Bleeding Blue: Ji Qi’s Rise Through Teamwork, Competition, and the Redwood Family

“We just erupted like we won something super impactful, like we won state, or the championships—you can get that feeling at Farm Games” 

It’s a lucky ricochet, but the soccer ball makes contact with Ji Qi’s stationary foot with just enough force to send it past all of the other team’s defenders. The goalie lunges, misses, and the ball barely comes to rest within the net of the goal before Team Redwood explodes into celebration—a massive collision of players at the center of the soccer field accompanied by a victory cry that shakes the sky. Breaking away from the crowd crush, Ji Qi throws himself across the turf of the field in his own imitation of the iconic knee slide celebration famous throughout soccer leagues. It bruises his knee and leaves a big grass stain across his jersey, but this moment stands out in Ji Qi’s mind when he thinks of his two years at Farm Games—the celebration, the rush of achievement, seizing the moment to revel in victory the way the professionals do. Like many other Farm Games participants, Ji Qi heard about the Games through word-of-mouth, being introduced to the Games “through a group chat with friends; someone sent a link to a competition. We decided to all show up and see how competitive we could get.”

Ji Qi has been a Farm Games participant since the Game’s advent last academic year (2023-24), and he’s been attending more competitions in the 2024-25 year. His continued attendance of the Games is primarily motivated by the value he finds in Farm Games as a venue where he can continue to play sports after high school: “There’s no pressure to win a championship. That’s a very motivating factor for people … just there to have fun.” When compared to Stanford’s other athletic events, Farm Games stands apart as a means of providing students access to sports. The Games are purposefully intended to be easy-access and low pressure for as many people as possible. Unlike Club Sports, or Intramural competitions, not only is Farm Games an event that requires no prerequisite skill level nor experience, but it’s a competition that does not have any high-pressure stakes. With the known academic pressure one has as a Stanford undergraduate student, plus the elite standard of Stanford’s sports teams and competitions at the Division 1 level, Farm Games provides an escape from these inherent stressors of being a member of the Stanford community. Especially for participants like Ji Qi, who stated that “for someone who did sports in high school, I feel like I’m not good enough to join any clubs here in the sports I want to join. So I was definitely lacking the feeling of athletic competition somewhere on campus,” finding this easily-accessible sporting outlet is immensely valuable.

Currently, Ji Qi is in his second year at Stanford. He’s committed to his computer science major, and is contemplating adding electrical engineering to his studies. Although he’s still in his undergraduate years, he’s noticing that unless prompted, it has become easy to stick with the people he’s met during his freshman year: “once you get out of your first year, you’re kind of stuck with your group of people.” Whether it be within his field of study, or within his Neighborhood community, it can be hard for Ji Qi to go out of his way to find new groups to integrate into. Farm Games provides a setting where it’s not only easier to meet new people, but more fun: “It’s been really fun meeting a lot of new people and especially those you don’t frequently see.” His efforts to put himself out there have been rewarded through feeling a greater sense of community in his Robles dorm, with his Redwood teammates “turning out to be the people that live in your dorm … I see them around, and I wave at them.” 

Beyond Ji Qi’s experience as a part of the Team Redwood community, Farm Games gives him a drive for self-improvement. He found a lot of value in the Farm Games event structure: “Farm Games, you know, drags you outside … just being outside is very nice, and a lot of people aren’t able to get outside as often as they should.” While he acknowledges that this can cause some self consciousness in meeting new people, especially those whom one may not know before coming to Farm Games, Ji Qi believes it has contributed to his own self-growth: “being … a team competition and having a competitive self has allowed me to be more vocal, say hello to new people that I typically probably won’t approach.” Not only does Farm Games provide opportunities to be more active, but also more social—inviting students to ‘stretch their legs’ in more than just one way.

A common observation among many Farm Games participants has been that the competitions allow for some respite from the stressors of classes and assignments. It exists as a novel change of structure: an afternoon participating in the Games allows for a break from academic pressure and the day-to-day norm of Stanford campus life. It also serves as a way to connect with friends in a setting that may otherwise be hard to find. Not only does Ji Qi value meeting new people at Farm Games, but sharing the fun of the events with his close friends: “the friends that I have, they share the same drive to win; that has been the motivating factor for me continuing to go to each Farm Games event.” It can be hard to make the time for having fun with friends when one is a busy undergraduate student, so having such a fun activity available locally to the neighborhoods encourages Ji Qi and his buddies to make the effort to attend as many sports events as possible: “sharing the competition together is really fun.”

Naturally, Ji Qi advocates for the longevity of Farm Games, and greatly recommends participating to other students. He believes that the current turnout at the competitions may only be a small representative group of those interested in the events, and that many prospective players may not have yet heard of the Games or had the opportunity to participate. He recognizes Farm Games as a place that “brings a lot of different people together and encourages you to see the people outside of your friend group. Farm Games does a really, really good job of bringing different people together of all skill levels.” In the future, there will be many students just like Ji Qi who will not only find self-fulfillment through the Games, but find a community within that supports and encourages them.

Ji Qi’s most notable Farm Games stories focus on not just achieving success, but sharing that sense of celebration alongside his teammates. Through just a brief conversation with Ji Qi, one will appreciate just how present these characteristics are with Ji Qi himself. His easygoing but dedicated demeanor makes it clear how he’s become a valued player to the Redwood team. His memories bolster this sense of character for what the Games are, what they represent, and how our athletes are finding value within them. Even if one only had a short conversation with him, it’s obvious that he means it when he says: “Don’t be afraid of playing the activity poorly, be more focused on just smiling, laughing, and having fun with your friends.”