After an intense weekend of competition, one of the most sought-after trophies in Canadian business school competitions is returning to Brock University’s Goodman School of Business, marking back-to-back top titles for the School.

The Goodman team successfully defended its School of the Year title in Guelph Sunday, Jan. 6 at the JDCC case competition. The largest undergraduate business school competition in central Canada, the event brought together more than 700 student delegates from Ontario, Québec and the Maritimes.

The Goodman JDCC team celebrates its School of the Year title at the University of Guelph Jan. 6.

JDCC, often dubbed the “business school Olympics,” is three days of exhaustive competitions encompassing academic cases in eight fields of business, parliamentary style debates, sports tournaments, social competitions and charity contributions.

In addition to the School of the Year title, the 47-person team placed second in overall participation and third in the all-encompassing Academic Cup.

“We’re incredibly proud of our students’ success at JDC Central,” said Goodman Dean Andrew Gaudes. “To bring home the School of the Year title twice in a row is an incredible feat at this intense competition.”

Goodman last won the title in 2017. Last year’s event was cancelled due to inclement weather.

“We prepare students to think critically as well as respond to challenges in real-time, demonstrating their confidence and competence while preparing them to enter the workplace when they graduate,” Gaudes said. “These students are excellent representatives of the Goodman School.”

Goodman students also placed second in debate, digital strategy, business strategy, finance and the wildcard case competition. They rounded out the podium by placing third in human resources and the dodgeball sports competition.

Although the team had no first-place finishes, it was the consistency of the results from across all areas that helped Goodman defend its title, said student co-captains Summer Gullage and Steven Simons.

“Everybody on the team came to compete and did well. It was a true team effort,” Gullage said.

The School of the Year award takes into consideration all aspects of the competition, including funds raised for charity and the 1,500 volunteer hours the team completed between September and December 2018.

The team extends its thanks to their faculty advisor Lewis Stevenson, alumna Dayna Stephenson (BBA ’16) and the JDCC alumni group, Goodman Student Leadership Co-ordinator Lauren Smith and the St. Catharines Business Club for their support.

A celebration to honour the winning team on campus will be announced soon.

The Goodman JDCC team includes:

Co-captains: Summer Gullage and Steven Simons

Accounting: Smiley Bhayee, Kawshik Basak and Ahmad Pasha

Business Strategy: Sorcha Killian, Josiah Dueck and Shania Walden

Digital Strategy: Alex Kowalchuk, Meagan Gloor and Majid El-assi

Debate: Brett Orlando, Natalie Tosello, Mitchell Glass and Shane Shibley

Entrepreneurship: Aidan Gilhula, Srujal Patel and David Puglisi

Finance: Alex Bernas, Eric Shelton and Jesse Porter

Human Resources: Erica Runstedler, Vanisha Hira and Vishrut Shah

International Business: Alexa Ogilvie-Robinson, Jasman Bisram and Karina Atha

Marketing: Jayna Sutaria, Rosie Di Matteo and Catrina De Angelis

Social: Maria Denisov, Justin Gravestock, Simran Arora and Jayden Paul

Sports: Drew Macneil, Jessica Bent, Joshua Pigat, Olivia Poulin, Mile Peles, Nicole Smith, Trevor Szaniawski and Bryan Haakman

Volunteers: Yarnie Shahparast, Dhvani Shah and Meera Mehta

Faculty Advisor: Lewis Stevenson

Godparents (mentors): Bianca Read (BBA ’18) and Carter Burke