losing 1-0 against Rotterdam, came back to equalise and eventually went to penalties. I scored the final penalty that sent Warwick into the semi-finals. That's a moment I'll never forget."
What made the moment special wasn't just the result. It was seeing the entire Warwick contingent celebrating together from the sidelines. By that stage of the tournament, individual victories no longer belonged to individuals. Every success felt shared.
Cricket became another defining story of the weekend.
My friend Ritvik had played cricket at Under-19 level in India before an injury forced him away from the game. For nearly a decade, competitive cricket became something he thought he had left behind.
MBAT changed that.
For the first time in almost ten years, he stepped back onto a competitive cricket field representing Warwick Business School. Watching him play with the same excitement and passion that first drew him to the sport was incredibly special. The story became even better when the team went on to win a bronze medal.
As Ritvik later reflected:
“MBAT was one of the biggest highlights of my MBA journey. Winning bronze was amazing, but what stayed with me most was the team spirit and the memories we created together.”
Many members of the team had spent weeks preparing before travelling to Paris, and it was particularly rewarding competing against some of the strongest business schools in Europe.
The tournament also helped create friendships beyond the matches themselves. Conversations have already started about future fixtures and reconnecting with students from other schools through cricket and sport.
Every MBAT team leaves with a story. For Warwick, that story was Kabaddi.
Ironically, it was one of the first sports we considered dropping.
With limited numbers and an already packed schedule, many people felt our efforts should be focused elsewhere.Yet a small group remained determined to give it a chance.
One of the heroes of the tournament was JP, who had never played Kabaddi before. Despite bruises, injuries and a steep learning curve, he embraced the challenge wholeheartedly and became one of the team's most committed players.
As more people bought into the idea, the team improved rapidly.
What began as one of the least likely events on our schedule became the emotional heartbeat of the tournament.
Anand Prakash Bhargava described the journey best:
“From not even having a team on the first day to winning a silver medal, the journey itself was incredible." The semi-final against IE Business School became one of the most memorable moments of the weekend. The match stretched well beyond its scheduled duration. Emotions ran high and tensions occasionally spilled over.”
Yet perhaps the most remarkable thing happened afterwards.
Only a short while later, many of the same competitors were sharing drinks together, exchanging stories and celebrating the tournament.
That perfectly captured the spirit of MBAT; fierce competitors on the field, friends afterwards.
By the time Warwick reached the final, students from multiple universities had begun supporting us.
Although we narrowly missed out on gold, the memory many of us carry is not the result.
It is hearing students from across Europe cheering for Warwick.
As Ritvik later joked:
“I was shouting so loudly during the Kabaddi final that I lost my voice for almost a week afterwards.”
Unlike many of the sports, dance came with a unique challenge.
Most people already had some experience in the sports they signed up for. Dance was different.
As the person leading the performance, I quickly realised that convincing a group of MBA students to attend rehearsals might be harder than any competition we would face in Paris.
There were countless messages, phone calls, reminders and follow-ups. I spent weeks chasing people across campus, persuading them to attend practice sessions and convincing them that they could dance, even when they insisted they couldn't.
Many had never performed on stage before. Some had absolutely no interest in dancing when we first started.
While Kabaddi became our sporting story, dance became our cultural story.
For weeks, we prepared a performance celebrating cultures from around the world through Indian classical dance, salsa, flamenco, bhangra, hip-hop and freestyle.
We had participants with years of experience and others who had never performed publicly before. What mattered was that everyone committed. Looking back, that commitment became the real victory. Watching people step so far outside their comfort zones and trust the process was one of the most rewarding parts of the entire experience.
When the performance ended, students from universities across Europe stood up and cheered. Although we did not win the competition, it genuinely felt like a victory.
As I reflected afterwards:
“We didn't win the competition, but by the end of the performance, students from every other university were cheering for us. That felt like a victory in itself.”
While our original goal was simply to participate and represent Warwick as best as we could, the tournament rewarded us with far more than we expected.
The Warwick contingent returned home with:
• Silver in Kabaddi
• Bronze in Cricket
• Silver in Ludo
• Gold in Poker
Yet perhaps the achievement we are proudest of is that the same group of 24 students competed across dozens of events and reached the latter stages of competitions throughout the weekend.
MBA students hear a lot about networking. MBAT showed us something deeper and created genuine friendships.
We built relationships with students from Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester, Rotterdam, Cranfield and HEC Paris.
Steve perhaps captured it best:
“Competing together creates a different kind of bond. It helped us become closer as classmates, teammates and friends,”
One of my strongest memories is seeing students who had been fiercely competing against one another only hours earlier sitting together, sharing drinks, exchanging stories and laughing together.
As Anand reflected:
“ This wasn't networking in the traditional sense. It was connecting with people through competition, teamwork and celebration.”
Beyond the tournament itself, we also had the opportunity to experience Paris.
Between competitions, we explored the city, visited the Eiffel Tower, wandered through the streets of Paris, enjoyed cafés and spent time together away from the sporting venues. The evenings brought themed parties, networking events and celebrations that brought together students from every participating school.
Those moments became some of the most memorable parts of the trip.
The friendships formed during train journeys, late-night conversations, team celebrations and shared experiences may ultimately outlast any sporting achievement.
None of this would have been possible without the support of Warwick Business School. From funding and travel support to merchandise, encouragement and practical assistance, WBS backed the team throughout the journey.
The Warwick jerseys and hoodies became a source of pride throughout the tournament and helped create a strong sense of identity for the contingent. We are incredibly grateful to the School and the teams and individuals who helped make the experience possible.
As Anand noted:
“ The WBS team consistently supported us, even with last-minute requests. We received almost everything we needed in a very short timeframe.”
Although many members of this year's contingent will soon graduate, the impact of MBAT is only just beginning. The friendships, confidence and lessons from the experience will stay with us for years to come.
Several students hope MBAT becomes an even bigger part of the Warwick MBA experience in future years. Ali hopes students begin preparing from the start of the MBA journey. Aaron would like to see even greater Warwick visibility and participation. There have also been conversations about hosting similar inter-business-school sporting events in the future.
The momentum created this year feels like the beginning rather than the end.
By the end of the weekend, the contingent had earned a new nickname: the Warwick Warriors.
The nickname wasn't given to us because we won every event. It emerged because wherever there was a competition, a Warwick student seemed to be there. We showed up for each other relentlessly, competed across multiple disciplines and supported one another whether we were on the field, on stage or cheering from the sidelines.
For Hemanth, the experience carried a particularly personal meaning:
“Sport was a huge part of my childhood. I grew up playing, competing and captaining teams, so getting the opportunity to represent and help lead Warwick at one of Europe's biggest MBA sporting events felt surreal. More than anything, it felt like a dream.”
The medals will eventually gather dust. The results will be forgotten.
But the friendships, stories, team spirit and memories will stay with us for years to come.
When I first heard about MBAT, I thought it was a sporting tournament. Looking back, it was so much more than that.
It was about stepping outside comfort zones, representing Warwick on an international stage, rediscovering passions, building friendships across borders and learning what a group of 24 determined students could achieve together.
For me, MBAT was not simply one of the highlights of my MBA. It became one of the experiences that defined it.
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