WATERLOO - Wilfrid Laurier University’s School of Business & Economics has been awarded the opportunity to host the prestigious Jeux du Commerce (JDC) Central in 2011, a multi-faceted competition consisting of academic case analysis, social challenges and sporting excellence.

The JDC event, which will take place Jan. 28-30, 2011, is a unique weekend-long competition that awards points to teams based on performance, overall school spirit, teamwork and sportsmanship. The case portion of the competition covers a diverse array of business initiatives and is weighted at over 60 per cent of a team’s final score. The social challenges, a set of eight tasks completed by teams of four students, are worth six per cent and tend to be a morale-boosting portion of the competition. The third segment is the debate, which covers a broad selection of political issues. The final leg in the event is the sports tournament, comprised of indoor volleyball and dodgeball, which happens to be Laurier’s most popular intramural activity.

“Laurier students have shown exceptional ability and leadership by launching many of the country’s top student initiatives,” said Laurier dean of business and economics, Ginny Dybenko. “It is only natural for JDC Central to mark the next step in our remarkable journey as a business community.”

Laurier’s JDC planning team will spend more than a year and a half organizing the event, even though the event itself only lasts a weekend. The effort will be worthwhile since 2011 also marks Laurier’s centennial as a post-secondary educational institution.

“Laurier’s ability to win a bid to host a competition of this magnitude is a testament to the rest of the country’s confidence in what Laurier has to offer,” said Evan Thor, president of the School of Business & Economics students’ society.

Founded in Quebec in 1989, Jeux du Commerce has grown in scale over the past 20 years to become the premier business competition in Canada. As this past year’s winner of top school in Ontario at the JDC West in Edmonton, Laurier has already set a high bar for excellence and has great expectations for performance in the upcoming 2010 event at Ryerson University. In preparation for 2011, Laurier will also be sending a team of observers to shadow the competition.