Varsity is the pinnacle of the sporting calendar for students. It pitches the University of Leeds against Leeds Beckett in a variety of different sports to see which university leaves with the bragging rights.
Joe Manion, who is a student support manager at Leeds Beckett, explains the history of the event.
“Originally, it was a pre-season friendly we held in October before the BUCS season.
“Since then it’s built up into something much bigger, it’s a competition the students look forward to every year. To some of them it’s the pinnacle of their sporting year.
“We know there’s a lot of good, friendly rivalry between the two universities and students get to play in front of crowds that they’ve not seen all year.”
The event culminates with the women’s and men’s rugby union games which take place at Headingley stadium in front of thousands of student spectators.
‘It means so much’
Aleena Ayub, who plays for the University of Leeds rugby union team says why Varsity is such a significant event.
“It means so much, especially playing in the stadium, we’re showing how women can play rugby and we can prove women in sport is a real thing.”
Nehemiah Mensah played in the Varsity rugby game last year and said the prospect of playing in Varsity was a factor in him signing up to play for the Beckett rugby team.
“I would say the fact I could play in a Varsity was definitely something that enticed me to play rugby at Leeds Beckett.
“Hearing that you would play against your rivals at Headingley stadium was something that interested me in taking part” he said.
Mensah also had this to say when reflecting upon his Varsity experience from last year.
“Playing in a Varsity game was a good experience to be part of.
“It’s not everyday university players would get to play in a nice stadium like Headingley, so playing there was a good opportunity to soak up the atmosphere.
“When you have a crowd watching like we did, it sort of felt like a professional game and it was an amazing thing to be a part of.”
Missing out on Varsity through injury was ‘disheartening’
Student athletes have a limited window to be able to participate in Varsity as it only comes round once a year, so to miss out on the event due to injury can be frustrating for them.
Carlos Nunes, who plays for the Beckett futsal team was set to play in his first Varsity this year before an injury prevented him.
“Missing out on Varsity because of an injury is very frustrating.
“The fact that this was going to be my first time playing in Varsity and not being able to is disheartening but the only thing I can do now is to get better and make sure that next year I’m fully ready” he said.
For the more niche sports such as futsal or basketball, Varsity provides a platform to showcase their sport in front of a bigger audience than for their usual fixtures.
It was the University of Leeds who claimed the bragging rights this year as they beat Beckett 69-49 to win the event for the second year running.
Although this years event may have just ended, the preparation for next years is already well underway.
“It really does take a lot of organisation between the two universities” said Joe Manion.
“We start talking about it in the summer and we have regular planning meetings and it’s all hands on deck throughout the year.
“Planning sixty fixtures across three days takes a lot of planning and then organising the finale at the stadium” she said.
