Varsity kicks off
The time has come to #FearLeics. The biggest event in the University's sporting calendar, Varsity, starts today, and will see some of our University's top sporting talent compete against their De Montfort rivals in a bid to be crowned Varsity champions- a title that the University of Leicester has won every year since records began in 2000.
Footballers and Rugby players alike will be lacing up their boots in readiness for today's matches, which will be running throughout the day on Stoughton Road and in Beaumont Park. Alongside this, tennis, climbing, frisbee, netball, dogeball and Cross County will also all have matches taking place around the city.
The Varsity Series will run until Wednesday 14 March when the games will culminate with both institutions’ basketball teams going head-to-head on the court at Leicester Arena, and a white-knuckle race down the river Soar by the boating clubs. Varsity officially ends when the cricket teams don their whites in May.
Paul Robbins, Team Leicester Sports Coordinator, said: “Varsity is a fantastic opportunity for our University community to come together under the Team Leicester banner. Whether students are competing or showing their support, there is an opportunity for everyone to contribute and be involved.”
Kennedy Adamu, Student Sports Officer at Leicester Students’ Union and Power Forward, Men’s First Basketball Team, said: “Varsity is so special because it unites the University community as both sporting and non-sporting staff and students come together with a common goal – to protect our proud history of beating DMU.
“I’ve competed in Varsity since 2014 and there’s nothing quite like hearing hundreds of students chanting ‘Leicester’ at the top of their lungs. For sports teams, it’s the biggest match they’ll play all year and it’s always fantastic to see the support from the Students’ Union and University in encouraging everyone to be part of Team Leicester.”